Official Site of The State of New Jersey

Rooming and Bording House Bill of Rights

Class C rooming and boarding houses provide financial and personal services, including meals and assistance in dressing, bathing or other personal needs. As a resident of a rooming or boarding house in New Jersey, you have the right to:

Retain the services of your own personal physician at you own expense or under a health care plan.

Maintain privacy about your medical condition and treatment.

A safe, healthful, and decent living environment and considerate and respectful care that recognizes your dignity and individuality.

Wear your own clothing.

Determine your own dress, hairstyle, and other aspects of personal appearance according to your individual preference.

Retain and use your personal property in your immediate living quarters, so as to maintain individuality and personal dignity, except in limited circumstances — such as when it would infringe upon the rights of others. Rooming and boarding house operators cannot restrict this right only for their own convenience.

Manage your own financial affairs.

Receive a copy of House Rules.

Communicate and receive visits with any person of your choice at any reasonable hour.

Make contacts with the community and achieve the highest level of independence, autonomy, and community interaction of which you are capable.

Refuse to perform services for the rooming and boarding house licensee except pursuant to a bona fide contract. The contract should be in writing and, if the resident is 62 years of age or older or has any physical or mental disability, it should be witnessed by a representative of the county social service agency or other entity responsible for the resident.

Practice the religion of your choice, including the right to substitutes for foods or combinations of foods forbidden by your religious beliefs. You also have the right to abstain from religious practice.

Privacy, including the right to receive and send unopened correspondence.

Unaccompanied access to a telephone at a reasonable hour.

Maintain a private telephone at your own expense.

Present grievances on behalf of yourself or others to the rooming and boarding house licensee, governmental agencies, or others without reprisal or threat of reprisal.

Not be deprived of any constitutional, civil, or legal right solely because you live in a rooming or boarding house.