As used in this act:
"Applicant" means any person considered for, who requests to be considered for, or who requests to be considered for tenancy within a rental dwelling unit.
"Conditional offer" means an offer to rent or lease a rental dwelling unit to an applicant that is contingent on a subsequent inquiry into the applicant's criminal record, or any other eligibility criteria that the housing provider may lawfully utilize.
"Criminal record" means information about an individual collected by criminal justice agencies consisting of identifiable descriptions and notations of arrests, detentions, indictments, criminal complaints, or other formal criminal charges, and any disposition arising therefrom, including acquittal, sentencing, correctional supervision, release or conviction, including, but not limited to, any sentence arising from a verdict or plea of guilty or nolo contendere, including a sentence of incarceration, a suspended sentence, a sentence of probation, or a sentence of conditional discharge.
"Director" means the Director of the Division on Civil Rights.
"Division" means the Division on Civil Rights in the Department of Law and Public Safety.
"Housing provider" means a landlord, an owner, lessor, sublessor, assignee, or their agent, or any other person receiving or entitled to receive rents or benefits for the use or occupancy of any rental dwelling unit.
"Pending criminal accusation" means an existing accusation that an individual has committed a crime, lodged by a law enforcement agency through an indictment, information, complaint, or other formal charge.
"Rental dwelling unit" means a dwelling unit offered for rent by a housing provider for residential purposes, other than a dwelling unit in an owner-occupied premises of not more than four dwelling units.
N.J.S. § 46:8-54