Freehold Township, NJ Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

Chapter 182, Housing Standards, makes the New Jersey State Housing Code the Township's operative habitability standard for supplied utilities, facilities and conditions essential to making dwellings safe, sanitary and fit for human habitation, with copies kept on file in the Clerk's office for public inspection. The Housing Official administers that code day to day, and § 182-15 layers a Township-specific rental compliance step on top of it: whenever a rental unit, whether a single-family home, apartment or manufactured/mobile home, changes occupants, the owner, agent or broker must first obtain a certificate of occupancy from the Code Administrator certifying the dwelling is fit for habitation and compliant with every other Township ordinance, including the property maintenance standards in Chapter 245.

The Code Administrator must grant or deny that certificate within 10 days of application. As a further condition of fitness, § 182-15C requires at least one working smoke alarm in every area used for sleeping, of a type and placement approved by the Bureau of Fire Prevention. The certificate itself is time-limited: a rental certificate of occupancy is valid for no more than 60 calendar days from issuance or until the next change in occupancy, whichever comes first, while a resale certificate runs up to 120 days.

Enforcement of the broader Housing Code runs through §§ 182-6 through 182-9: the Housing Official inspects on complaint or as part of a general inspection program, can obtain a Municipal Court search warrant where access is refused, and must give written notice of any violation, with the owner or occupant entitled to a hearing within 10 days of the notice.