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

Chapter 95, Dwellings; Minimum Standards, sets Hoboken's baseline habitability code. Section 95-6, Safe and sanitary maintenance, requires every foundation, floor, wall, ceiling and roof to be reasonably weathertight, free from the substantial presence of mold, watertight and rodentproof and kept in good repair, and it extends the same weathertight, watertight and rodentproof standard to every window, exterior floor and basement hatchway. Subsection G separately bars any owner, operator or occupant from causing a required service, facility, equipment or utility to be removed, shut off or discontinued for an occupied dwelling, permitting only a temporary interruption for actual repairs or an emergency approved by the Health Officer, a direct check on landlords cutting heat, water or power during a dispute.

The mold definition, added in 2019 by Ord. No. B-112, ties enforcement to a visible or detectable presence significant enough to raise health concerns, as identified by the Health Officer or a designee. Section 95-6 works alongside § 95-5's light, ventilation and heating floors (habitable rooms at least 70 degrees under winter conditions) and § 95-7's cleanliness duties for owners and occupants. Where conditions are severe, § 95-9 lets the Health Officer condemn and placard a dwelling unit as unfit for human habitation when it is damaged, decayed, unsanitary or otherwise dangerous, and no one may reoccupy it until the Health Officer removes the placard. An affected owner or tenant can request a hearing before the Health Officer under §§ 95-9H and 95-10.