Piscataway, NJ Rental Property Rules: Just Cause Eviction (2026)

Section 16-1's definition of JUST CAUSE lists the landlord's permitted grounds for refusing to let, rent, relet or rerent to a tenant, or for basing a dispossess action. They are: failure to pay rent due under the lease, whether oral or written; disorderly or disturbing noise or conduct that destroys the peace and tranquility of the landlord, other tenants or neighbors; intentional or persistent neglect, damage or injury to the landlord's property; constant violation of signed landlord rules or lease-incorporated regulations; substantial breach of the lease's terms and conditions; the owner seeking to occupy the premises personally; or the owner seeking to close the premises down entirely without further occupancy.

This chapter traces to N.J.S.A. 40:69A-29 and 30 per the Editor's Note preceding § 16-1, and it applies to dwellings and housing space rented or offered for rent in the Township, exempting motels, hotels and similar buildings, buildings where up to one-third of occupied floor space is commercial, and housing of two units or fewer. Enforcement runs through § 16-6, which makes any violation of the chapter, including a material misstatement of fact filed with the Rent Leveling Board, liable to the maximum penalty under Chapter 1, § 1-5, with a minimum penalty of $250 per violation, and each affected leasehold counted as a separate violation.