Bloomfield, NJ Rental Property Rules: Rent Control (2026)

Chapter 435 of the Bloomfield Township Code sets the rent control rules for multiple dwellings in the Township of Bloomfield, Essex County, New Jersey. Section 435-2(A) ties increases to the end of a lease or the end of a periodic tenancy. The landlord can seek up to 3% per annum over the previous rent, or the percentage difference in the CPI-U for New York - Northeastern New Jersey, measured three months before expiration and three months before the lease began, whichever is greater, with a ceiling of 5%. Section 435-2(B)(2) lowers the ceiling to 2% of base rent where at least one tenant is 65 or older. Under § 435-1, base rent means the lawful rent in force on January 1, 2026. Tenancies that began under the Township's earlier rent control ordinances remain under that ordinance for the duration of the tenancy.

Section 435-4 exempts dwellings with four or fewer housing spaces, the initial rent on a unit rented for the first time, multiple dwellings built after June 25, 1987 for 30 years after completion where the landlord met N.J.S.A. 2A:42-84.1 et seq., units where rent is set as a factor of income, and subsidized units where HUD orders federal preemption. Under § 435-5, a landlord can reset the rent on a voluntarily vacated apartment no more than once in every five year period counted from January 1, 2026, after filing a noncoercion certification with the Rent Leveling Board. When a landlord wins a tax appeal, tenants receive 75% of the reduction after the landlord's actual expenses (§ 435-2(E)). The Board has seven regular members and two alternates (§ 435-3). Owners of dwellings with five or more housing spaces must file a landlord registration statement (§ 435-8), and a landlord who has not complied with the chapter cannot raise a tenant's rent (§ 435-2(B)(5)). Either side can appeal a Board decision to the Township Council within 20 calendar days (§ 435-6).