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

Clifton's rent control chapter, adopted in 1974 and rewritten in 1991, governs "any multiple dwelling unit" and defines a multiple dwelling as a building with seven or more units effective March 1, 2011; four-, five-, and six-unit buildings already covered before that date remain covered until vacancy. Section 363-2 makes it unlawful for a landlord of a covered unit to "demand, receive or collect any rent for the same in excess of the base rent" plus any lawful surcharge. Base rent is fixed at the rent in effect July 1, 1974, or the rent set upon lawful re-letting after a unit is vacated under Section 363-14.

A five-member Rent Leveling Board, seated with one tenant member, one landlord member and three public members appointed for three-year terms, hears overcharge complaints, hardship applications, and capital-improvement and tax pass-through surcharge requests under Sections 363-5 through 363-10. Application fees run from $10 for an overcharge or diminishment-of-services complaint to $50 for a hardship or major-rehabilitation application, 1% of project cost (or $50, whichever is greater) for capital improvements, and $10 per unit for a tax pass-through. Decisions of the Board may be appealed to the Municipal Council within 20 days, and any disputed rent increase is held in escrow by the City Treasurer pending that appeal.

Owners renting a unit for the first time after original construction or after a lawful vacancy are not restricted in setting the initial rent, but every increase after that first letting is again subject to the chapter.