Freehold Township, NJ Rental Property Rules: Rent Control (2026)

Chapter 261, Rent Control, traces to Ord. No. O-78-20 and has been amended repeatedly through 2018. Section 261-2 provides that rental charges for multiple dwelling units are set by the chapter's own provisions: a landlord may not request or receive an increase beyond what the chapter permits, any excess increase is void, and any void portion a tenant already paid must be returned. Section 261-3 exempts several categories from that restriction: housing space rented for the first time is unrestricted in its initial rent (though later increases are covered), a vacant unit's re-rental price is unrestricted (with the same later-increase caveat), multiple dwellings with fewer than four units are excluded entirely, motels and hotels are excluded, and units converted to condominiums are excluded after their bona fide post-conversion sale.

Enforcement runs through a five-member Rent Control Board with two alternates, appointed by the Township Committee for three-year terms under §261-6, none of whom may be a residential landlord, tenant, elected official or municipal employee within the Township. The Board can promulgate rules (subject to a 30-day Township Committee review window), adjudicate landlord applications for additional rent, hear tenant appeals, and reduce rent where a landlord fails to maintain community amenities like clubhouses or pools at the level in place when a lease began, under §261-4.