New Brunswick, NJ Rental Property Rules: Rent Control (2026)

Chapter 5.80 of the New Brunswick Municipal Code creates a five-member rent control board, with up to two alternates appointed by the mayor with council consent, and a rent control administrator on staff in the department of planning, community and economic development. Section 5.80.130 sets the base rent rule. A continuing tenant's base rent cannot rise more than once during any twelve month period. At lease expiration the increase cannot exceed the annual percentage adopted by the board, with a floor of one percent and a ceiling of four percent, and surcharges are left out of the calculation. Under subsection D the annual percentage follows the change in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the North East Region from September of the preceding year through August of the current year, within those limits. An increase allowed but not charged in the year it is permitted is forever waived, and the increase is payable in twelve equal monthly payments.

A unit with open violations older than three months from the date of the intended increase is limited to fifty percent of the allowable increase, unless the landlord gives the administrator a remediation plan that fixes each violation within the time directed by the city division of inspections and in no case beyond ninety days without extenuating circumstances. Every increase must come with the landlord's written attestation about open violations.

Every rental unit must be registered with the rent control office annually on or before April 1 (§ 5.80.040). The fee is $50 per unit as of January 1, 2026 and $55 as of January 1, 2027, and a late fee equal to the registration fee applies to units registered after April 30 (§ 5.80.100). Exemptions in § 5.80.050 cover public housing, hotels and motels, university-owned buildings, owner-occupied single-family houses where the owner holds at least a fifty percent interest, owner-occupied two-family properties, and newly built multiple dwellings for a limited period. Vacancy decontrol under § 5.80.140 lets a landlord reset rent after a voluntary vacancy through a vacancy adjustment or a market vacancy decontrol, which needs documented improvements of at least twenty percent of the prior year's annual rent or $3,000, whichever is greater. The board hears complaints of illegal increases up to seventy-two months after the disputed increase (§ 5.80.020).