Bergen County does not impose countywide rent control. Several individual municipalities, including Fort Lee, Hackensack, Edgewater, and Cliffside Park, enforce local rent stabilization ordinances limiting annual increases on covered rental units.
New Jersey allows municipalities to enact rent control under home rule (N.J.S.A. 2A:42-84). Bergen County itself has no countywide ordinance, but multiple municipalities have adopted local rent stabilization. Fort Lee caps annual increases for covered multi-family buildings; Hackensack Chapter 113 limits increases tied to CPI for buildings of four or more units; Edgewater and Cliffside Park have rent leveling boards reviewing increases. Generally exempt are owner-occupied two-to-four-unit buildings, hotels, condos, and newly constructed units (often for first 30 years). Vacancy decontrol provisions vary by town. Tenants and landlords should consult their municipal rent leveling board for the current annual permitted increase.
Excessive rent charges must be refunded to tenants, and landlords may face municipal fines from $100 to $2,000 per violation depending on local ordinance.
See how other cities in Bergen County handle rent control.
See how Ridgewood's rent control rules stack up against other locations.
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