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

Trenton Code Chapter 222, Rent Control, adopted in 1967 and amended May 9, 2024 by Ord. No. 24-28, finds under § 222-1 that a shortage of affordable rental housing makes rent control necessary and continues controls that rolled rents back to their December 31, 1996 levels. Section 222-6 sets the baseline: at the expiration or termination of a lease or periodic tenancy, no landlord may raise rent for a regular tenant by more than 4%, or more than 2% for a senior citizen or disabled tenant, and an increase cannot be imposed more than once in any twelve-month period.

Landlords can seek increases above that cap only through the Rent Stabilization Board, on specific grounds under § 222-10: insufficient income to maintain code compliance or meet mortgage obligations, capital or service improvements (prorated among benefiting units and capped at the depreciation period), financial hardship, or rents that have fallen below market because past permitted increases were never taken (phased in over one to several years depending on the size of the gap). Section 222-5 voids any increase imposed outside a lease renewal or without Board approval, and bars increases entirely where delinquent property taxes or water/sewer charges are owed.

Section 222-16 allows landlords to set the initial rent freely on newly created units, but caps vacancy increases at 25% above the prior tenant's rent before the new tenant can seek a Board reduction. The Board itself, created under § 222-3, includes landlord, tenant and neutral members and hears petitions under the procedures in § 222-14.