Perth Amboy, NJ Rental Property Rules: Rent Increase Notice (2026)

Perth Amboy City Code § 353-7 sets the notice step for every rent increase covered by Chapter 353, Rent Control. Any landlord seeking an increase in rent must first notify the tenant by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested. The notice must state the calculations involved in computing the increase, the allowable percentage increase and the allowable rental increase. Any increase requested or received by the landlord without that notice is null and void, so a demand or payment made before the notice does not count.

The notice does not create a right to an increase. Under § 353-3, an increase can be requested only at the expiration of a lease or at the termination of the lease of a periodic tenant, and it cannot exceed three percent (3%) for tenants whose rent includes a charge for water service or two and one-half percent (2.5%) for tenants whose rental charge does not cover water service. Section 353-4 declares any increase at another time, or above the authorized amount, prohibited and void.

A different notice applies when the landlord goes to the Rent Leveling Board for more than the cap. Under § 353-8(A), a landlord claiming financial hardship, where reasonable operating expenses exceed sixty percent (60%) of rental income, must serve the tenants by personal service or by certified mail, return receipt requested, no later than thirty (30) days prior to the proposed date of the application hearing. That notice lists the time and date of the application, the place where it will be heard, the amount of rental increase requested, and where tenants or their representatives can review the landlord's application during normal business hours. Section 353-8(B) requires the same notices for major capital improvements or new services, and those notices must add the total cost, the useful life, the total square feet of the dwelling or complex, the square feet demised to the tenant and the capital improvement increase sought from each tenant.

Tenants who receive an unlawful increase can complain to the Rent Leveling Board, which under § 353-6 hears complaints about unlawful rental increases, can require reimbursement to tenants by landlords, and must render a determination within forty-five (45) days after an application or petition is filed.