New Brunswick, NJ Rental Property Rules: Rental Registration (2026)

Section 15.40.030 of the New Brunswick Municipal Code makes registration the gate to renting. All rental units are registered with the New Brunswick rent leveling office on forms the office or another designee provides, and registration repeats every year. Each unit is registered on or before April 1. Leases signed before the chapter was adopted stay in force, but the unit must still be registered, and Section 15.40.040.A repeats that no rental unit is rented unless registered.

Four categories are exempt: public housing owned and operated by the New Brunswick housing authority, dormitory or apartment units owned and operated by Rutgers University or the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, newly constructed rental units for three years from the initial final certificate of occupancy, and two-family owner occupied buildings.

Section 15.40.040.B lists what the owner files for each unit, following the rent control ordinance form: the property address, the record owners and, for partnerships or corporations, the general partners or the registered agent and officers with day and evening phone numbers, and the building agent and superintendent. An owner whose address is outside Middlesex County must name a Middlesex County resident or company authorized to accept tenant notices and service of process. The form also states the number of dwelling units, rooms and square footage per unit, the exact number of sleeping rooms with a floor plan attached, the number of inhabitants, the current rent and its effective date, the fuel oil dealer where the landlord supplies oil heat, and which utilities the landlord supplies. An emergency representative reachable at any time must be named.

Any change requires an amended form within twenty (20) days, with no fee unless ownership changes. Filing also satisfies the state registration under N.J.S.A. 46:8-28 to the extent it applies, because the rent leveling office follows N.J.S.A. 46:8-28.1. Under Section 15.40.040.E every owner gives each occupant a copy of the completed form or posts the inspection certificate in a conspicuous place in the rental unit.