West New York, NJ Rental Property Rules: Rental Registration (2026)

Article III of Chapter 260 (Multiple Dwellings) in the Code of the Town of West New York, adopted 2-20-1980 as Ord. No. 1375, is the Town's owner registration rule. Section 260-16 directs every landlord within the terms of N.J.S.A. 46:8-27 et seq. to file the statements and information set forth in that statute with the Clerk of the municipality, and the ordinance explains that the statute omitted the filing procedure. Section 260-17 required the Clerk to send written notice to all landlords of record within 30 days of passage, warning that failure to register would lead the Town to prosecute claims under the statute. Under § 260-18 the Board of Health can file actions in the West New York Municipal Court and enforce the penalty in N.J.S.A. 46:8-35.

Two further filings sit beside it. Article II requires each landlord of an apartment house, meaning a building with more than two dwelling units, to file a landlord's dwelling unit occupancy certification and the tenant's occupancy certification with the Division of Housing Inspection within 30 days from the date a tenancy commences (§§ 260-9, 260-10). The landlord's certification lists the landlord's name, address and phone number, the dwelling unit address, every occupant including minors, the number of occupants, the date the tenancy commenced, and the gross floor area of habitable rooms and sleeping rooms (§ 260-11). A new certification is due when the number of occupants increases (§ 260-14).

Landlords of rent-controlled dwellings file under § 312-28 with a $20 filing fee at the Rent Control Office, reporting each tenant, base rent, last increase, lease expiration, the record owner and managing agent, the superintendent and an emergency contact. An owner living outside Hudson County names a Hudson County agent for notices and service of process. Changes require an amended statement within seven days, and an annual registration with a $10 filing fee is due to the Town Clerk not later than October 1. The statement is a public document. A landlord who never filed loses control of the base rent, which is then established through the tenant's proof of rent, adjusted by CPI increases for each unregistered year.