Monroe Township (Middlesex County), NJ Short-Term Rentals: Host Platform Liability (2026)

Section 80-6 of the Monroe Township Code is one sentence: it shall be unlawful to advertise, solicit or promote by any means, any action in violation of this chapter. The sentence has no carve-out for the medium or the speaker, so an online listing, a flyer, a sign or a word-of-mouth pitch for a stay of less than 30 consecutive days is covered.

Section 80-2 defines ADVERTISE or ADVERTISING as any form of solicitation, promotion or communication for marketing, used to induce, directly or indirectly, any person into contracting for services for the purpose of establishing occupancies or uses of residential property prohibited by the chapter. PERSON is defined to include any individual, firm, corporation, association, governmental entity, or partnership and its agents or assigns.

The host side runs through a separate provision. Section 80-3(A) makes it unlawful for an owner, lessor, sub-lessor or other person with possessory right in a dwelling unit, or their agents, employees or representatives, to receive or obtain actual or anticipated consideration for advertising or offering the use or occupancy of a dwelling unit or residential property for less than 30 consecutive days.

The chapter acknowledges the platform economy only in its findings. Section 80-1(A) recites that the practice of renting dwellings in residential neighborhoods has been popularized and facilitated by various websites that advertise and broker these rentals. No section names a booking website, imposes a takedown, registration, tax collection or reporting duty on one, or creates a safe harbor for one. The operative duties sit on whoever advertises, solicits or promotes, and on the owner or possessory-right holder who takes consideration.

Enforcement runs through § 80-7. The Construction Code Official, Fire Official, Health Department or Code Enforcement Officer can enforce the chapter, and each day a violation persists is a separate violation.