Lakewood, NJ Short-Term Rentals: Insurance Requirements (2026)

A line-by-line review of Lakewood Township Code Chapter 15 (Rental Housing) and Chapter 18 (Unified Development Ordinance) shows no provision setting a minimum liability-insurance limit for short-term or long-term residential rentals. The Township's Rental Certificate of Occupancy application requires owner contact information and a property inspection but does not require a certificate of insurance. New Jersey did not adopt a statewide STR insurance minimum when it amended N.J.S.A. 54:32D in 2018 (P.L.2018, c.49) to extend the 5 percent state occupancy fee, the 6.625 percent sales tax, and any local Municipal Occupancy Tax to transient accommodations rented through marketplaces such as Airbnb and Vrbo. The 2019 follow-on amendment (P.L.2019, c.235) narrowed the scope to professionally managed and marketplace-booked units but again did not impose an insurance floor. Practical risk-management for Lakewood hosts therefore comes from three sources: a stand-alone short-term-rental endorsement on the homeowner or landlord policy because standard NJ homeowner policies exclude business or transient use, the secondary host-liability protection built into the booking platform (Airbnb's AirCover and Vrbo's Liability Insurance both provide up to $1,000,000 per occurrence for covered claims), and any private requirement an HOA, condo association, or mortgage lender may impose. Hosts who rent three or more units in a calendar year are professionally managed lessors under N.J.S.A. 54:32D-1 and must register with the New Jersey Division of Revenue using Form NJ-REG at least 15 days before the first rental.