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

Union City has not adopted an STR-specific insurance requirement because Chapter 296, Article V (Short-Term Vacation Rentals in Residential Properties Prohibited) makes the underlying use unlawful. There is no permit, license, or registration that would carry a $500K-or-$1M coverage condition typical of cities that authorize short-term rentals. The applicable insurance framework instead comes from New Jersey state law. P.L. 2022, c.92 (signed Aug. 5, 2022; codified primarily in N.J.S.A. 46:8-39 and related sections) requires every owner of a rental unit, and every business owner, to maintain liability insurance for negligent acts and omissions in an amount of no less than $500,000 for combined property damage and bodily injury or death of one or more persons in any one accident or occurrence. For a multifamily home of four or fewer units in which one unit is owner-occupied, the minimum is $300,000. The statute requires owners to register annually with the municipality, providing a certificate of insurance evidencing the required coverage, and authorizes municipal fines from $500 to $5,000 per offense for failure to maintain or register the policy. The law applies to new policies issued after Nov. 3, 2022 and to in-force policies on renewal on or after Feb. 1, 2023. Because Union City prohibits the STR use itself, an operator who lists a Union City property on Airbnb, Vrbo, or any transient marketplace cannot cure the prohibition by carrying STR endorsements such as Airbnb's Host Liability Insurance or a separate commercial-host policy; the local code violation is independent of insurance status. Standard homeowner policies typically exclude business-use rentals, so any unlawful STR activity may also be uninsured at the carrier level. Hudson County does not impose its own rental-unit insurance overlay; the state statute and Union City's STR ban are the controlling authorities.