Jersey City, NJ Short-Term Rentals: Night Caps (2026)

Section 255-2(E) sets the annual ceiling: 'Except as provide in subsection H of this section, rentals of any dwelling unit where the owner/operator of the short-term rental property is not present shall be conducted no more than sixty (60) total nights per calendar year. ' The exception referenced, § 255-2(H), lets an owner who was already operating two STRs when the 2019 ordinance took effect keep one non-owner-occupied property running past the general 60-night ceiling, provided a designated individual still resides in and claims the associated unit as a principal residence and the property otherwise complies with the chapter.

The cap works together with § 255-2(F), which separately bars unhosted rentals in multiple dwellings of more than four units regardless of nights used, and it does not apply at all to owner-occupied classifications such as the § 255-2(B)(6) bed-and-breakfast format, since those require the host to be living on site throughout. Because each excess night is its own violation rather than a single ongoing offense, an operator who books, say, 75 nights in a calendar year is exposed to 15 separate counts under § 255-7, not one.