Perth Amboy, NJ Short-Term Rentals: Primary-Residence-Only Rule (2026)

Chapter 369 of the Perth Amboy City Code, adopted by the City Council on 6-24-2024 as Ord. No. 2169-2024, ties every short-term rental permit to an owner who lives on the property. Section 369-1 defines OWNER-OCCUPIED as the owner who resides in the short-term rental property, or in the principal residential unit with which it is associated on the same lot, and who identifies that address as his or her principal residence. When the owner is an entity instead of an individual, at least one principal or member of the entity must live there and claim it as a principal residence.

The PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE definition has three parts, and the code says all of them must be met. At least one of the property owners spends the majority of his or her non-working time at the address. The address is most clearly the center of that person's domestic life. And the address is identified on the person's driver's license or State identification card as the legal address. An owner who fails any one of the three has no principal residence for purposes of the chapter.

That definition drives the property classifications in § 369-2B. Short-term rentals are permitted in condominium, homeowners association or cooperative units only where the owner legally identifies an address within the association as a principal residence. They are permitted in owner-occupied single-family residences, in two dwelling units of a two-family dwelling where one unit is owner-occupied, and in no more than three rooms of a single-family home run as a bed and breakfast where the rest of the home is the owner's principal residence. Two dwelling units in a multiple dwelling of three or fewer units, or of four units, also qualify where the building is outside an association and another unit is owner-occupied.

Proof is part of the application. Under § 369-4A the applicant submits a copy of the owner's driver's license or State identification card confirming the property is the principal residence, a sworn acknowledgement of compliance, and copies of two utility bills from the STRP that are less than 30 days old. Section 369-2H carves out one narrow exception: an owner who was already operating two properties when the chapter was adopted can keep one non-owner-occupied property, provided an individual designated by the owner resides there and identifies it as his or her principal residence.