Trenton, NJ Short-Term Rentals: Repeat Violator Strikes (2026)
Key Facts
- Strike threshold
- 3+ violations within 6 months
- Counted violations
- Ch. 228 findings or noise/trash/disorderly conduct
- Result
- Unit becomes ineligible short-term rental
- Enforcing agency
- Department of Inspections
- Fine for listing anyway
- $300 per violation per day
Summary
Trenton makes a residential unit ineligible for short-term rental use once it racks up three violations, whether findings under the short-term rental chapter itself or three violations of noise, trash-disposal, or disorderly-conduct laws, within any rolling six-month period. The Department of Inspections tracks these findings and removes qualifying units from the registry.
Residential units that are the subject of three or more findings of violations of this chapter within a six-month period, or three or more violations of any municipal ordinance or state law or code relating to excessive noise, improper disposal of trash, disorderly conduct, or other similar conduct within a six-month period.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4853025; v21 updated 2025-12-16; through 12-16-2025).
Full Breakdown
Trenton City Code § 228-3.A(4) strips short-term rental eligibility from any residential unit tied to three or more findings of violation of Chapter 228 within six months, or three or more violations of any municipal ordinance or state law covering excessive noise, improper trash disposal, disorderly conduct, or similar conduct in that same six-month window. The same section also disqualifies units subject to affordability covenants, units barred from subleasing by other law, units in properties declared a nuisance under Chapters 132 or 171, and units carrying open building, sanitary, zoning, or fire code violations, stop-work orders, or abatement orders (§ 228-3.A(1)-(5)). If a disqualifying order arrives after a unit is already listed, § 228-3.A(5) suspends the registration until the violation is cured.
Findings of violation are generated through the complaint process in § 228-11: a resident files a written complaint with the address, unit number, and nature of the alleged violation; the City designee investigates within 30 days; the owner gets notice and 14 days to request a hearing before a violation is sustained. Each finding under this process, or a separate municipal or state citation for noise, trash, or disorderly conduct, counts toward the three-strike total. Owners and booking agents who keep advertising a unit after it crosses the threshold face the ineligible-unit penalty in § 228-12.A.
Violations & Fines
Offering an ineligible unit, one with three or more qualifying strikes, as a short-term rental draws a $300-per-violation-per-day fine under § 228-12.A, charged to the owner or to a booking agent that accepts a fee for the booking. Each day of continued listing is a separate violation, and the City may also seek a court injunction stopping the rental.
Frequently Asked Questions
What violations count toward Trenton's three-strike rule for short-term rentals?
Can I keep renting my unit short-term once it hits three strikes?
Who decides whether a violation counts toward the three strikes?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Trenton
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