Rental Property Rules in New Jersey (2026)

Elizabeth caps most annual rent increases at 3% over the prior year's base rent through its Fair Rental Housing Board…

Bergenfield has operated rent control since 1975 through a Rent Leveling Board that adjudicates landlord and tenant…

Cherry Hill Township has run rent control since the 1970s through its Rent Review Board. Landlords holding seven or…

Clifton caps rent for multiple dwellings of seven or more units under Chapter 363, limiting annual increases to 2% or…

Freehold Township caps rental increases on multiple dwelling units through a Rent Control Board established under…

Hackensack has run its own rent control law since 1990: Chapter 134, Rent Stabilization, caps annual rent increases on…

Hamilton Township caps annual rent increases in residential multi-family buildings under § 5-162 of the Rent Leveling…

Irvington runs one of New Jersey's real municipal rent control programs: landlords who supply heat can raise rent at…

Jersey City locks rents at the base level the landlord actually received on January 11, 1973, under Chapter 260's rent…

Lakewood Township, in Ocean County, caps most annual rent increases at 6.5% where the landlord supplies heat and 5%…

Linden runs a full municipal rent control system under City Code Chapter 11, one of the local regimes New Jersey law…

Newark caps annual rent increases in multiple dwellings at the CPI-U change or 4%, whichever is lower, enforced by a…

Passaic runs municipal rent control under Chapter 231, capping most multi-dwelling rent increases at 3% per 12 months…

Paterson runs a real rent control program: rents on covered multi-family buildings are frozen at their December 23…

Trenton caps annual rent increases at 4% for regular tenants and 2% for senior citizen or disabled tenants at lease…

Woodbridge Township runs a Rent Leveling Board that limits how much a landlord can raise rent on covered units. At…

Edison Township runs local rent control on covered rental units: annual increases are capped at 5% of the base rent at…

Toms River Township has no rent control in force: the Township Council repealed its Rent Leveling Board on March 11…

The New Jersey Anti-Eviction Act preempts local landlord-tenant law and limits residential evictions to specifically…

Edison's rent control ordinance defines "just cause", nonpayment, lease violations, disorderly conduct, or a bona fide…

Newark's Rent Control Ordinance bars a landlord from bringing an eviction action against a tenant as reprisal for…

Trenton's Rent Control chapter bars landlords from evicting, refusing to renew, or otherwise retaliating against a…

Woodbridge landlords covered by rent control cannot serve a notice to quit or sue to remove a tenant as payback for the…

All New Jersey residential rental property owners must file a Landlord Identity Registration with the municipality and…

No one may run a hotel, boardinghouse or rooming house in participating Atlantic County municipalities without a…

Elizabeth landlords covered by the rent control chapter must register every rental dwelling annually with the Fair…

Freehold Township requires every rental unit to be registered annually with the Township Clerk before it can be rented…

Owners of rental units in Hackensack must carry at least $500,000 in liability insurance ($300,000 for an…

Hamilton Township requires every landlord to hold a valid rental registration before renting any unit, under § 268-18D…

Owners of any Lakewood Township building occupied by two or more families as tenants must register with the Township…

Anyone who owns, operates or manages a Newark building designed for three or more families must register with the City…

Every rental unit in Toms River Township must be registered with the Bureau of Property Maintenance and hold a…

Trenton requires every nonoccupant owner of a rented structure to register annually with the Department of Inspections…

Every owner of a rented building or structure in Woodbridge, including single-family rentals, must file a written…

Owners of two-family structures and nonowner-occupied single-family homes in Bergenfield must register annually with…

Every rental unit in Brick Township needs a rental certificate of occupancy before each new tenancy; owners must apply…

Cherry Hill Township landlords of one- and two-unit non-owner-occupied rentals must register with the Township Clerk…

Every owner and tenant of a Clifton dwelling unit must file a City dwelling certificate before a new lease, tenancy…

Every landlord in Edison Township must file an annual rental unit registration statement with the Township Clerk and…

Every residential rental (5+ units) and any commercial property open past 8 p.m. must register with Irvington's police…

Owners and landlords of any Jersey City dwelling with five or more housing spaces must file a landlord registration…

Every rental unit in Linden with fewer than five dwelling units in the building must be registered annually with the…

Every owner and tenant of a Passaic multiple dwelling must file a registration form with the Division of Housing before…

Landlords of Paterson's rent-leveled buildings (2+ units if not owner-occupied, 3+ if owner-occupied) must register…

When Newark's Office of Inspections and Enforcement finds a rented unit substandard and traces it to a violation of the…

New Jersey caps a residential security deposit at 1.5 times one month's rent, and any later additional deposit may rise…

Newark runs its own protected-tenancy process for senior and disabled tenants facing a no-fault eviction triggered by a…

Newark's rent control law lets a landlord pass through two specific costs to tenants above the normal rent cap: a…

Newark's inclusionary zoning code bars owners of income-restricted affordable rental units from rejecting an applicant…

Newark's Neighborhood Rehabilitation Program (NRP), run through the Division of Housing Assistance under City Code…

Before raising rent, a Bergenfield landlord must notify the tenant by certified mail of exactly how the increase was…

Before a Cherry Hill landlord's rent-increase petition can be heard, § 14-1.6f requires the landlord to serve every…

Landlords of regulated multiple dwellings in Clifton must wait a full 12 months between increases and notify the tenant…

Before raising rent on a controlled unit, an Edison Township landlord must mail the tenant written notice at least…

Elizabeth landlords covered by the rent control ordinance must give tenants written notice at least 30 days before any…

Freehold Township landlords seeking an automatic CPI-based rent increase under Township Code § 261-8 must give tenants…

Hackensack caps annual rent increases on stabilized units at 4% to 5% depending on who pays for heat, and requires…

Before raising rent, a Hamilton landlord must notify the tenant by certified mail or personal service under § 5-165…

Irvington landlords must give tenants 60 days' written notice before any rent increase permitted under the Township's…

Before raising rent for the cost-of-living increase Chapter 260 allows, a Jersey City landlord must give the tenant…

Before raising rent under Lakewood Township's Rent Control Ordinance, a landlord must give the tenant written notice…

Linden landlords must notify tenants of a rent increase by certified mail, return receipt requested, spelling out the…

Newark landlords cannot raise rent beyond the CPI-based cap, never more than 4% a year, and must give the tenant and…

Passaic landlords covered by rent stabilization must give tenants at least 30 days' written notice before any rent…

Paterson landlords raising rent under the rent leveling ordinance must give tenants and the Rent Leveling Administrator…

Landlords seeking a rent increase above the yearly cap for a capital improvement must notify Trenton tenants at least…

Woodbridge landlords under rent control must notify tenants by ordinary mail, with an affidavit of mailing, at least…

Cherry Hill Township bars renting out any dwelling unit, including apartments, houses, duplexes and condos, without a…

Before a vacant apartment in a Passaic multiple dwelling can be rented to a new tenant, City Code § 100-6 requires a…

Every leased dwelling in Woodbridge, including single-family rentals, must meet the property maintenance and space…

Atlantic County sets minimum room sizes, ceiling heights, egress, window and heating standards for hotels…

Bergenfield requires owners of every two-family structure and nonowner-occupied single-family home to register annually…

Brick Township adopts the 1980 New Jersey State Housing Code as its habitability standard and requires owners to obtain…

Clifton law bars anyone from occupying or renting out a dwelling unit that lacks a working kitchen sink, a private…

Before any Edison rental dwelling unit can be re-rented, the owner must pass a Division of Health reoccupancy…

Elizabeth's Housing Code sets hard numeric minimums for rental habitability: landlords must supply potable water…

Freehold Township adopts the New Jersey State Housing Code by reference under Code § 182-1 to set habitability…

Hackensack landlords must keep rental premises in a sanitary, safe condition under the Property Maintenance Code (Ch…

Chapter 268 of Hamilton's Township Code bars anyone from occupying or renting out a dwelling that doesn't meet baseline…

Irvington landlords cannot rent, lease or hand over any dwelling unit without a certificate of habitability from the…

Jersey City's Property Maintenance Code requires owners to supply at least 68°F between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. and 65°F…

Lakewood adopts the New Jersey State Housing Code as its habitability guide and lets the Department of Code Enforcement…

Linden's Housing Code sets a hard 68-degree minimum indoor temperature for rental units and rooming houses. Landlords…

Long Branch bars anyone from occupying or renting a dwelling unit that does not meet the 2021 International Property…

Newark's Housing Code puts upkeep squarely on the landlord: dwellings must stay in sound, hazard-free repair…

Paterson's Housing-Property Maintenance Code sets minimum standards for light, ventilation, heat, sanitation and fire…

Village of Ridgewood law requires landlords to heat rented homes and apartments to at least 68°F between 6 a.m. and 11…

Toms River Township has adopted the 2006 International Property Maintenance Code as its rental habitability standard…

Trenton's Housing Code bars anyone from occupying or renting out a dwelling that fails its minimum standards for heat…

New Jersey sets no general statutory cap on residential late fees, leaving the amount to the lease subject to…

To end a month-to-month residential tenancy in New Jersey, either party gives at least one month's written notice…

Under New Jersey's Anti-Eviction Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1, a landlord may evict a covered tenant only on a statutory…

A squatter cannot gain title quickly in New Jersey. Under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-30, thirty years of actual, continuous…