About NJ Rent Control

NJ Rent Control is an independent reference site run by Kade Angell.

Why this exists

New Jersey has no statewide rent cap. Rent control is enabled town-by-town under home rule — roughly 115 municipalities have adopted their own ordinance, each with its own formula, notice rules, and exemptions. The state's own survey of those ordinances (the NJ Department of Community Affairs' Rent Control Survey) is a useful starting point, but it's a snapshot, and it doesn't always keep pace with what towns actually amend. A few concrete examples found while building this site:

• New Brunswick amended its ordinance effective January 1, 2024, tightening its CPI-based cap to a 1%–4% band. The DCA survey still lists the prior 2.5%–5.5% band. See New Brunswick's page for the current ordinance text and the discrepancy noted directly.
• Passaic rewrote its rent stabilization ordinance in 2025, replacing a CPI-based cap of up to 6% with a flat 3% cap plus a separate itemized property-tax pass-through fee. The DCA survey still shows the older 6% figure. See Passaic's page.
• Belleville amended its rent-leveling chapter in February 2026 (Ord. No. 04-26). The current code no longer contains a separate 4%-per-lease-renewal sub-cap that the prior ordinance text and the DCA survey both describe — lease-renewal increases now tie directly to the single 5%-per-12-months figure. See Belleville's page.
• Outside rent control entirely: New Jersey's lead-safe rental certification law was amended in September 2024 (P.L.2024, c.74) to extend certificates from two years to three. The DCA's own program guide, FAQ page, and worked timeline example still say two years. See the lead-safe certification hub.

None of this makes the DCA survey unreliable — it's cited directly on this site wherever ordinance text itself couldn't be located, and it's shown alongside the ordinance quote even when they agree. It just means a single statewide spreadsheet can't track 115+ independently amended local codes in real time. This site's job is narrower: read the current, published ordinance and statute text for each town, quote it verbatim, and say plainly when it disagrees with the state survey. See the methodology page for how that's done.

How it's funded

Each town page offers an optional $9 printable rent-increase notice, generated from the town's own cap and notice rules. That's the only thing sold on this site. There are no ads, and no visitor or subscriber data is sold to anyone.

Independence, and what this isn't

NJ Rent Control is not a government body, not a rent leveling board, and not affiliated with the State of New Jersey, the NJ Department of Community Affairs, or any municipality. It is not a law firm, and nothing on this site is legal advice or a substitute for advice from a licensed New Jersey attorney about your specific situation. Always confirm current terms with your municipality's rent leveling board or municipal clerk before relying on a figure here.

Contact

Found an error, or have a correction? Email hello@njrentcontrol.com — see the corrections page for what to include and what happens next.