Fort Lee rent control: maximum rent increase (2026)
Bergen County — Chapter 324, Rent Control. Full ordinance text ↗
Summary
- Cap formula
- Standard annual increase capped at 5% of the prior base rent (not more than once per 12 months). For qualified senior or disabled tenants, a landlord may instead use the Maximum Allowable Percentage (MAP) formula: Class 1 dwellings = Operating Cost Adjustment + Tax Adjustment + Utilities Adjustment + Prior Year Carryover, capped at 6.5%; Class 2 dwellings = Operating Cost Adjustment + Tax Adjustment + Prior Year Carryover, capped at 5%.
- Frequency
- once per 12 months
- Notice required
- Any landlord seeking a rent increase shall notify the tenant by certified mail and the Rent Leveling Board of the calculations involved in computing the increase, including the base rent and the OCA, UA (if applicable), TA, PYC, and MAP calculations; the Board may prescribe a form for this purpose (§324-13). No specific number of days before the increase is stated in this section.
- Who's covered
- Residential rental units, 1 or more units
- Exemptions
- motels, hotels
- structures with fewer than 3 units, one owner-occupied
- Fort Lee Housing Authority dwellings
- nonprofit-owned buildings of 12 units or fewer restricted to Section 8 / Family Self-Sufficiency Program tenants
- new construction (30 yrs from certificate of occupancy, N.J.S.A. 2A:42-84.2)
- Vacancy decontrol
- Vacancy Decontrol until re-rental.
- Registration
- Every landlord must register with the Rent Board, providing the owner's (and any partners'/corporate registered agent's) name and address, the managing agent's name and address, the number of apartment units, the rent charged for each unit, the number of tenants per unit, and the building's age; failure to register at least 6 months before seeking relief under the chapter precludes the landlord from obtaining relief (§324-14).
- Surcharges
- Capital improvement surcharges are governed by Article IV; reduced rent increase percentage applications by Article IX (exact formulas/amounts not independently verified from the retrieved excerpts).
- Penalties
- General violations (Article VII, §324-38): a violation of any provision of the chapter, including filing a misstatement of fact with the Rent Leveling Board, is punishable by a fine of not more than $200 and imprisonment for not more than 30 days, or both; a violation affecting more than one leasehold is a separate violation as to each leasehold. Anti-warehousing violations (Article VIII, §324-48, amended 2002/2006): a violation by an owner is punishable by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $2,000, with each day an owner is in violation of the re-rental requirement (§324-44) a separate violation. Rental agents/brokers party to a lease violating the maximum allowable rent are also subject to the §324-38 penalty and referral to the NJ Real Estate Commission (§324-41).
- Status
- active
- Confidence
- high
- Last verified
- 2026-09-23
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Ordinance text
At the expiration of a period of not less than 12 consecutive calendar months following the effective date of the last rental increase, a landlord may receive an increase in the rent for such rental unit not to exceed 5% of the prior base rent, subject to Subsection C below. [...] The MAP shall be calculated annually as hereinafter provided. The MAP for a Class 1 dwelling shall consist of the Operating Costs Adjustment (OCA) + Tax Adjustment (TA) + Utilities Adjustment (UA) + Prior Year Carryover (PYC), if any. The MAP for a Class 2 dwelling shall consist of OCA + TA + PYC, if any. [...] if the MAP in any calendar year exceeds 6.5% for any Class 1 dwelling or 5% for any Class 2 dwelling, the MAP for said calendar year shall be limited to 6.5% or 5% respectively for such dwelling and the excess percentage shall constitute the PYC for said dwelling for the subsequent calendar year.Chapter 324, Rent Control — https://ecode360.com/10069189
State survey entry
- Increase limit
- 5%. For qualified seniors or disabled tenants, use MAP formula. Class 1 MAP: Operating Costs Adjustment (OCA) + Tax Adjustment (TA) + Utilities Adjustment (UA) + Prior Year Carryover (PYC). Class 2 MAP: OCA + TA + PYC.
- Units covered
- 1+
- Exceptions
- Exception(s) - Motels, hotels, structures containing less than 3 units with one being owner-occupied, dwellings owned by Fort Lee Housing Authority, and dwellings in buildings of 12 units or less that are: owned by a nonprofit, intended to be occupied by persons eligible for low income housing, and in which tenancies are limited to persons receiving Section 8 or who participate in a Family Self-Sufficiency Program.
Vacancy Decontrol until re-rental.
Source: NJ Department of Community Affairs, 2026 Rent Control Survey — nj.gov
Open questions
- Last-amendment date could not be pinned down beyond a reference to 'Ord. No. 99-9' with no date given.
- cap.fixed_pct (5.0) and cap.ceiling_pct (6.5) were added/corrected during ordinance-verbatim verification: the prior record left these null despite the ordinance text explicitly capping the standard annual increase at 5% of prior base rent and capping the senior/disabled MAP formula at 6.5% for Class 1 dwellings (5% for Class 2).
Rent board
Rent Leveling Office · (201) 654-3036 · https://www.fortleenj.org/315/Rent-Leveling-Board
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