Hackensack rent control: maximum rent increase (2026)
Bergen County — Chapter 134, Rent Stabilization. Full ordinance text ↗
Summary
- Cap formula
- 5% where the landlord supplies heat, 4.5% where the tenant pays for heat; qualified senior tenants receive a 1-percentage-point discount off whichever rate applies (4% with landlord heat, 3.5% with tenant-paid heat).
- Frequency
- once per 12+ consecutive months
- Notice required
- 30 days — Landlord must notify the tenant in writing, by certified mail return receipt requested, not less than 30 days in advance, showing the calculations behind the increase (§134-3B(2)).
- Who's covered
- Buildings with 3 or more rental units
- Exemptions
- Motels, hotels, and similar dwellings
- First-time rentals
- Public housing
- Licensed boarding and rooming houses
- new construction (30 yrs from certificate of occupancy, N.J.S.A. 2A:42-84.2)
- Vacancy decontrol
- A rental unit that becomes vacant for any reason is not subject to the Rent Stabilization increase provisions for that re-rental (§134-6B); after the ordinance's effective date, vacated units also lose future tax-surcharge eligibility (§134-6D). DCA notes decontrol lasts until re-rental.
- Surcharges
- Capital improvement surcharges (§134-5): cost divided by useful life, apportioned by habitable-room ratio, paid monthly. Hardship increases (§134-4): available when operating expenses exceed 60% of gross maximized income, requires CPA documentation and Board approval. Tax surcharges (§134-7): property tax increase apportioned among units by habitable-room ratio, paid in 12 monthly installments.
- Penalties
- Willful violations are punishable as provided in Chapter 1, General Provisions (§134-13); specific fine amounts not stated in the retrieved text.
- Status
- active
- Confidence
- high
- Last verified
- 2026-09-23
Calculate your maximum increase
Ordinance text
At the expiration of a period of not less than 12 consecutive calendar months following the effective date of the last previous rental increase of any rental unit subject to rent regulation under the terms of this chapter, a landlord may demand, receive or collect an increase in the rent for such rental unit which shall not exceed: Five percent where the landlord provides heat to the rental unit; Four and one-half percent where the tenant is obliged to pay for the heating of the rental unit; or Four percent for a qualified senior tenant where the landlord provides heat to the rental unit; or Three and one-half percent for a qualified senior tenant where the tenant is obliged to pay for the heating of the rental unit.Chapter 134, Rent Stabilization — https://ecode360.com/13166925
State survey entry
- Increase limit
- 5% if landlord pays 4.5% if tenant pay 1% off for seniors
- Units covered
- 3+
- Exceptions
- Exception(s) - Motels, hotels, similar dwellings, first-time rentals, public housing, licensed boarding and rooming houses. Vacancy Decontrol until re-rental.
Source: NJ Department of Community Affairs, 2026 Rent Control Survey — nj.gov
Open questions
- Exact penalty fine/imprisonment amounts under Chapter 1 General Provisions were not in the retrieved excerpt.
- registration is left null: all 16 sections of Chapter 134 (§134-1 through §134-16, confirmed complete via the chapter's own section listing) were reviewed and contain no landlord-registration requirement. Chapter 134's only filing-type provisions are the tenant's application for qualified-senior-tenant status (§134-12) and surcharge/hardship applications. It remains possible a general rental-property registration requirement exists in a different chapter of the Hackensack code (outside this chapter's code_url) that was not in scope for this rent-control-focused chapter.
Rent board
Rental Stabilization Board · (201) 646-3920 x2020 · https://www.hackensack.org/rent/
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