Manchester rent control: maximum rent increase (2026)
Ocean County — Chapter 326, Rent Leveling. Full ordinance text ↗
Maximum rent increase
No standard formula on file — see below
The Rent Leveling Board reviews the CPI each October and sets the following year's cap rate; regardless of the rate set, no increase may exceed 10% of the tenant's monthly rent, unless a larger increase is separately mandated by law.
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This town's cap formula ("other") doesn't fit a standard pattern the calculator can evaluate automatically. Read the formula and verbatim text below, and check open questions.
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Summary
- Cap formula
- The Rent Leveling Board reviews the CPI each October and sets the following year's cap rate; regardless of the rate set, no increase may exceed 10% of the tenant's monthly rent, unless a larger increase is separately mandated by law.
- Frequency
- once per 12 months (annual Board-set cap rate)
- Notice required
- Landlords seeking an above-cap increase must post signage at park entrances (legible from 15 feet) and give written notice to each occupied unit explaining the reason for the request; for major-improvement surcharges, notice must include total cost, useful life, average cost per space, and the surcharge sought.
- Who's covered
- Mobile home parks (mobile homes only)
- Exemptions
- new construction (30 yrs from certificate of occupancy, N.J.S.A. 2A:42-84.2)
- Surcharges
- Major-improvement surcharges (projects over $25,000, e.g. street/utility extensions, clubhouse) may be approved if tenants benefit directly; debt-service calculations may not exceed the prime rate plus 1%. Above-cap increases may proceed without a Board hearing if the landlord obtains signed certifications from 75% of units plus 1.
- Status
- active
- Confidence
- medium
- Last verified
- 2026-09-23
Ordinance text
At the October Rent Leveling Board meeting, the Board shall review and consider the Consumer Price Index and set the cap rate for the following calendar year. [...] In any event, no increase granted by authority of this section shall exceed 10% of the tenant's monthly rent, unless said increase or major improvement is mandated by law.Chapter 326, Rent Leveling — https://ecode360.com/MA0531/laws/LF2226327.pdf
State survey entry
- Increase limit
- Lesser or 3.5% or CPI if the CPI increase is greater than zero
- Units covered
- Mobile homes only
- Exceptions
- Vacancy Decontrol (until re-rented).
Source: NJ Department of Community Affairs, 2026 Rent Control Survey — nj.gov
Open questions
- The DCA survey describes the cap as 'the lesser of 3.5% or CPI (if the CPI increase is greater than zero),' but the current ordinance text (as amended by Ord. No. 24-41) instead describes an annual Board-set cap rate based on CPI review, itself capped at 10% of rent; no '3.5%' figure appears anywhere in the retrieved ordinance text (confirmed by a targeted text search). The DCA figure may reflect an outdated or default rate not shown in the excerpt retrieved, or the Board's currently-set rate could in fact be 3.5% without that number appearing as a fixed statutory figure. Recommend confirming the actual current cap rate directly with the Rent Leveling Board.
- The retrieved ordinance text contains no vacancy-decontrol provision, but the DCA survey states vacancy decontrol applies (until re-rented); this could not be reconciled from the text obtained, and no penalty provisions were found either.
- Exact effective date of Ord. No. 24-41 not confirmed (only introduction 10/28/2024 and a scheduled final-passage date of 11/12/2024 were found).
Rent board
Rent Leveling Board · (732) 657-8121 · https://manchestertwp.com/committees/rent-leveling-board/