Milltown rent control: no local ordinance (2026)

Middlesex County — no local rent control ordinance on file.

What this means for a rent increase

New Jersey has no statewide cap on rent increases. Without a local rent-control ordinance, Milltown has no percentage cap either — but a rent increase still isn't unlimited:

• Unconscionable-increase standard: for units covered by the Anti-Eviction Act (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 et seq.), a court can strike down an increase so large it would "shock the conscience of a fair and honest person" (Fromet Properties, Inc. v. Buel, 294 N.J. Super. 601 (App. Div. 1996)), weighing the size of the increase, the landlord's expenses, comparable-area rents, and the parties' relative bargaining position. The landlord bears the burden of proving the increase is not unconscionable.
• Owner-occupied, 2 or fewer rental units: the Anti-Eviction Act's notice-to-quit/unconscionability mechanics don't apply the same way to an owner-occupied building with 2 or fewer rental units — a different, less protective notice-period scheme governs instead (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1's opening clause).
• Notice required: a rent increase must terminate the current tenancy and offer a new one at the higher rent, with at least one full month's notice before the increase takes effect (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1(f), 2A:18-61.2) — delivered by personal delivery, by leaving a copy at the tenant's usual place of abode with a household member age 14 or older, or by certified mail (regular mail to follow if unclaimed). It can't take effect mid-term on a fixed-term lease.
• New construction is separately exempt from any local rent control for 30 years from the certificate of occupancy (N.J.S.A. 2A:42-84.2) — moot here since there's no local ordinance to be exempt from, but relevant if Milltown adopts one later.
• Pending bills, not law: statewide rent-cap and unconscionability-codifying bills (e.g. S452/A751, A5432) remain pending in the Legislature as of September 2026 — none is currently enacted.

Checklist for raising rent in Milltown

1. Confirm the unit isn't in an owner-occupied building with 2 or fewer rental units — those fall under a different, less protective notice-period scheme instead of the rules below.
2. Set the new rent. There's no percentage cap here, but it must not be "unconscionable" under Fromet Properties, Inc. v. Buel — be ready to justify it against your costs and comparable rents nearby; the burden is on the landlord.
3. Write a notice that terminates the current tenancy and offers a new one at the higher rent — a notice that just states a new number doesn't fit the statutory structure.
4. Give at least one full month's notice before the increase takes effect (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1(f), 2A:18-61.2), and never mid-term on a fixed-term lease.
5. Deliver it by personal delivery, by leaving a copy with a household member age 14 or older, or by certified mail (regular mail to follow if unclaimed).
6. If the unit was built before 1978, confirm its lead-safe certificate (method: visual assessment here) is current before or at the next turnover.

Middlesex County towns that do have rent control

12 of 25 municipalities in Middlesex County currently have a local rent control ordinance on file:

• East Brunswick — Rent may be increased by no more than the percentage increase in the CPI (all items except real estate taxes) for the New York/Northeastern New Jersey region over the most recent 12-month period.
• Edison — A flat 5% per annum cap on the base rent; hardship or capital improvement surcharges (up to 15% of rent) may be separately approved by the Fair Rental Housing Board.
• Highland Park — CPI average increase over 60 month period ending in September of preceding year (NY-Northeast NJ urban consumer CPI).
• Metuchen — The lesser of 7.5% or the percentage difference in CPI between 90 days before lease expiration/termination and 90 days before the lease term began.
• New Brunswick — The Northeast Region CPI-U change (September to August), but no less than 1% and no more than 4%, as the annual base rent increase adopted by the rent control board; limited to 50% of that if the unit has open violations older than three months.
• North Brunswick — The monthly base rent may increase by up to the percentage change in the CPI for the NY-Northeastern NJ region from March of the prior year to March of the current year; if tenants supply their own heat, the increase is limited to 80% of that CPI figure. A separate formula applies to manufactured (mobile) home parks.
• Old Bridge — At the expiration of a lease or termination of a periodic tenancy of at least 12 months, the increase may not exceed the lesser of the CPI as of January 1 of the current year or 3%, reviewed annually by the Township Council; real estate taxes passed through to tenants are excluded from this calculation.
• Perth Amboy — At lease expiration/termination, the maximum increase is 3% for tenants whose rent includes water service, and 2.5% for tenants whose rent does not include water service; periodic tenants with terms under 1 year are not subject to an increase until the tenancy exceeds 12 months, at which point the same 3%/2.5% caps apply to the rent paid in the 12th month.
• Piscataway — The lesser of (1) the average CPI increase over the previous 12-month period, or (2) 6% of the rent in effect under the expiring lease.
• Sayreville — The increase equals the change between the average CPI of the preceding year and the average CPI of the year before that, subject to a maximum of 5% and a minimum of 2%, per the NJ DCA 2026 Rent Control Survey (ordinance text not yet verified).
• South Brunswick — DCA survey formula: Rent Adjustment (RA) = (Y + Y1 + Y2 + Y3 + Y4) * 5, where Y is the percent change in the applicable CPI subindex for the current year and Y1–Y4 are the percent changes for each of the four previous years. This is an unusual multi-year formula that could not be verified against the ordinance text; it is copied as-is from the DCA survey and should not be treated as a confirmed computation method (a divide-by-5 average, rather than multiply-by-5, would be the more typical construction of such a formula, but this has not been confirmed).
• Woodbridge — A flat 5% cap on the existing base rent for covered units (generally buildings with more than 4 units); landlords may apply to the Rent Leveling Board for additional increases beyond the cap based on documented hardship, capital improvements, or increased operating costs.