Neptune rent control: maximum rent increase (2026)
Monmouth County — Rent Control/Protective Tenancy Ordinance No. 13-26, as amended (PDF). Full ordinance text ↗
Summary
- Cap formula
- Upon proper notice, the increase may not exceed the percentage change in the regional CPI between the figure published in the 16th month before termination and the figure published in the 4th month before termination; the resulting rent may be rounded to the nearest dollar.
- Frequency
- no more than one rental increase per year per housing space
- Notice required
- 60 days — Landlord seeking an increase must, at least 60 days before the effective date, notify the tenant of the calculations involved; the tenant then has a 5-business-day review period before being required to sign any rent-increase notice, renewal, or lease extension/renewal.
- Who's covered
- Buildings with 5 or more rental units
- Exemptions
- Motels, hotels, bed and breakfast facilities, guesthouses
- Commercial rentals
- Owner-occupied dwellings with 4 or fewer rental units
- Single-family structures and housing structures with 4 or fewer rental units
- Newly-constructed structures and units rented for the first time (exempt for the tenant's first year)
- Federally/State-preempted housing, e.g. HUD-owned, federally financed, or NJ Housing Finance Agency Law of 1967 housing
- new construction (30 yrs from certificate of occupancy, N.J.S.A. 2A:42-84.2)
- Vacancy decontrol
- Upon voluntary, uncoerced, or court-authorized termination of a tenancy, during or at the end of any lease, the rent is decontrolled; the new rent (and the rent previously charged) must be reported to the Rent Leveling Board within 15 days of renting the space.
- Registration
- New rent and previously-charged rent must be reported to the Rent Leveling Board within 15 days of renting a space (vacancy turnover reporting); no separate general annual registration requirement was found in the retrieved text.
- Surcharges
- Hardship surcharge standard requires the landlord show net operating income of at least 40% of gross annual income after deducting reasonable/necessary operating expenses. Capital improvement surcharges may not exceed 15% of the tenant's rent.
- Penalties
- Graduated fines: not more than $500 for a first offense, not more than $1,000 for a second offense, and $1,250 for a third offense.
- Status
- active
- Confidence
- high
- Last verified
- 2026-09-23
Calculate your maximum increase
Ordinance text
Upon proper notice at the expiration of a lease or periodic tenancy, no landlord may request or receive an increase greater than the percentage increase, if any, in the Price Index published in the fourth month prior to the month in which the lease or periodic tenancy terminates over the Price Index published in the sixteenth month prior to the month of termination.Rent Control/Protective Tenancy Ordinance No. 13-26, as amended (PDF) — https://neptunetownship.org/sites/default/files/documents/RentLeveling/Rent%20Control%20Ord%20with%20amendments_0.pdf
State survey entry
- Increase limit
- No greater than the percentage increase in the CPI for the New York – East – New Jersey region published in the fourth month prior to the month in which the lease or periodic tenancy terminates over the CPI published in the sixteenth month prior to the month of termination. Hardship or capital improvement increases may be approved.
- Units covered
- 5+
- Exceptions
- Exception(s): motels, hotels, bed and breakfast facilities, guesthouses; commercial rentals; owner-occupied dwellings with four (4) units or less rental units; single-family structures and housing structures in general with four (4) rental units or less. Newly-constructed structures and those rented for the first time are exempt for the tenant's first year rental. Further exemption may exist by the preemption by Federal and State Statutes regulating residential rents such as, but not limited to, dwellings owned by HUD, financed under Federal programs and subject to regulations promulgated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and housing regulated and provided under the New Jersey Housing Finance Agency Law of 1967.
Vacancy Decontrol (until re-rented).
Source: NJ Department of Community Affairs, 2026 Rent Control Survey — nj.gov
Rent board
Rent Leveling Board · (732) 988-5200 ext- 235 · https://neptunetownship.org/rent-leveling-board
Generate a rent increase notice
Fill in the tenant, unit, and rent details and get a printable, ordinance-cited rent increase notice for Neptune — $9, pay by card.
Generate notice — $9