Jersey City Landlord-Tenant Rules

Rent stabilization: Jersey City has rent control under Chapter 260 of the Municipal Code, run by the Office of Landlord/Tenant Relations in the Division of Housing Preservation. For a covered unit, a landlord may not impose or collect a rent increase greater than the percentage the City posts on its Consumer Price Index chart, or 4%, whichever is less. The City publishes a month-by-month chart of allowable percentages; months where the CPI change is above 4% are starred, and the 4% ceiling applies. Landlords can ask the Rent Leveling Board for larger increases only through a capital improvement, vacancy capital improvement or hardship application, with notice to tenants. A tenant who believes the rent charged is illegal can file an Illegal Rent Petition, and a tenant whose building or apartment conditions have declined can file a Failure to Maintain Service Petition asking for a rent reduction. The landlord must be served with a copy of the petition, and the tenant files proof of service with the Office.; Required notices/registration: Every landlord of a non-owner-occupied residential dwelling must file a Landlord Registration Statement. Buildings with fewer than three rental units register with the Jersey City Clerk; buildings with more than two units register with the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, which forwards a copy to the Clerk. The landlord gives each new tenant a copy, which the tenant signs and dates as received. Separately, the Office of Landlord/Tenant Relations requires annual registration statements for rent control purposes: a no-fee registration for non-owner-occupied 1 to 4 unit properties, and a two-part registration with a rent roll for buildings of five or more units. Buildings with six or more units that do not have an on-site superintendent must file a superintendent exemption request. Short-term rentals need a City permit under Chapter 255, and the Division of Housing Preservation carries out the state-required lead-based paint inspections of rental units built before 1978.; Tenant right to counsel: Ordinance 23-047 created a Division of Tenants' Right to Counsel in the Department of Housing, Economic Development & Commerce, with a director required to have the program fully in place by January 1, 2026. Covered proceedings include eviction cases in Landlord-Tenant Court, Jersey City Housing Authority tenancy or subsidy terminations, ejectment cases, housing discrimination and housing code matters, and Rent Leveling Board or other rent control proceedings. Tenants may apply as soon as they receive an eviction or ejectment notice and are to have access to a lawyer no later than one week before their first court date. Interpreters are provided in the tenant's primary language. Since July 1, 2025, owners must give tenants the City's written notice of tenants' rights and resources, including how to reach the right to counsel program, when a lease is signed, with any rent demand, and with any eviction or ejectment notice.