What a Landlord Cannot Do in New Jersey
The main limits New Jersey law puts on landlords — lockouts and utility shutoffs, entering without notice, retaliation, deposits, fees and discrimination — each with the statute or official source.
In short: a New Jersey landlord cannot evict without a court order, cannot punish a tenant for asserting legal rights where state law protects them, and must follow the state's rules on entry, deposits and fees shown below.
| Lockouts & utility shutoffs | Self-help eviction is illegal. A residence may be entered or retaken without the occupant's consent only through legal eviction process, and only a court officer may execute a warrant for possession. It is a disorderly persons offense, after a warning from police or another official, to take possession without a lawful warrant, including by changing or padlocking locks, removing belongings, or shutting off heat, electricity, water, or other vital services. A second offense within 5 years is a fourth-degree crime. A displaced tenant may re-enter with a police officer present. In a civil action, the tenant can recover possession, all damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney's fees, or treble damages if return to possession is not appropriate. Remedies in 2A:39-8 (https://lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/112/1189?f=templates$fn=document-frame.htm$3.0). Summary actions under 2A:39 are heard in the Special Civil Part (R. 6:1-2). |
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| Landlord entry notice | No statute. No N.J.S.A. provision sets a general notice period for landlord entry. State regulations for multiple dwellings (3+ units) require occupants to give the owner access for inspection and needed repairs on reasonable notice, which ordinarily is one day, and immediately in safety or structural emergencies. Other entry is governed by the lease. "Multiple dwelling" means a building with 3 or more units (N.J.A.C. 5:10-2.2). Bureau of Housing Inspection inspectors need the occupant's consent to inspect private living quarters, except in emergencies or with a warrant (N.J.A.C. 5:10-1.10(d)). Entering a residence without the occupant's consent, other than through legal eviction process, is unlawful entry and a disorderly persons offense (N.J.S.A. 2A:39-1, https://lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/112/1182?f=templates$fn=document-frame.htm$3.0). DCA's Truth in Renting guide (https://www.nj.gov/dca/codes/publications/pdf_lti/t_i_r.pdf) says no statute or case law requires access for other purposes, such as showings. |
| Landlord retaliation | A landlord may not serve a notice to quit, sue for possession, or substantially change the tenancy (including refusing to renew without cause) as a reprisal for the tenant: trying to secure or enforce rights under the lease or law; making a good-faith complaint to a government authority about a health or safety violation (after first notifying the landlord and allowing reasonable time to fix it); or organizing, joining, or taking part in a lawful organization. The tenant wins the possession case if reprisal is shown, and may sue for damages and injunctive relief. No fixed presumption period. Under 2A:42-10.12, a notice to quit or substantial change without cause after any protected act, or after a prior judgment for the tenant, creates a rebuttable presumption of reprisal, with no time limit stated. Exception: no reprisal is presumed from a refusal to renew if the tenant asked to renew sooner than 90 days before the lease or renewal date. The law does not apply to owner-occupied premises with not more than two rental units (2A:42-10.13). Source: N.J.S.A. 2A:42-10.10 to -10.13 |
| Security deposit limit | 1.5 times one month's rent. Any additional security collected in a year may not exceed 10% of the current deposit. Money 'deposited or advanced' as security or to be applied to payments under the lease is covered by the Act (N.J.S.A. 46:8-19), so advance rent counts. DCA's Truth in Renting guide also says a pet deposit counts toward the cap (DCA guide, not statute text). The Act does not apply to owner-occupied premises with not more than two rental units unless the tenant gives the landlord 30 days' written notice invoking it (N.J.S.A. 46:8-26). Statute text checked on the NJ Legislature statutes database (updated through P.L.2026, c.50); last amended by P.L.2003, c.188. Source: N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.2 |
| Penalty for withholding | If the tenant wins a suit for the return of the deposit, the court must award double the amount due, plus full court costs. Reasonable attorney's fees are at the court's discretion. Willfully withholding a deposit paid for a tenant on State or federal assistance carries a civil penalty of $500-$2,000 per offense (46:8-21.1). Such tenants need not sue to keep their program eligibility (46:8-21.5). Source: N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1 |
| Late fees | No general statutory cap was found. Senior citizens receiving Social Security old-age, Railroad Retirement, or other government pensions, and recipients of SSDI, SSI, or Work First New Jersey benefits, get a 5-business-day grace period when rent is due on the 1st. No late charge may be imposed for that period. Violating the grace-period rule is a disorderly persons offense (2A:42-6.2). In a nonpayment case, if the tenant pays everything owed within the 3-business-day post-warrant window, the late fee may not exceed the amount stated in the warrant application (2A:42-10.16a). Per the DCA guide, late fees must be in a written lease as 'additional rent' to be collected in an eviction case. Source: N.J.S.A. 2A:42-6.1 to -6.3 |
| Rent control / increase limits | No statewide rent control and no state preemption. Municipalities may adopt rent control or rent leveling ordinances. Multiple dwellings built after 1987 are exempt from municipal limits on periodic increases for the period of the initial mortgage amortization or 30 years from completion, whichever is less. Without initial mortgage financing, the exemption is 30 years. Where no local rent control applies, a tenant can still challenge an unconscionable increase in an eviction for nonpayment of an increase (2A:18-61.1(f)). |
| Statewide ban on refusing Section 8 / source of income | Yes, statewide. The Law Against Discrimination bars refusing to rent because of the source of any lawful income or rent payment, including Section 8 and other federal, state or local vouchers and rental assistance, nonprofit rental assistance, disability and veterans' benefits, and court-ordered payments such as child support or alimony. Listings may not exclude these sources. Under amendments signed January 12, 2026 (effective immediately), a landlord may not refuse a lawful source of payment, and any minimum-income requirement or financial standard must be based only on the portion of the rent the tenant will pay. Except for publicly assisted housing, the LAD does not apply to renting a unit in a two-family home where the owner lives in the other unit, or renting rooms in an owner-occupied one-family home (N.J.S.A. 10:5-5, definition of "real property"). AG / Division on Civil Rights guidance: https://www.njoag.gov/about/divisions-and-offices/division-on-civil-rights-home/know-the-law/njlad/discrimination-in-housing/. Military/veteran housing allowances must also be counted as income (N.J.S.A. 46:8-51). |
| Cameras & privacy | No landlord-specific camera statute. It is a crime to observe another person without consent, knowing one is not licensed or privileged to do so, where a reasonable person would know the person may expose intimate parts or engage in sexual activity and would not expect to be observed. The same statute separately criminalizes photographing, filming, or recording such a person and disclosing such images. In multiple dwellings, tenants must give the owner access for inspections and required repairs on reasonable notice, ordinarily one day, and immediately in safety or structural emergencies (N.J.A.C. 5:10-5.1(c)); otherwise entry is governed by the lease and the covenant of quiet enjoyment. Source: N.J.S.A. 2C:14-9 |
| Other rental fees | Limited. A landlord may not require rent or other lease payments to be made by electronic funds transfer, including automatic recurring transfers. If a lease lets the landlord recover attorney's fees or expenses (including as 'additional rent'), the law reads in a matching right for a tenant who wins to recover theirs, and the lease must state this in bold type. Application fees are capped (see application_fees). No statute found that caps move-in or convenience fees or requires all-in rent disclosure. 2A:18-61.66: https://lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/112/737?f=templates$fn=document-frame.htm$3.0. A tenant who simply pays the rent due after a nonpayment complaint is filed does not count as having won. The 46:8 section list (database current through P.L.2026, c.50) shows no other fee section. P.L.2026, c.43 (FAIR Act) concerns algorithmic rent setting and adds no tenant fee rule. |
Can I sue my landlord in New Jersey? · All New Jersey tenant rights
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.