Establishes Statewide rent control.

S4451

SENATE, No. 4451

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED JUNE 15, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� BRITNEE N. TIMBERLAKE

District 34 (Essex)

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes Statewide rent control.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act

concerning rent increase limits, and
supplementing chapter 18 of Title 2A of the New Jersey
Statutes and chapter 27D of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1. �� As used in P.L.��� ,
c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):

���� "Base rent" means
the amount charged in monthly rent for a rental unit.

���� "Landlord" means the
person or persons who own or purport to own a building in which there is rented
or offered for rent a rental unit under either a written or oral lease.� In the
case of a mobile or manufactured home park, "landlord" shall mean the
owner of an individual dwelling unit or a dwelling site within the mobile or
manufactured home park, if the dwelling unit or dwelling site is offered for
rent.�

���� "Rental unit" means
any building or structure, or any part thereof or land appurtenant thereto
rented or offered for rent for living or dwelling purposes, but shall not
include public housing or dwelling space in any hotel or other place of
transient accommodation.� "Rental unit" shall also mean, in the case
of a mobile or manufactured home park, an individual dwelling unit or a
dwelling site within the mobile or manufactured home park, if the dwelling unit
or dwelling site is offered for rent.

���� "Public housing"
means housing for persons of low- or moderate-income, which is owned by a
municipality, county, the State, or the federal government, or any agency or
instrumentality thereof.

���� "Tenant" means a
lessee, sublessee, licensee, or other person entitled to the possession or to
the use or occupancy of the whole or a part of a rental unit.

���� 2.� a.� Except as provided in
section 3 of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as
this bill), a landlord shall not increase the rent on a rental unit:

���� (1) �for a current tenant, by
more than four percent within a five-year period over the rent charged during
the previous rental term, or more than two percent within a one-year period; or

���� (2) �for a new tenancy in
which no tenant from a prior tenancy in the prior year remains in lawful
possession of the rental unit, by more than 10 percent over the rent charged
during the last term of the previous tenancy.

���� b.� The provisions of
subsection a. of this section shall not apply to:

���� (1)� a multiple dwelling
subject to the provisions of P.L.1987, c.153 (C.2A:42-84.1 et seq.); or

���� (2)� a rental unit that is
subject to affordability controls pursuant to:

���� (a)� project-based federal
rental assistance, authorized pursuant to section 8 of the United States
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. s.1437f), or other federal or State
project-based assistance;

���� (b)� the Uniform Housing
Affordability Controls promulgated by the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage
Finance Agency; or

���� (c)� the rent and income
limits established by the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit program
pursuant to section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. s.42).

���� c.� A landlord may file an
application for a waiver of the rent increase limit as set forth in subsection
a. of this section, in accordance with section 3 of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.�������
) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).�

���� d.� A landlord who violates
subsection a. of this section shall be liable to a penalty, payable to the
tenant, in an amount equal to the greater of $500 or three times the difference
between the rental increase and the allowable rental increase, plus reasonable
attorney fees and expenses incurred in proving a violation.� The penalty shall
be collected and enforced by a summary proceeding.� The Superior Court of New
Jersey, Law Division, Special Civil Part shall have jurisdiction over the
proceedings.

���� 3.� A landlord may file an
application for a waiver of the rent increase limit set forth in subsection a.
of section 2 of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as
this bill) with the Commissioner of Community Affairs.� In reviewing a
landlord's application, the commissioner shall consider whether the rent
increase limit would cause an undue hardship to the landlord because of the
landlord's financial condition or any other factor relating to the landlord's
ownership of the premises. �In determining undue hardship, the commissioner
shall consider equity, mortgage interest, insurance costs, capital
improvements, the most recent five-year history of maintenance and upkeep
expenses, and any increase in local property taxes, water and sewerage costs,
and heating or fuel directly affecting the property on which the rental unit is
located.� If the commissioner grants a landlord's application for a waiver
pursuant to this section, the commissioner shall set the rent at an amount that
will not cause the landlord undue hardship, which in no case for an existing
tenant shall be set at more than six percent over the rent charged during the
previous rental term over a five-year period.� The commissioner shall not grant
a waiver if the landlord has any outstanding State or municipal violations
related to the property for which the waiver is requested.

���� 4.� This act shall take effect
immediately, but shall remain inoperative until the first day of the seventh
month next following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

���� This bill establishes
Statewide rent control.� Specifically, the bill prohibits a landlord from
raising the rent of a rental unit: (1) for a current tenant, by more than four
percent over the rent charged during the previous lease term within a five year
period, or more than two percent in a given year; or (2) for a new tenant, by
more than 10 percent over the rent charged during the last term of a previous
tenancy.�

���� The bill permits a landlord to
file an application for a waiver of the rent increase limit (application) with
the Commissioner of Community Affairs (commissioner).� In reviewing a
landlord's application, the bill requires the commissioner to consider whether
the rent increase limit would cause an undue hardship to the landlord, based
upon factors described in the bill relating to the landlord�s financial
condition and ownership of the premises.� If the commissioner grants a
landlord's application, the commissioner is required to set the rent at an
amount that will not cause the landlord undue hardship, which for an existing
tenant is not to exceed more than six percent over the rent charged during the
previous rental term over a five-year period.� The bill specifies that an
application is not to be granted if the landlord has any outstanding State or
municipal violations related to the property for which the waiver is being
requested.�

���� The bill provides that a
landlord who violates the rent increase limits specified in the bill would be
liable to a penalty, payable to the tenant and enforceable in the Superior
Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Special Civil Part, in an amount equal to
the greater of $500 or three times the difference between the rental increase
and the allowable rental increase, plus reasonable attorney fees and expenses
incurred in proving a violation of the bill.

���� The bill would take effect
immediately, but would remain inoperative until the first day of the seventh
month next following the date of enactment.