Landlord Atlas

New Jersey Mobile Home Park Laws

Verified August 19, 2026 All New Jersey topics →

New Jersey's park law sits in three places: the mobile home park law (N.J.S.A. 46:8C-2 to 46:8C-9) requires a written lease offer of at least 12 months and protects the sale of a home in place, the Manufactured Home Park Protection Act (N.J.S.A. 46:8C-10 to 46:8C-21) gives residents a right of first refusal when the community is sold, and the Anti-Eviction Act allows a lot tenancy to end only for cause.

Cited to N.J.S.A. 46:8C-2 to 46:8C-9 and 6 more sources · Verified August 19, 2026

Since March 2026 lot rent may not rise by more than 3.5% over any 12-month period, with a petition route to the Commissioner of Community Affairs for more. Retiring a park permanently from use as a mobile home park takes 18 months' notice, and converting the sites to individual ownership takes three years. Residents acting through a group with the consent of 51% of the homeowners have 120 days to match the price and terms the landowner has been offered, and may assign that right to a municipality, a housing authority, a state agency or a nonprofit.

Governing actMobile Home Park Law, the Manufactured Home Park Protection Act, and the limit on manufactured home lot-rent increases — N.J.S.A. 46:8C-2 to 46:8C-21; N.J.S.A. 52:27D-287.12 to 52:27D-287.14
General law that also appliesAnti-Eviction Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 et seq.
Federal lender protections already required by state law5 of 8 (see the table)

Each row below is a state rule (with its citation) or an honest "no state rule" with what governs instead — lease terms and the general landlord-tenant law still apply where the park act is silent. This page covers a resident who owns the home and rents the lot; a home rented from the park is an ordinary New Jersey tenancy.

On this page: Scope · Lot rent, fees and utilities · Lease, rules and disclosure · Termination and eviction · Closure and change of use · Sale of the park · The resident's home · Federal lender protections · Common questions · Citations

A. Scope — who and what the act covers

Rule New Jersey law Source
State agency with a role in park tenancies New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, with the Attorney General on the community-sale rules The Department of Community Affairs is the state agency with a role in park tenancies. It administers the limit on lot-rent increases and decides a park owner's petition for a larger increase, receives the notices a landowner must send before selling a community, publishes the list of nonprofit organizations entitled to receive those notices, and receives a copy of any notice retiring a park from residential use. A violation of the community-sale rules is an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud Act, which the Attorney General may pursue alongside a resident's own suit. P.L.2025, c.85 section 2 (C.52:27D-287.13); N.J.S.A. 46:8C-11 subsection a.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-12.1 subsection a.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-14.1 subsection b.; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1c
Resident may sue under the act Yes A resident may sue under each of the three acts that make up New Jersey's park law. A resident whose home sale is blocked by an unreasonable refusal to approve the buyer may sue in the Superior Court for damages, costs and attorney fees, and the court may order the buyer admitted to the park. A resident may sue over a violation of the community-sale rules and recover attorney fees, and may sue a park that charges more than the permitted lot-rent increase. A person who pays a gratuity to obtain a lease may recover double its value. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-3 subsection c.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-2 subsection f.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-14.1 subsection a.; P.L.2025, c.85 section 2.f
Minimum park size for the act to apply (lots) No state rule The 1973 mobile home park law applies to a mobile home park of any size and sets no minimum number of lots. Size thresholds appear only in the two later acts: the limit on lot-rent increases reaches a park of two or more sites, and the sale and purchase-right rules reach a community of at least 10 home sites. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-2; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-10 definition of “private residential leasehold community”; P.L.2025, c.85 section 1 (C.52:27D-287.12)
Other size thresholds that switch rules on
  • 2 lots — the limit on lot-rent increases applies to a park with two or more sites.
  • 10 lots — the sale notice and the residents' purchase right apply to a community with at least 10 home sites.
Two lot counts switch rules on. A park of two or more sites is covered by the 3.5% limit on lot-rent increases, and a community of at least 10 home sites under common ownership is covered by the sale notice and the residents' purchase right. The 1973 mobile home park law has no threshold of its own. 		P.L.2025, c.85 section 1 (C.52:27D-287.12), definition of “manufactured home park”; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-10 definition of “private residential leasehold community”
Park-owned rental homes Ordinary landlord-tenant law applies A resident who rents a home owned by the park is covered by ordinary landlord-tenant law, not by the park-specific rules. Each of the park acts turns on the resident owning the home: the sale, buyer-approval and purchase-right rules run to a home the resident owns, and the limit on lot-rent increases reaches only a site leased to the owner of a manufactured, modular or industrialized home. The Anti-Eviction Act still applies, so a resident of a park-owned home may be evicted only for one of its stated grounds. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-3 subsection a.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-10 definition of “resident homeowner”; P.L.2025, c.85 section 1 (C.52:27D-287.12), definition of “covered dwelling site”; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1
RVs and park-model homes Excluded Recreational vehicles and campground occupancy are outside the park acts. The definition of a private residential leasehold community expressly excludes a campground facility, which is land rented for camping and recreation and may not be used as a permanent home, and the statute defines camping trailers, fifth-wheel trailers, motor homes, park trailers, travel trailers and truck campers as recreational vehicles. The limit on lot-rent increases reaches only a site leased to the owner of a manufactured home or a modular or industrialized building. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-10 definitions of “campground facility”, “recreational vehicle” and “private residential leasehold community”; P.L.2025, c.85 section 1 (C.52:27D-287.12)
Local rent regulation of park lots Authorized by state law, within a state ceiling A municipality may regulate lot rents, but only within the state's own 3.5% ceiling. State law preserves a municipal ordinance that sets a fixed numerical limit of 3.5% or less on a rent increase for a park site, and preempts an ordinance that would allow more than 3.5% or that sets the limit by a variable measure such as a consumer price index. Separately, the mobile home park law lets a municipality provide by ordinance for the regulation and licensing of mobile home parks. P.L.2025, c.85 section 3 (C.52:27D-287.14); N.J.S.A. 46:8C-8; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 subsection f.

B. Lot rent, fees and utilities

Rule New Jersey law Source
Notice before a lot-rent increase No state rule No statute sets a number of days' notice before a lot-rent increase. An increase takes effect only when the park ends the existing lease term by a notice to quit and offers a new lease at the higher rent, and the resident may stay by paying an increase that is not unconscionable. A related rule does carry a day count: a fee, charge or assessment that was disclosed to the resident may not be increased unless the park gives written notice specifying a date of implementation at least 30 days later, and the same 30-day rule applies to a change in park rules. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-2 subsection c.; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 subsection f.; Truth in Renting (Department of Community Affairs) Rent Control/Rent Increases
How often rent may be raised No state rule No statute limits how often lot rent may be raised. The limit is on the total: increases over any 12-month period may not exceed 3.5% of the rent charged in the previous 12 months, however many times the rent is changed. P.L.2025, c.85 section 2.a (C.52:27D-287.13)
Statewide limit on lot-rent increases
  • Percentage limit on lot rent, with a petition route to the Commissioner of Community Affairs: 3.5% over any 12-month period.
  • Base: the rent charged during the previous 12 months.
  • Exemptions: The initial rent for a new tenancy in which no tenant from the prior tenancy remains in lawful possession may be set freely; the act states that it applies to tenancies commencing on or after its effective date.
  • No sunset.
Lot rent may not be increased by more than 3.5% over any 12-month period. The base is the rent charged during the previous 12 months, and rent for this purpose includes lot fees, license fees, tax surcharges passed on to the resident and other special charges. A park owner may petition the Commissioner of Community Affairs for a larger increase on the basis of unanticipated cost increases or capital improvements, after posting notice and serving the affected residents personally or by certified mail; the commissioner must hold a hearing and decide within 90 days. A park that charges more than the permitted amount is liable for a penalty of $1,000 per violation per site, the rent reverts to the prior term's rent, and the resident may recover $500 for a first offense or $1,000 for a later one plus attorney fees. The limit sits on top of the older rule that a rent increase may not be unconscionable. 		P.L.2025, c.85 section 2 (C.52:27D-287.13); P.L.2025, c.85 section 1 (C.52:27D-287.12), definition of “rent”; P.L.2025, c.85 section 6
How a resident can challenge an increase A resident may defend an eviction on the ground that the increase is unconscionable, and may sue a park that charges more than the 3.5% limit A resident who thinks an increase is too high may refuse to pay it and raise unconscionability as a defense when the park sues for possession, and the court decides whether the increase is unconscionable. A resident may also bring a separate action in the Superior Court, Law Division, Special Civil Part against a park that charges more than the permitted increase, recovering $500 for a first offense or $1,000 for a later one plus attorney fees, and the rent for the rest of the term reverts to the previous term's rent. Where the municipality has a rent control or rent leveling ordinance, the resident may take a complaint to the local rent board. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 subsection f.; P.L.2025, c.85 section 2.d and 2.f; Truth in Renting (Department of Community Affairs) Rent Control/Rent Increases
Entrance fee prohibited No An entrance fee is not banned outright, but it is collectible only to the extent it matches a real cost. Every fee, charge or assessment, including an entrance, membership or association fee however it is named, must be disclosed in writing before the resident takes occupancy and must be specifically related to and identifiable with an actual cost the park incurred; a credit-check fee may not exceed what the park paid, and the park must forward the report to the applicant. A payment on top of the park's lawful charges, given so that the payer is preferred for a lease, is a disorderly persons offense, and the payer may recover double its value with costs and attorney fees. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-2 subsections c., e. and f.
Exit or removal fee prohibited No state rule No statute addresses a fee for removing a home from a park. The fee section of the mobile home park law does not name an exit or removal fee, though a related rule bars the park from taking a commission on the sale price of a home unless it acted as the seller's agent under a written contract, and requires the park to bear the cost of any move it requires within the park. What else may be charged on departure is left to the lease and to the rule that undisclosed charges may not be collected. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-2 subsections b.(3), c. and d.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-3 subsection a.
Undisclosed fees uncollectible Yes A park that did not disclose a fee in writing before the resident moved in may not collect it. Failure to fully disclose all fees, charges or assessments bars the park from collecting them, and a resident's refusal to pay an undisclosed charge may not be used as a ground for eviction in any court. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-2 subsections c. and d.
Utility billing rules A park may not require residents to buy fuel from a supplier it designates unless it owns the lines or equipment, and an appliance fee must reflect the park's actual cost The mobile home park law limits what a park may charge and require around utilities. A park may not charge a resident who installs an electric or gas appliance an additional fee unless the fee reflects the park's cost of the installation or its use, and may not restrict the installation, service or maintenance of an appliance or an interior improvement that meets the building code. A park may not require residents to buy petroleum or gas products from it or from a supplier it selects, except where it owns or holds an interest in the lines or equipment, the system operates lawfully under state and local law, and the fuel is competitively priced; where it does not own the lines, it may specify a grade or quality, and it may always specify a grade or quality where that is reasonably necessary for safety. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-2 subsection b.(1) and b.(2)
Submetering required or regulated No state rule No statute or regulation addresses submetered or individually metered utility billing at park lots. The mobile home park law regulates appliance fees and fuel purchase requirements but says nothing about how a park meters or bills a utility it resells; that is left to the lease, to the disclosure rule that an undisclosed charge may not be collected, and to the general law governing the utility. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-2 subsection b.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-2 subsections c. and d.
Lot security deposit rules A deposit may not exceed one and one-half times one month's rent, and the state Security Deposit Law applies to mobile home tenancies A lot deposit may not be more than one and one-half times one month's rent. The mobile home park law itself sets no deposit rule; the Department of Community Affairs states that the state Security Deposit Law applies to most residential rentals including mobile homes, with an exception for owner-occupied two- and three-family dwellings. That law also governs how the deposit is held, the annual interest statement, and its return with interest less lawful deductions after the tenancy ends. N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.2 Security Deposits; N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 et seq. Security Deposits

C. Lease, rules and disclosure

Rule New Jersey law Source
Written lease Required A park must offer every resident a written lease of at least 12 months. The offer is due within 30 days of the resident lawfully taking occupancy in the park. The resident is not obliged to accept it, and a lease provision waiving any part of the act is void as against public policy. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-4 subsections a. and b.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-5
Minimum lease term that must be offered 12 months The written lease the park must offer has to run for a period of not less than 12 months. The park owes that offer within 30 days of the resident lawfully assuming occupancy. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-4 subsection b.
Notice to end a tenancy without cause No state rule There is no no-cause notice period, because a lot tenancy may be ended only on one of the statutory grounds. New Jersey law states that no landlord may evict or fail to renew any lease of covered premises except for good cause as the Anti-Eviction Act defines it, and a lease provision allowing termination or non-renewal for anything else is unenforceable. The notice period therefore depends on which ground the park relies on. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.3 subsection a.; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.4; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2
Notice before park rules change 30 days A park must give at least 30 days' written notice before a rule change takes effect. The notice has to specify the date the changed rule or regulation starts, and that date may be no less than 30 days after written notice to all residents. The same rule applies to an increase in a disclosed fee, charge or assessment. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-2 subsection c.
Disclosure document Written rules and terms must be given A park must give the resident the park's written rules and a full written statement of every fee before the resident moves in. All fees, charges, assessments, rules and regulations must be disclosed in writing before the resident takes occupancy and before any lease is signed, a copy of the rules must be delivered to the resident before signing, and a copy must be posted in the recreation hall or another conspicuous place in the park. The Department of Community Affairs also lists the state's Truth in Renting statement among the documents a park owner provides. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-2 subsection c.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-4 subsections d. and e.; Truth in Renting (Department of Community Affairs) Mobile Home Leases
Residents' right to meet and organize Yes A park may not retaliate against a resident for organizing or belonging to a residents' organization. State law bars a landlord from evicting, substantially altering the lease terms or refusing to renew because the resident has been an organizer or member of any lawful organization, including a tenant organization, or has tried to enforce rights under the lease or under state or local law, and the Department of Community Affairs states that the rule covers mobile homes. No statute separately grants residents the use of a community building for meetings. N.J.S.A. 2A:42-10.10 Reprisal — Civil Rights of Tenants; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.3 subsection a.
Owner entry onto the lot or into the home No state rule No statute sets out when a park owner may enter the lot or the home. The Department of Community Affairs states that a landlord generally has no right to enter a residential rental without the resident's consent or a court judgment, that entry without permission can amount to unlawful entry and detainer, and that entry for purposes other than inspection, maintenance and repair is a matter for the lease and, in dispute, for the court. Housing inspection rules give a separate right of access on reasonable notice, normally one day, and immediate access in a safety emergency. N.J.S.A. 2A:39-1 and 2A:39-2 Right of Entry; N.J.A.C. 5:10-1.2 Access to the property
Retaliation prohibited Yes A park may not take reprisal against a resident for exercising legal rights. The reprisal statute bars eviction, a substantial alteration of the lease or its terms, or a refusal to renew because the resident tried to enforce rights under the lease or under state or local law, made a good faith complaint to a government authority about a health or safety violation after first notifying the owner in writing, belonged to or organized a lawful organization including a tenant organization, or refused to accept lease changes made for those reasons. The Department of Community Affairs states that the rule reaches all rental property used for dwelling purposes, including mobile homes, apart from owner-occupied two- and three-family dwellings, and that a resident may sue for damages. N.J.S.A. 2A:42-10.10 Reprisal — Civil Rights of Tenants

D. Termination and eviction

Rule New Jersey law Source
Just cause required to end a tenancy Yes A park may end a lot tenancy only for one of the grounds the Anti-Eviction Act lists. The act applies by its own terms to a mobile home and to land in a mobile home park, and states that no landlord may evict or fail to renew any lease of covered premises except for good cause as the act defines it. Any lease provision to the contrary is against public policy and unenforceable. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.3 subsection a.; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 opening paragraph; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.4
Grounds for termination
  • Failure to pay lot rent due under the lease.
  • Disorderly conduct that continues after a written notice to cease.
  • Willful or grossly negligent damage to the premises.
  • Substantial violation of the park's reasonable written rules that continues after a written notice to cease.
  • Substantial breach of a lease covenant that continues after a written notice to cease, where the lease reserves a right of re-entry.
  • Failure to pay a rent increase that is not unconscionable, after a valid notice to quit and notice of the increase.
  • Habitual late payment of rent after a written notice to cease.
  • Refusal to accept reasonable changes of substance in the lease terms at the end of the term.
  • Board-up or demolition after citation for substantial health and safety violations, work needed to comply with an inspector's order, correction of an illegal occupancy, or retirement of the property by a public agency under a redevelopment plan.
  • Permanent retirement of the mobile home park from use as a mobile home park.
  • Conversion of the park to condominium, cooperative or fee-simple ownership of the park sites.
  • Sale of a site in a converting park to a buyer who will personally occupy it.
  • End of employment where the tenancy was conditioned on working for the park owner.
  • A drug, assault, terroristic threat, theft or human trafficking offense in or on the park, on conviction or, for some of these, on civil liability shown by a preponderance of the evidence.
The grounds for ending a lot tenancy are the ones listed in the Anti-Eviction Act, which reaches mobile homes and land in a mobile home park. Several of them require a written notice to cease first, so that the resident has a chance to correct the problem. Two of the grounds cover the end of the park itself: permanent retirement from use as a mobile home park, and conversion of the sites to condominium, cooperative or fee-simple ownership. 		N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 subsections a. through r.
Notice for nonpayment of lot rent No state rule No notice is required before a park sues for possession over unpaid lot rent. The Anti-Eviction Act requires a written demand and notice for every ground except nonpayment of rent and nonpayment of a rent increase. A resident can still stop the case by paying: the Judiciary states that the case may be dismissed if the resident pays the entire amount of rent due and owing to the court by 4:30 p.m. on the trial date, and that a landlord must accept the rent due plus permissible costs at any time up to three business days after an eviction. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2 opening paragraph; New Jersey Courts, Landlord-Tenant
Notice for a rule or lease violation 30 days A park must give one month's notice to quit before suing over a rule or lease violation. The Anti-Eviction Act states the period as one month rather than as a fixed number of days, so the exact count follows the calendar month. The month runs only after a written notice to cease has been given and the violation has continued, and the same one-month period applies to a refusal to accept reasonable lease changes and to habitual late payment of rent. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2 subsections b. and e.; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 subsections d., e. and i.
Repeat-violation rule A rule or lease violation supports eviction only where it continues after a written notice to cease A single breach is not enough. For disorderly conduct, a substantial violation of park rules, a substantial breach of a lease covenant and habitual late payment of rent, the park must first serve a written notice to cease; only a violation that continues after that notice supports a notice to quit and a suit for possession. The rules relied on must be reasonable and must have been accepted in writing by the resident or made part of the lease at the beginning of the term. Conduct grounds such as a criminal conviction carry a three-day notice and no notice to cease. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 subsections b., d., e. and j.; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2 subsections a. and b.
Time to sell or remove the home after termination No state rule No statute gives a resident a set period after termination to sell or remove the home. The park acts protect the sale of a home in place during the tenancy but say nothing about a window after a judgment for possession. A home left behind after the warrant of removal is executed falls under the abandoned tenant property procedure, which names manufactured and mobile homes and requires written notice, safekeeping and a sale or other disposition. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-3 subsection a.; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-72 et seq. Disposition of Personal Property
Abandoned-home procedure Yes There is a statutory procedure for a home left behind, and it names manufactured and mobile homes. The park may dispose of a home left on the premises only after giving the resident written notice by certified mail with return receipt or receipted first class mail at the last known address, and only once the warrant for removal has been executed or the resident has given written notice of giving up possession. Until then the park must store the property with reasonable care, and if the resident claims it within the time stated in the notice it must be released without payment of unpaid rent. Unclaimed property may be sold, or destroyed where its value would not cover storage and sale. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-72 to 2A:18-78 Disposition of Personal Property
Mediation or dispute-resolution requirement No state rule No statute requires mediation or any other dispute-resolution step before a park tenancy dispute goes to court. Possession cases are heard as summary dispossess actions in the Landlord-Tenant Section of the Superior Court, Law Division, Special Civil Part. Where the municipality has a rent control or rent leveling ordinance, a resident may take a rent complaint to the local rent board, and a park owner seeking more than the permitted lot-rent increase petitions the Commissioner of Community Affairs, who holds a hearing. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 et seq.; P.L.2025, c.85 section 2.g; Truth in Renting (Department of Community Affairs) Procedures for Recovery of Premises

E. Closure and change of use

Rule New Jersey law Source
Notice before closure or change of use 18 months A park being retired permanently from use as a mobile home park must give residents 18 months' notice. The notice to quit has to specify the cause in detail, and where a lease is in effect no suit for possession may be started until the lease expires. A rebuttable presumption applies that the park is not truly being retired where the land use law does not allow a non-residential use as a principal permitted use, and no resident may be evicted on this ground if a required state or local permit for the new use has not been obtained. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2 subsection d.; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 subsection h.; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1b
Variants (by trigger or park size)
  • Permanent retirement of the park from use as a mobile home park: 18 months (where a lease is in effect no suit for possession may be started until the lease expires).
  • Conversion of the park sites to condominium, cooperative or fee-simple ownership: 3 years (preceded by 60 days' notice of the intention to convert with the full conversion plan, during which the resident has the exclusive right for the first 90 days to buy the site).
  • Board-up or demolition after health and safety citations, correction of an illegal occupancy, or retirement by a public agency under a redevelopment plan: 3 months (the park must tell the Department of Community Affairs when it starts a proceeding to comply with an inspector's order).
The notice depends on what the park owner is doing. Retiring the park permanently takes 18 months' notice; converting the sites to condominium, cooperative or fee-simple ownership takes three years' notice after a 60-day notice of intention to convert; and boarding up or demolishing after health and safety citations, or a public agency retiring the land under a redevelopment plan, takes three months' notice. 		N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2 subsections c., d. and g.; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 subsections g., h. and k.; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.8
Relocation payment required Yes Relocation money is owed on a conversion, not on a closure: a resident given the three-year conversion notice who is not evicted on another ground receives moving expense compensation in the form of a waiver of one month's rent. A resident who has been offered comparable housing or a comparable park site may also ask the court for one-year stays of eviction, up to five; the owner can end further stays after the first by providing hardship relocation compensation of a waiver of five months' rent. A park that is instead retired permanently from residential use owes 18 months' notice but no statutory payment. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.10; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.11 subsections a. and c.; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2 subsection d.
Relocation amounts
  • Moving expense compensation on conversion: Waiver of one month's rent — the park owner, to a resident given the three-year conversion notice who is not evicted on another ground.
  • Hardship relocation compensation on conversion: Waiver of five months' rent — the park owner, where it wants to end further one-year stays of eviction after the first.
Both amounts are stated as a waiver of rent rather than a cash sum, and both arise on a conversion of the park sites to condominium, cooperative or fee-simple ownership. The one-month waiver is the moving expense compensation owed to a resident given the conversion notice. The five-month waiver is what the owner provides to stop the court granting further one-year stays of eviction after one has already been granted. 		N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.10; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.11 subsection c.
Who pays relocation The park owner The park owner pays. Both the one-month moving expense compensation and the five-month hardship relocation compensation come from the owner in the form of a rent waiver, and there is no state relocation fund for residents displaced by a private park conversion or closure. Where a public agency displaces residents, separate state relocation assistance law applies. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.10; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.11 subsection c.; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 subsection g.
Notice to a government body on closure Yes A park owner must send a copy of a closure notice to the Department of Community Affairs within five days of giving it to residents. Where the municipality regulates rents, a copy also goes to the municipal agency that administers the ordinance, together with a list of current residents and rents. On a conversion, a duplicate of the first 60-day notice of intention to convert and the full plan goes to the municipal clerk. A park owner applying for a variance that would result in homes being removed must also tell each homeowner within 10 days of filing, and no government body may approve such a variance without first determining that adequate facilities and circumstances exist for relocating those homeowners. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1c; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1d; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.8; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-20; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-21

F. Sale of the park

Rule New Jersey law Source
Residents must be told the park is for sale Yes Residents must be told before the community is sold. A landowner who offers the land for sale, or who receives a bona fide offer it intends to consider or counter, must give notice by certified mail with return receipt to the Department of Community Affairs, the municipal clerk, the mayor or other chief executive of the municipality, the nonprofit organizations on the department's published list, and every resident homeowner; residents must also be sent the notice by first class mail with tracking and by delivery to each home. The notice states the price, terms and conditions and names a contact person, and on an offer received it must also state the residents' rights and deadlines and include the offer or a conditional purchase contract. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-11 subsection a.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-12 subsection a.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-12.1
What triggers the notice Offering the community land for sale to the general public, or receiving a bona fide offer to purchase that the landowner intends to consider or counter Two events trigger the notice. The first is the landowner offering the land for sale, which the statute defines as any solicitation of the general public. The second is the landowner receiving a bona fide offer to purchase that it intends to consider or to make a counteroffer to; that duty applies whether or not a for-sale notice was given earlier. After an offer is received the landowner may keep negotiating with other buyers and may even accept an offer, but only on condition that the residents' notice and purchase opportunity are honored, and it may not close the sale until the 120-day period has run. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-10 subsection c., definition of “offer”; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-11 subsection a.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-12 subsections a. and d.
Residents' purchase right Right of first refusal (match the offer) Residents may buy the community by meeting the price, terms and conditions the landowner has been offered. Acting through a resident homeowner group with the consent of 51% of the resident homeowners, one vote per home, they have 120 days from the notice to execute a contract on those terms; the contract must include a financing contingency of at least 90 days and the landowner may require refundable earnest money of up to $50,000. Where the landowner received an outside offer and no agreement is reached, the landowner is deemed to agree to sell to the group on the identical terms stated in its notice. A landowner must consider a group's offer and negotiate in good faith, and may not accept an outside offer whose terms are not open to all buyers or that would penalize it for selling to the residents. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-11 subsection b.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-12 subsection c.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-12.2; P.L.2025, c.362 sections 3, 4 and 5
Time for residents to respond 120 days Residents have 120 days from the notice to execute a purchase contract. The landowner and the resident homeowner group may agree to extend that period. If the landowner later offers the land at the same or a lower price, residents get another 30 days to meet it, or 60 days where more than three months have passed since the previous offer. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-11 subsections b. and c.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-12 subsection c.
Resident-association threshold 51% 51% of the resident homeowners must consent to the purchase. Each home has a single vote even where several people own it, and a resident may consent by signing a petition or any other document that shows consent. The same 51% is needed to assign the purchase right to a municipality, housing authority, state agency or nonprofit. Residents may also select up to seven representatives to receive information from the landowner and negotiate, and both sides must keep the information confidential. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-11 subsection b.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-12 subsections b. and c.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-12.3
Transfers exempt from the sale rules
  • Sale or transfer to a family member of the landowner.
  • Transfer by gift, devise or operation of law.
  • Transfer by a corporation to an affiliate.
  • Transfer by a partnership to its partners, or by partners or individuals to a corporation under substantially the same control.
  • Conveyance of an interest incidental to financing the community.
  • Conveyance resulting from foreclosure, or a deed given in lieu of foreclosure.
  • Sale or transfer between joint tenants or tenants in common who own the community.
  • Purchase by a government body under its power of eminent domain.
  • Sale that occurs as a result of a condominium or cooperative conversion.
  • Sale of adjacent land owned by the landowner that has no home sites or related recreational facilities.
Ten kinds of transfer are outside the notice and purchase rules, most of them transfers within a family, a company or an ownership group. Since January 2026 an exemption also has to be earned: the transaction must be in good faith, made for a legitimate business or family purpose consistent with the exemption claimed, and not made primarily to avoid the opportunity-to-purchase rules. 		N.J.S.A. 46:8C-13 subsections b. through k.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-13.1
Residents may assign the right to a nonprofit or municipality Yes Residents may hand their purchase right to a municipality, a housing authority, a state agency or a nonprofit. The resident homeowner group elects to do so with the consent of 51% of the resident homeowners, and the assignment must be for the purpose of continuing to use the property as a manufactured home community. The assignee may then exercise the rights the act gives the group. The Department of Community Affairs publishes a list of nonprofit organizations committed to preserving affordable housing that must be notified of a sale, and updates it within 90 days of a request to be added. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-12.3; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-12.1; Manufactured Home Park Protection Act (Department of Community Affairs)
Penalty for violating the sale rules A resident or the Attorney General may sue in the Superior Court, and the court may void the sale and award actual and punitive damages plus attorney fees Where a landowner sells or prepares to sell without complying, any resident homeowner or the Attorney General, or both, may sue in the Superior Court, Law Division, in the county where the community is located. The court may grant any relief it thinks appropriate, including declaratory and injunctive relief, voiding the sale of the land, actual damages and punitive damages, and it must award reasonable attorney fees if the residents win. A violation is also an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud Act, carrying that act's remedies and penalties. Separately, a deed transferring the land may not be recorded unless an affidavit certifying compliance, or that the rules do not apply, is annexed to the application. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-14.1 subsections a. and b.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-14; P.L.2025, c.362 sections 9 and 10

G. The resident's home

Rule New Jersey law Source
Right to sell the home in place Yes A park may not stop a resident selling the home where it stands. No mobile home park may deny a resident the right to sell the home within the park or require the home to be removed solely because it is being sold. The seller must give the park written notice of the plan to sell, and before a sale the seller must give the buyer a park tenancy application, which the buyer returns to the park in person; on a private sale, failing to follow that application procedure before a sales agreement is signed relieves the park of some of its own duties. A sale contract where both sides intend the home to stay is valid only if the seller told the buyer in writing about the park's right to approve them. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-3 subsections a. and b.
Park may not take a commission on the sale Yes A park may not take a commission or fee out of the sale price. The one exception is where the park owner or operator acted as the seller's agent under a written contract. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-3 subsection a.
Park may screen the buyer Yes A park may reserve the right to approve the buyer as a resident. That approval may not be unreasonably withheld, and the buyer applies by returning the park's tenancy application in person before any sales agreement is entered into. A park may charge for a credit check only what the check actually cost it, and must promptly forward a complete copy of the report to the applicant. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-3 subsection a.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-2 subsection c.
Buyer-approval standard and deadline Approval of the buyer as a resident may not be unreasonably withheld; the statute sets no deadline for a decision The standard is that permission may not be unreasonably withheld, and the act gives no time limit for the park to decide. Where the park unreasonably withholds approval, either the seller or the intended buyer may bring an action in the Superior Court; a plaintiff who wins is awarded all damages proximately caused by the refusal together with costs and reasonable attorney fees, and the court is empowered to order the buyer admitted to the park. A seller, buyer or park owner may also sue over a failure to follow the application procedure. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-3 subsections a. and c.
Home may not be rejected for age, size or style alone Yes A park may not require a home to be removed because it has been sold. The statute bars a park from denying the right to sell within the park or requiring removal solely on the basis of the sale, and it states no exception for the home's age, size or style. What the park may do is approve or reject the buyer as a resident, and that decision may not be unreasonable. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-3 subsection a.
Park may require repairs before sale No state rule No statute says whether a park may require repairs or upgrades to a home before it is sold in place. The sale section addresses the right to sell, the park's right to approve the buyer and the ban on a commission, and does not mention the home's condition. A park may set the style or quality of underskirting, tie-downs and other required equipment, but the resident may buy it from a vendor of the resident's choosing. N.J.S.A. 46:8C-3 subsection a.; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-2 subsection a.
Right to post a For Sale sign Yes A resident may post a For Sale sign on the home. A park owner or operator may not evict a resident for posting a for sale sign or similar notice of a private sale in or on the home, and may not prohibit or unreasonably restrict the posting by any means, including park rules or a written lease. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.3a

H. The eight federal lender protections — which ones New Jersey law already requires

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require eight tenant site lease protections in every manufactured housing community loan they buy. Where state law already requires a protection of every park, a resident has it whether or not the park has agency financing. New Jersey law requires 5 of 8. All 50 states are compared in our research study, including the 2018 federal survey baseline.

ProtectionNew Jersey lawBasis
One-year renewable lease term unless there is good cause for non-renewal Required Both limbs are met: a park must offer every resident a written lease of not less than 12 months within 30 days of occupancy, and a lot tenancy may be ended or refused renewal only for good cause as the Anti-Eviction Act defines it. (N.J.S.A. 46:8C-4; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.3)
30-day written notice of rent increases Partly The 30-day limb is missing for lot rent itself. A disclosed fee, charge or assessment may not be increased without written notice specifying a date at least 30 days later, and a rent increase takes effect only after a notice to quit ending the existing term, but no statute states a minimum notice period for a lot-rent increase. (N.J.S.A. 46:8C-2; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1)
5-day grace period for rent payments and the right to cure defaults on rent payments Partly The cure limb is met and the grace limb is not. A resident may stop the case by paying the rent due and owing by 4:30 p.m. on the trial date, and a landlord must accept payment up to three business days after an eviction, but the five business-day grace period before a late charge may be assessed reaches only senior citizens and residents receiving the listed benefits rather than everyone. (N.J.S.A. 2A:42-6.1 to 2A:42-6.3; New Jersey Courts, Landlord-Tenant)
Right to sell the manufactured home without having to first relocate it out of the community Required No mobile home park may deny a resident the right to sell the home within the park or require the home to be removed solely on the basis of the sale. (N.J.S.A. 46:8C-3)
Right to sell the manufactured home in place within 30 days after eviction by the community owner Not required No statute gives a resident a period after an eviction to sell the home in place. A home left behind after the warrant is executed is dealt with under the abandoned tenant property procedure, which is a disposal process rather than a right to sell. (N.J.S.A. 46:8C-3; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-72 to 2A:18-78)
Right to sublease or assign the pad site lease for the unexpired term to the new buyer of the home without unreasonable restraint Required A park may reserve the right to approve the buyer of the home as a resident, but that permission may not be unreasonably withheld, and a court may order the buyer admitted to the park and award damages, costs and attorney fees. (N.J.S.A. 46:8C-3)
Right to post "For Sale" signs that comply with the community's rules Required A park owner may not evict a resident for posting a for sale sign on the home, nor prohibit or unreasonably restrict the posting by park rules or lease terms. (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.3a)
Right to receive at least 60 days' notice of a planned sale or closure of the community Required Both limbs are met. A landowner must give notice before selling and may not conclude an agreement to sell until the 120-day purchase period has run, and a park may be retired permanently from use as a mobile home park only on 18 months' notice. (N.J.S.A. 46:8C-12; N.J.S.A. 46:8C-11; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2)

Notes and caveats

Common questions: New Jersey mobile home park law

Each answer is the verified value from the tables above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How much notice must a New Jersey park give before raising lot rent?
New Jersey sets no state rule on this. No statute sets a number of days' notice before a lot-rent increase.
Is there a limit on how much lot rent can go up in New Jersey?
Yes — 3.5% a year. Lot rent may not be increased by more than 3.5% over any 12-month period.
Can a New Jersey park owner end a lot tenancy without cause?
No — a New Jersey park may end a lot tenancy only for a listed cause. A park may end a lot tenancy only for one of the grounds the Anti-Eviction Act lists.
How much notice must a New Jersey park give before closing or changing use?
18 months. A park being retired permanently from use as a mobile home park must give residents 18 months' notice.
Does a New Jersey park have to pay residents' relocation costs when it closes?
Yes — New Jersey law requires a relocation payment when a park closes or changes use. Relocation money is owed on a conversion, not on a closure: a resident given the three-year conversion notice who is not evicted on another ground receives moving expense compensation in the form of a waiver of one month's rent.
Do New Jersey residents get a chance to buy the park when it is sold?
Yes — a right of first refusal (match the offer). Residents may buy the community by meeting the price, terms and conditions the landowner has been offered.
Can a New Jersey resident sell the home in place without moving it out of the park?
Yes — a New Jersey resident may sell the home in place. A park may not stop a resident selling the home where it stands.

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, New Jersey Mobile Home Park Laws (verified August 19, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/mobile-home-parks/new-jersey/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified).

Citations

Every row above links the section it rests on. This topic covers all 50 states; the topic hub compares them side by side.