Landlord Atlas

East Orange, New Jersey: Rent Control

Verified August 17, 2026 All New Jersey topics →

East Orange caps rent increases at percentages written into its ordinance rather than a figure announced each year: 4% for a sitting tenant in any 12-month period, 2% for a qualified senior tenant and, since April 2025, a disabled tenant, and on a turnover the lesser of 5% over the last tenant's rent or the change in the consumer price index.

Cited to Code of East Orange § 218-10 (4% cap; 2% senior cap; registration precondition; application fee) and 10 more sources · Verified August 17, 2026

Buildings with three or fewer units, hotels, motels, licensed rooming houses and HUD housing are exempt, and newly constructed or substantially rehabilitated buildings can be exempt for a period tied to their first mortgage, capped by state law at 30 years. Every covered owner must file an itemized rent roll with the city by September 1 each year and pay a $100 per-building fee, and no increase may be charged unless that filing is current, the landlord files a rental increase application with a $5-per-unit fee, and the tenant gets 60 days' written notice.

What is in force

In force today. East Orange has controlled rents since the mid-1970s; the current chapter was adopted March 24, 1980 and readopted in full on October 13, 2015 by Ordinance No. 47 of 2015. The codified law is Chapter 218 of the Code of the City of East Orange, published through legislation adopted December 9, 2024. The last amendment folded into the published text is Ordinance No. 30 of 2023, adopted November 27, 2023. Two later amendments are law but not yet in the published chapter: Ordinance No. 9 of 2025, adopted April 14, 2025, and Ordinance No. 18 of 2026, adopted June 8, 2026.

The rent increase limit

Rent increases are limited to fixed percentages written into the ordinance. East Orange does not set a new percentage each year and does not tie the limit for a sitting tenant to any price index. For a month-to-month or week-to-week tenant, or a lease shorter than a year, the limit is 4% of the existing rent. For a year-to-year tenant or a lease longer than a year, the limit is 4% of the prior rent for each 12-month period the lease has run, so a three-year lease with no increases allows up to 12% at the end. For a qualified senior tenant aged 65 or older the limit is 2%, and Ordinance No. 9 of 2025 extended that 2% limit to disabled tenants. Only one increase is allowed in any 12 months, none during a tenant's first 12 months, and an increase that takes effect at any time other than the end of a lease or the termination of a periodic tenancy is void. No increase of any amount may be demanded or accepted unless the building's rent roll is current with the city; a landlord without a current rent roll is barred from any increase from that tenant for 12 months. A landlord must also file a rental increase application and pay a fee before the city will process the increase, and an increase may not be collected while listed habitability violations are open. Above the base limit, the Rent Leveling Board may approve a capital improvement surcharge or a hardship increase.

What housing is covered

The ordinance covers rental dwellings in the city generally. Exempt: buildings with three or fewer separate living units, motels, hotels, licensed rooming houses, and housing developments owned or subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development along with unsubsidized developments carrying HUD-insured mortgages. A newly constructed dwelling rented for the first time, and a dwelling vacated for substantial rehabilitation, are exempt for that first rental only; after it, the unit is covered. Living in the building does not exempt an owner: the only size exemption is three units or fewer. A newly constructed or substantially rehabilitated building can hold a longer exemption during the term of a first mortgage of at least 75% of the estimated market value at completion, with proof from the lender filed every September 1 and a certificate of exemption approved by the Rent Regulation Officer, the Board and the City Council. New Jersey law caps any such exemption at the initial mortgage amortization period or 30 years, whichever is less.

What happens on vacancy

A vacancy does not free the rent by itself. On an ordinary turnover the new tenant's base rent is the last rent registered for the former tenant, and the increase to the new tenant may not exceed 5% over that rent or the change in the consumer price index between three months before the old lease ended and three months before the new lease began, whichever is less. The landlord must tell the new tenant in writing what the prior tenant paid and that the record is on file at the city, and must charge any new-tenant increase within 60 days of occupancy or lose it. Without a certificate of habitability the landlord may collect no more than the former tenant's rent and must refund the excess. Separately, a vacated unit may become eligible for formal decontrol, but only where the tenant left voluntarily without pressure or under a court order, and only after an application, a fee and an inspection covering the unit, the common areas, the garage and the building exterior. A decontrolled unit remains subject to the ordinance going forward, must be re-registered, and cannot be decontrolled again for 10 years. A landlord may pursue only one of a capital improvement surcharge, a hardship increase or a decontrol for the same unit in a calendar year. A covered unit must be re-rented and occupied within 60 days of the end of the prior tenancy unless the Rent Regulation Officer grants a waiver.

Eviction and termination rules

State law governs evictions. The chapter adds no eviction grounds, but it adopts New Jersey's reprisal law barring retaliation against a tenant who exercises a legal right, and it blocks any rent increase unless the building's rent roll is current with the city. Senior citizen and disabled tenants can obtain protected tenancy status lasting 40 years when their building is converted to a condominium or cooperative, subject to an income test.

Registration and filings

Every owner whose rents are subject to the chapter must file an itemized rent roll and registration statement with the city on September 1 each year, listing every unit, the current lawful rent, the date of the last increase, tenant occupancy details, a sworn accuracy affidavit and a spreadsheet showing how each rent was calculated. Any rent change must be reported within 30 days. The rent roll is a public record. For the year running September 1, 2026 through August 31, 2027 the fee is $100 per building, not per unit, with late fees of $300 for filing between September 2 and September 30, 2026, $500 in October, $750 in November and $1,000 in December, charged on top of the $100. A current filing is a precondition to any rent increase. A rental increase application carries a separate fee of $5 per unit, and a certificate of habitability is required for each new tenancy before occupancy.

Other requirements

Landlords must give 60 days' written notice before an increase, with a signed statement giving the tenant's name and unit, the lease start date, the present rent, the date of the last increase, the dollar amount of the increase and the increase as a percentage. Parking space rents are controlled on the same terms as apartment rents. Leases must cap late fees at $50 for rent more than five days late and bounced-check fees at $35, must not restrict how rent is paid or require payment away from the tenant's building, and receipts must reach the tenant within seven days. A capital improvement surcharge needs Board approval before it is charged and may recover only half the cost, spread over five years in 60 equal monthly installments. A hardship increase is decided within 45 days against a fair-return test. There is no property tax surcharge and no utility surcharge. Tenants may lose up to 30% of a month's rent back when essential services decline. A majority of tenants may agree with the landlord to a specific one-year surcharge for a specific project. Willful violations carry fines from $300 to $2,000 per day and up to 120 days in jail, counted separately for each leasehold affected. The Rent Leveling Board has seven members and meets on the first and third Thursday of each month.

Notes and caveats

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, East Orange, New Jersey: Rent Control (verified August 17, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/new-jersey/east-orange/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified).

Citations

This page records local law. Statewide rules — deposits, notice periods, late fees, entry, evictions — live on the New Jersey hub, and the state-level position on local rent regulation appears there with its own citations and verification date.