Landlord Atlas

Paterson, New Jersey: Rent Leveling

Verified August 17, 2026 All New Jersey topics →

Paterson limits a landlord to one rent increase a year of no more than 5%, with a 3.5% limit where the head of household is 65 or older or disabled under Social Security, and 2.5% for those tenants at the lowest incomes.

Cited to Code of the City of Paterson § 381-14A (annual increase limits of 5%, 3.5% and 2.5%; one increase per 12 months) and 9 more sources · Verified August 17, 2026

The rules cover rented buildings of two or more units, or three or more where the owner lives in the building, and exempt hotels, motels, licensed rooming houses, subsidized housing, and buildings constructed after December 23, 1999 for up to 30 years. A landlord must give the tenant and the Rent Leveling Administrator 30 days' written notice, and gets no increase at all if the building is not in substantial code compliance or the property registration for the year is not current. The percentages are written into the ordinance, so there is no yearly figure to look up.

What is in force

In force today. Paterson has limited rent increases since December 18, 1979, when the City Council adopted Ordinance 79-111, and the law has been amended many times since, most recently by Ordinance 23-013 on February 28, 2023. The law is Chapter 381, Rent Leveling, of the Code of the City of Paterson, and the published code takes in legislation through December 16, 2025. There is no expiration date.

The rent increase limit

A landlord may raise the rent once a year by no more than 5%, without applying to anyone. The limit drops to 3.5% where the head of household is 65 or older or has been found disabled by the Social Security Administration under its Social Security Disability or Supplemental Security Income disability programs. It drops again to 2.5% for those same tenants when the tenant's monthly income is $1,000 or less and total monthly household income is $1,500 or less; a tenant claiming that limit provides proof of income and proof of current rent. Leases running longer than a year may write the same yearly percentages into the lease. Only one increase per apartment is allowed in any 12-month period, and no increase is allowed at all while the building falls short of code compliance or the property registration is not up to date. Separately, a landlord may apply to the Rent Leveling Administrator for a surcharge covering capital improvements or added services, or for a hardship increase where the return on the owner's equity is short of a fair return, treated as no more than 6 percentage points above the best passbook savings rate in the city.

What housing is covered

The rules reach every rented dwelling in Paterson with two or more units, or three or more units where the owner lives in the building. Exempt: buildings where only one unit is rented, hotels, motels, licensed rooming houses, housing owned or subsidized by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development or the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency or regulated by the New Jersey Public Housing and Development Authority, buildings constructed after December 23, 1999 for the amortization period of the first mortgage or 30 years, whichever is shorter, substantially rehabilitated buildings, and units certified under the city's neighborhood preservation or rehabilitation programs. An owner claiming the new-construction exemption files a written claim with the Municipal Construction Official at least 30 days before the certificate of occupancy is issued, and every lease in an exempt building must tell the tenant the building is exempt and how long the exemption runs. Converting to a condominium or co-op is not an exemption; the owner files notice with the Rent Leveling Board.

What happens on vacancy

There is no general vacancy decontrol. The yearly percentage limits attach to the apartment, so a new tenant does not reset the rent. One narrow exception applies: where a property that was on the city's vacant and abandoned property list is rehabilitated, its units are decontrolled for the first new tenant's rent. The landlord then files a vacancy decontrol certification with the Rent Leveling Administrator within 15 days of renting, with a copy to the tenant, and no unit may be decontrolled this way more than once in any three-year period.

Eviction and termination rules

State law governs evictions, and the chapter adds no grounds. It does bar reprisal: a landlord may not bring an action to recover possession as a reprisal for a tenant's efforts to secure or enforce a right under the chapter. A landlord also may not evict a tenant in order to carry out rehabilitation work, and an application for a rehabilitation exemption is denied outright if the Rent Leveling Administrator finds tenants were pressured to leave.

Registration and filings

Every dwelling unit must be registered with the Rent Leveling Board, updated each year, and a registration must accompany every application filed with the Rent Leveling Office. The filing lists each unit's address, the manager's and owner's names and addresses, the rent for each unit, the services provided, any surcharge in force and the date it expires, and the date of the last increase. The city charges no fee for the annual property registration form, which is due within 30 days of being obtained. A landlord cannot take the yearly increase unless the property registration for the current year is up to date, and the increase notice must include it.

Other requirements

A landlord must give both the tenant and the Rent Leveling Administrator at least 30 days' written notice of an increase, stating the tenant's name and apartment number, when the current lease began, the present rent, the previous year's rent and the date of the last increase, and the increase in both dollars and percent. Applying for a capital improvement surcharge costs $50 per apartment up to $500 per building, and a hardship application costs $50 per apartment; appealing a Board decision to the City Council costs $100 within 15 days, with the appellant paying for the transcript, and contested money sits in escrow meanwhile. Where a landlord lets services lapse, the chapter sets fixed rent reductions: 50% for a roof leak that makes a unit uninhabitable, 45% for no heat, 35% for dangerous electrical fixtures, 30% for no water, 20% for no hot water, 15% for each broken plumbing fixture, and 10% each for a dead stove or refrigerator and for an elevator out through the landlord's neglect. Complaints must be filed within 12 months of the increase or the conduct complained of. An illegal increase draws a fine of $100 to $1,500, up to 90 days in jail, or up to 90 days of community service, and each apartment affected counts as a separate violation. Board rules, notices and orders are printed in English and Spanish.

Notes and caveats

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Paterson, New Jersey: Rent Leveling (verified August 17, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/new-jersey/paterson/" — 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.