2 rules apply — the local one first, then the county and state rules that bind alongside it.
Verified on 2026-08-17.
Bloomfield permits the greater of 3% or the change in CPI over the lease term, and in no case more than 5%; a unit with a tenant aged 65 or over is capped at 2%. Chapter 435 was amended in its entirety on 17 November 2025 and now exempts dwellings with four or fewer housing spaces, so coverage starts at five units.
This moved. The superseded 2016 chapter exempted dwellings of five or fewer housing spaces, so coverage began at six; the 2025 rewrite exempts four or fewer and coverage begins at five. A five-unit building went from exempt to covered — and the PDF published on the township's own website is still the 2016 text, as is the DCA survey's figure.
Note the direction of the formula: it is the CPI or 3%, whichever is *greater*, subject to a 5% ceiling — the opposite structure to a "lesser of" ordinance, and it means the permitted increase never falls below 3% however low inflation runs. The base rent is the lawful rent in force on 1 January 2026. No owner-occupancy exemption beyond the four-unit line, and no substantial-rehabilitation exemption.
Exemptions
Sources
Verified on 2026-08-17.
New Jersey has no statewide rent control. The Department of Community Affairs' 2026 survey of all 564 municipalities found 120 with an ordinance and 444 without, and their caps, unit thresholds, exemptions and vacancy rules differ town by town.
This municipality's ordinance has not been read into this knowledge base. Check the DCA's survey — it names every municipality and gives the unit threshold and the increase limit for each — and then read the ordinance itself or call the rent board, before assuming rents can be reset on purchase or turnover. One statewide limit does apply everywhere: N.J.S.A. 2A:42-84.5 keeps municipal rent control off housing completed after 25 June 1987 for 30 years from completion.
Sources