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 The superseded 2016 chapter exempted dwellings of five or fewer housing spaces, so coverage began at six; the 2025 rewrite exempts four or fewer and coverage begins at five.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
- Dwellings with four or fewer housing spaces.
- Housing space or a dwelling being rented for the first time — the initial rent is unrestricted, and every increase after it is not.
- Multiple dwellings constructed after 25 June 1987, for 30 years from completion, where the landlord complied with N.J.S.A. 2A:42-84.1 et seq.
- Income-determined units, and units with direct state or federal subsidy where HUD has ordered federal preemption.
- Annual cap
- 5%
- Vacancy decontrol
- Yes — rent resets on vacancy
- Unit counts
- 5+ units
Sources
- Bloomfield Township Code Chapter 435 — Rent ControlAmended in its entirety 17 November 2025 by Ord. 25-32. Cite this rather than the PDF on the township's own site, which is the superseded 2016 version.
- NJ DCA — 2026 Rent Control Survey — New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, 2026 Rent Control Survey (spreadsheet, linked from the DCA Landlord-Tenant Information page; last revised 20 May 2026). The department's own caveat: the survey is only as current as the published codes, and the stated percentage may differ from the increase actually permitted.The survey records the six-unit threshold from the superseded 2016 chapter.
- Bloomfield Rent Leveling Board — Bloomfield Rent Leveling Board, (973) 680-4192