Rent control in Camden, NJ
2 rules apply — the local one first, then the county and state rules that bind alongside it.
Verified on 2026-08-18 — 44 days ago.
At the expiration of a lease Camden permits no increase above the average CPI for the preceding twelve months for the Philadelphia metropolitan area, or 6% of the most recent rent, whichever is less.
Not stated, and deliberately. §650-1 defines the covered class with the word "Includes" followed by items every comparable ordinance lists as exemptions — owner-occupied one- to four-family dwellings, hotel space, portions rented for commercial use — and separately defines "EXEMPTIONS" and then never lists any. Read literally the chapter covers owner-occupied one- to four-family houses; the Department of Community Affairs reads those items as exceptions and records Camden as reaching structures of one or more units. Both readings are defensible from the text and they produce opposite answers for exactly the building a small investor buys, so the question goes to the Bureau of Rent Control in writing before an offer rather than into this field.
Camden reads the Philadelphia CPI rather than the New York one every northern New Jersey ordinance uses — the two diverge, and quoting the wrong index models the cap a point out. "Substantially rehabilitated" is defined as capital improvements above $10,000, made in a single renovation programme inside one year and related to the whole structure. §650-27 identifies 1 January 1981 as the rollback date while §650-2A speaks in terms of the chapter's effective date; that base-rent wording remains unreconciled. Ord. MC-5610 did not move the general 6%/CPI ceiling: it added the 2% senior and disabled tenant ceiling.
Exemptions
- Newly constructed or substantially rehabilitated dwellings rented for the first time: ten years for a one- to three-family, thirty years for a four-family or larger, from completion — subject to N.J.S.A. 2A:42-84.1 et seq. and to the chapter's own filing and committee review. The DCA survey states two years, which the ordinance does not.
- Public and other federally subsidised housing, by state and federal preemption.
- Annual cap
- 6%
- Vacancy decontrol
- Yes — rent resets on vacancy
- Unit counts
- See note
Sources
- Camden City Code Chapter 650 — Rent ControlCurrent codified chapter read through 18 August 2026. The word in §650-1's covered-class definition is "Includes", verified against the codified page rather than inferred from the survey.
- Camden Ordinance MC-5610 — 2% senior and disabled tenant capOfficial adopted-ordinance PDF. Adopted 10 February 2026; adds the qualified-tenant ceiling without changing the general §650-2 ceiling.
- 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 Camden as applying to structures of "1+" units.
- Camden Bureau of Rent Control — Camden Bureau of Rent Control, (856) 757-7278
Verified on 2026-08-01 — 61 days ago.
New Jersey has no statewide rent control. Roughly 100 municipalities impose their own, with caps, exemptions and vacancy rules that differ town by town.
This municipality has not been researched. Read the municipal code — or call the clerk — before assuming rents can be reset on purchase or turnover.
Sources
- NJ Department of Community Affairs — Landlord/Tenant InformationRent control ordinances are published by each municipality, not by the state.