2 rules apply — the local one first, then the county and state rules that bind alongside it.
Verified on 2026-08-17.
East Orange caps an annual increase at 4% of the existing rent, for a periodic tenancy and for a lease of a year or longer alike. Chapter 218 exempts dwellings of three or fewer separate living units, so coverage starts at four.
Dwellings containing three or fewer separate living units are exempt, so a two- or three-family here is outside the ordinance — the opposite of the position one town over in Newark. There is no owner-occupancy exemption at all: a four-family the owner lives in is covered.
Currency warning worth acting on: the chapter carries two amendments adopted and not yet codified when this was written — Ord. 9-2025 of 14 April 2025 and Ord. 18-2026 of 8 June 2026, both titled "Rent Control and Conversions Amendment". The 4% above is the codified figure and may already be superseded, so confirm it with the Division of Rent Leveling before underwriting a hold on it.
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