Every covered dwelling registers annually as of 1 January, filed by 1 March, and no increase may be charged or collected unless the landlord has complied. Separately, the purchaser of any property must obtain a certificate of occupancy before the transfer.
The resale certificate is the buyer's obligation, not the seller's, and it is a closing-path item: a zoning-officer inspection, and for a property of three or more units proof of a current New Jersey registration certificate and liability insurance. A rental one- or two-family or a multiple dwelling built before 1978 must also show a lead-free or lead-safe certificate, which is the statewide lead rule arriving through a municipal door. The fee is $60 plus $20 for each additional unit. Elizabeth does not require a certificate of occupancy on a change of tenant — one granted stays in effect so long as the use does not change. The rent-control registration itself carries no stated fee; hardship, capital-improvement and rehabilitation-exemption applications cost $50 below $5,000 and $100 above.