2 rules apply — the local one first, then the county and state rules that bind alongside it.
Verified on 2026-08-17.
Hoboken permits no increase greater than 5% or the change in the CPI over the lease term, whichever is less. Chapter 155 defines a dwelling as any building rented to one or more tenants or family units, and its exemption list contains no unit count and no owner-occupancy exemption.
The widely repeated claim that Hoboken covers only buildings of four or more units, and exempts owner-occupied buildings of four or fewer, is not in the ordinance — §155-1 defines a dwelling as one rented to "one or more tenants or family units" and §155-2 lists eight exemptions, none of which is a unit count or owner occupancy. An owner living in their own two-family here is still inside the chapter.
The base rent is what was charged on 1 October 1985, or the first rent charged after that date. A capital-improvement surcharge may not raise a base rent by more than a third in any twelve months.
Exemptions
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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.
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