Montclair caps an annual increase at 4.00% of the base rent, at 2.5% where at least one tenant is 65 or over, and allows a one-time 6% where the landlord has collected no increase on an existing tenant since 1 May 2020. Chapter 257's exemption is owner-occupancy, not size: a building of three or fewer units the owner lives in.
The widely reported "fewer than four units" threshold is not what the chapter says: §257-2B(1) exempts units in buildings the owner resides in that contain three or fewer residential units, and §257-2B(7) exempts single-family homes and single condominium and co-operative units. A non-owner-occupied two- or three-family is covered.
The figure circulating in press accounts is 4.25%; the codified cap is 4.00%. The chapter in force was adopted on 19 April 2022 and repealed the litigated 2020 ordinance outright, and it was amended again on 23 May 2024 — an amendment two years on is good evidence that it is operative. No substantial-rehabilitation exemption appears in §257-2B.
Exemptions
- Units in buildings the owner resides in that contain three or fewer residential units.
- Single-family homes, single condominium units and single co-operative units.
- Dwelling units rented for the first time after the chapter's adoption — the initial rent only, with every subsequent rent controlled.
- Income-determined units, and units exempted by state or federal law.
- Motels, hotels and transient premises, commercial floor space, and state-licensed rooming houses.
- School and college-owned student housing.
- Annual cap
- 4%
- Vacancy decontrol
- Yes — rent resets on vacancy
- Unit counts
- 2+ units
- Owner-occupied exemption
- Yes
Sources
- Montclair Township Code Chapter 257 — Rent RegulationAdopted 19 April 2022 by Ord. O-22-05, repealing the 2020 chapter; §§257-9, 257-12 and 257-17 amended 23 May 2024 by Ord. O-24-13. No uncodified amendments were pending.
- 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.
- Montclair Rent Control Office — Montclair Rent Control Office, (973) 509-4956