Rent control in Orange, NJ

2 rules apply — the local one first, then the county and state rules that bind alongside it.

Research, not legal advice

These summaries are compiled from ordinance text and public sources and are dated at the point they were last checked. Rules change between checks — Newark replaced its whole registration regime in a single month — so confirm anything you are about to underwrite against the primary source or the municipal office named in the citation.

Four or more units, 5% with heat and 4% without

Orangehigh confidence

Verified on 2026-08-18 — 43 days ago.

The City of Orange Township caps an annual increase at 5% a year, or 4% where the tenant supplies their own heat, and at 2% for a qualified senior tenant. Chapter 166 exempts housing of three units or fewer, and four-family houses where the owner occupies one of the units.

Housing of three units or fewer is exempt, and so is a four-family where the owner occupies a unit — so the chapter starts at an absentee-owned four-family.

The municipality's legal name is the City of Orange Township, which is why it appears under three different names across the public records this report draws on — and why it must not be confused with East Orange, West Orange or South Orange Village, each of which has its own regime. An exemption is not automatic: it requires an application to the Office of Rent Leveling and an inspection, and when it expires the exempted rent becomes the revised base rent.

Exemptions

Housing units of three or fewer, and four-family houses where the owner occupies one of the living units.
Hotels and motels.
Units where the rent is a factor of income, and units receiving state or federal subsidies paid directly to the owner.
Home Rental Rehabilitation Program units, during their tenure in the programme.
Section 8 and voucher units, and HUD-owned, HUD-subsidised and HUD-insured-mortgage developments.
New construction or substantial rehabilitation of an unoccupied multifamily building, rented for the first time: three years. A newly constructed addition to a pre-existing dwelling, rented for the first time: three years. A substantially rehabilitated unit that had been uninhabitable: one year.

Annual cap: 5%
Vacancy decontrol: Yes — rent resets on vacancy
Unit counts: 4+ units
Owner-occupied exemption: Yes

Sources

City of Orange Township Code Chapter 166 — Rent Control; Rental Property RegistrationArticle I adopted 16 December 1986 by Ord. 71-86; definitions and §166-8 amended 16 October 2018; §166-16 amended 3 December 2019.
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.
Orange Office of Rent Leveling — Orange Office of Rent Leveling, (973) 952-6100

Rent control is municipal, and roughly 100 towns have it

New Jerseymedium confidence

Verified on 2026-08-01 — 60 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.

Every rule for Orange, NJ