Rent control in Paterson, 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.

Two units up if the owner lives elsewhere, three if they do not, capped at 5%

Patersonhigh confidence

Verified on 2026-08-17.

Paterson's Chapter 381 limits an annual increase to 5% of the existing base rent, or 3.5% where the head of household is 65 or over or has been found disabled by the Social Security Administration. Coverage turns on who lives in the building: an owner-occupied dwelling is reached at three or more units, and one the owner does not occupy at two.

§381-3E splits on owner occupancy: three or more units where the owner occupies one, two or more where they do not. Neither the city's own tenant brochure nor the DCA survey carries that split — both give a single figure — so an owner-occupied two-family is outside the ordinance and an owner-occupied three-family is inside it.

Base rents run from 11 January 1976. The new-construction exemption is the trap for a buyer of recent stock: it is not automatic, and a developer who did not claim it in the thirty days before the certificate of occupancy lost it permanently — so ask for the filing rather than inferring the exemption from the year built. The city's own Landlords/Tenants Bill of Rights states an exemption for buildings whose certificate of occupancy issued after 1976, which the amending ordinance supersedes.

Exemptions

Buildings in which only one unit is rented.
Owner-occupied dwellings of two units.
Motels, hotels, and rooming houses licensed by the Director of the Department of Community Affairs.
Federally and state subsidised housing, and developments owned or subsidised by HUD or HMFA.
Multiple dwellings constructed after 23 December 1999, for 30 years — but the exemption is forfeited unless it is claimed at least 30 days before the certificate of occupancy issues.
Substantially rehabilitated residential structures, for the periods the chapter defines.
Units certified as part of the city's neighbourhood preservation or rehabilitation programme.

Annual cap: 5%
Vacancy decontrol: No
Unit counts: 2+ units
Owner-occupied exemption: Yes

Sources

City of Paterson Code Chapter 381 — Rent Leveling (amending ordinance)The city's own posted ordinance text. §381-3E is the coverage split, §381-14A(1) the cap, §381-4K registration, §381-24 the rehabilitation decontrol.
City of Paterson Rent Leveling Office — Landlords/Tenants Bill of RightsThe office's own summary, which states the 5% and 3.5% caps and omits the owner-occupancy split.
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.
Paterson Rent Leveling Office — Paterson Rent Leveling Office, (973) 321-1242 ext. 2285

Rent control is municipal, and 120 of the 564 towns have it

New Jerseymedium confidence

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

NJ DCA — 2026 Rent Control Survey — New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, 2026 Rent Control Survey — every municipality, with its rent board, ordinance link, unit threshold, increase limit and exceptions.The department's own caveat: the survey is only as current as the published municipal codes, and the stated percentage may differ from the increase actually permitted. Rent control ordinances are adopted by each municipality, not by the state.
NJ DCA — Landlord-Tenant Information

Every rule for Paterson, NJ