New Jersey landlord rules: deposits, late fees and notices

The rules Occupella applies to properties in New Jersey, from our jurisdiction data. This is general information, not legal advice. Check the statute, or a local attorney, before you act.

Data version: 2026-08All 50 states and DC
Local rules apply here. Municipal rent-control ordinances are common (Newark, Jersey City, etc.)
  • Newark: Municipal rent control + registration
  • Jersey City: Municipal rent control + registration

Security deposit

Maximum deposit
1.5 months' rent
Return deadline
30 days after the tenancy ends
Penalty for late return
2x wrongfully withheld amount
Interest owed
Yes
Note
annual interest or credit to tenant

Work out the return date for a move-out

Source: N.J.S.A. §46:8-21.1

Late fees

Rule
5-business-day grace required for seniors and certain benefit recipients
Grace period
Not in our data

No statute cited in our data

Notice periods

Notice to pay or quit
none - file directly
Ending a month-to-month tenancy
no no-cause termination (Anti-Eviction Act)
Notice before entering a unit
24 hours
Note
nonpayment suits may be filed without prior notice; habitual-late-payer cases need a notice to cease

Work out the last day of a notice

No statute cited in our data

Screening

Source-of-income protection
Yes, statewide. Refusing a housing voucher is illegal.

No statute cited in our data

Licensing

To manage for others
A real-estate broker license, to manage property for others.

No statute cited in our data

How long an eviction takes

Among the slowest: 4 months or more, in tenant-protective courts. This is a rough tier from our data, not a court timeline.

Also worth knowing

  • Anti-Eviction Act: virtually no no-cause removals for covered tenancies - the lease effectively renews forever absent good cause
  • Many municipalities have local rent control

Interest owed on deposits

Formula
money-market / bank rate on the deposit account, credited annually
This year's figure
This year's figure is not loaded in our data. Use the formula and check the publisher.
Published by
bank-indexed
Applies to
state

Source: N.J.S.A. §46:8-19

A federal rule that can override this

Notice for nonpayment on covered properties
30 days
Note
Applies to 'covered properties' (federally backed mortgage or federal housing program). The 30-day notice requirement has no statutory sunset and courts are split - safest practice is a 30-day nonpayment notice on any covered property, regardless of shorter state timelines.

Source: CARES Act §4024

Data version 2026-08. This is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, and the version is when our data was last reviewed, not a promise that every rule is still current.

Landlord rules for every state

Rules applied per property

Occupella looks up these rules for each property's own state and does the date arithmetic, like the day a deposit is due back. 14 days free, no card.

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