NJ Landlord Law · Updated September 2026
New Jersey's Truth in Renting Act does two things: it makes most landlords hand every tenant a state guide to their rights, and it bars lease clauses that take those rights away. Whether it applies to you depends on the size of your building. Here is who's covered, exactly what you have to do, and what happens if you don't.
The short answer. If you rent units in a building with three or more units (four or more if you live in one of them), the Truth in Renting Act (N.J.S.A. 46:8-43 to -51) requires you to give every tenant the current Truth in Renting statement published by the Department of Community Affairs, and keep a copy posted.
Timing. New tenants get it at or before the lease is signed. Existing tenants get each new edition within 30 days after the DCA posts it.
The lease rule. No lease can include a clause that violates tenants' clearly established legal rights. The penalty is up to $100 per offense, and the tenant can go to court over the clause.
The Truth in Renting Act dates to 1975. It directs the DCA to publish, in English and Spanish, a statement of the main legal rights and responsibilities of residential landlords and tenants in New Jersey, and it makes covered landlords distribute that statement. The DCA's current version is a guide of about 50 pages covering leases, security deposits, habitability, rent, eviction and more. It's informational. It doesn't change the law and it doesn't bind a court.
The second half of the Act matters more for how you write leases: a landlord can't offer or sign a lease containing a provision that violates tenants' clearly established legal rights under New Jersey law.
The Act applies to a "landlord," defined in N.J.S.A. 46:8-44 as anyone renting dwelling units for a term of at least one month, with three exceptions: buildings with two or fewer units, owner-occupied buildings with three or fewer units, and hotels, motels and guest houses serving transient or seasonal guests.
| Your rental | Truth in Renting Act applies? |
|---|---|
| Single-family house | No |
| Duplex (2 units), owner-occupied or not | No |
| Triplex (3 units), you live in one | No |
| Triplex (3 units), you don't live there | Yes |
| 4+ unit building, owner-occupied or not | Yes |
| Seasonal or transient rentals in hotels, motels, guest houses | No |
Our advice if you're exempt: hand it out anyway. It's free, it takes a minute, and it shows good faith if there's ever a dispute. The lease-clause rule is worth following regardless, because a clause that violates New Jersey law won't hold up in court either way.
A tenant can't waive this. Under N.J.S.A. 46:8-49, a tenant's refusal to accept the statement doesn't change your obligations. Deliver it, note the refusal, and keep the note.
Where to get it: the DCA posts the current Truth in Renting statement on its landlord-tenant information page. Check it each year, since the Act calls for annual updates.
Under N.J.S.A. 46:8-48, no landlord can offer or enter into a lease that includes a provision violating clearly established legal rights of tenants, or responsibilities of landlords, under New Jersey law at the time the lease is signed. A tenant can ask the court to end a lease containing such a provision, and the DCA's guide notes tenants can also ask the Special Civil Part to strike the provision. There's one exception: you're not penalized for a clause the tenant proposed.
Clauses that run into rules we've covered in other guides:
A landlord who violates the Act is liable for a penalty of up to $100 per offense (N.J.S.A. 46:8-47), collected in summary proceedings in the Special Civil Part of the county where the property sits. The complaint can come from the Commissioner of Community Affairs, the Attorney General or any other person. The fine is small. The bigger cost is a lease clause a judge throws out in the middle of a case you needed to win.
The Truth in Renting statement is one of several documents New Jersey expects landlords to provide. The DCA's list also includes the EPA lead pamphlet for pre-1978 housing, the flood risk notice, child-protection window guard notices, bed bug information, late fee and dishonored payment fee terms, and the domestic violence lease termination policy. We walk through each one in our guide to what a NJ residential lease has to include.
A 1975 law (N.J.S.A. 46:8-43 to -51) that requires the DCA to publish a statement of landlord and tenant rights, requires covered landlords to give it to tenants and post it, and bars lease provisions that violate tenants' clearly established legal rights.
No. It doesn't apply to buildings with two or fewer units, or to owner-occupied buildings with three or fewer units. The lease-clause rule is still worth following, because illegal clauses won't be enforced anyway.
New tenants get it at or before lease signing. Existing tenants get each new edition within 30 days after the DCA posts it. You also have to keep a current copy posted where all tenants can see it.
From the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs' landlord-tenant information page. It's free and available in English and Spanish.
Up to $100 per offense, enforced in the Special Civil Part. A tenant can also ask the court to end a lease that contains a provision violating their clearly established rights.
No. Under N.J.S.A. 46:8-49, a tenant's waiver or refusal doesn't change the landlord's obligations under the Act.
For a covered building, Truth in Renting compliance is a stack of paper and a thumbtack: hand it out, post it, replace it when the state updates it. The part that actually protects you is the lease rule. A lease built on New Jersey law, not a generic internet form, is one that holds up when you need it.
This guide is general information for landlords, not legal advice. Laws change. Confirm the current rules or talk to an attorney about your lease.
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