New Jersey Residential Lease Agreement

• Max 1.5 months' rent, and a yearly increase may not exceed 10% of the current deposit. The deposit must be held in an interest-bearing account, with written notice of where it is within 30 days and interest paid or credited every year. Within 30 days after the lease ends the landlord must return it with an itemized list of deductions, in person or by registered or certified mail (5 business days if the tenant was displaced by fire, flood, condemnation or evacuation). Owner-occupied buildings with 2 or fewer rental units are covered only if the tenant opts in (N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 to 46:8-26).

Reviewed 5 Oct 2026 · N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 to 46:8-26

Reviewed 5 Oct 2026 · N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 to 46:8-26

• Where New Jersey's just-cause rule covers the tenancy, a landlord's notice alone does not end it; the landlord also needs one of the causes that rule lists (see below).
• For residential tenancies covered by the Anti-Eviction Act there is NO no-cause termination: a landlord may only recover possession on one of the enumerated good-cause grounds in 2A:18-61.1 (a)-(r), each with its own notice period under 2A:18-61.2.
• For NON-covered tenancies only (owner-occupied premises with not more than two rental units; hotels/motels/guest houses; seasonal/transient), 2A:18-56(b) requires that a month-to-month tenancy be 'terminated by the giving of 1 month's notice to quit' before judgment for holding over.
• Statute says 'one month', recorded as 30 days; the notice period should run a full calendar month ending on the rental-period boundary.

Quoted from the source: “The tenancy, if a tenancy from month to month, has been terminated by the giving of 1 month's notice to quit”

Exceptions:

• Owner-occupied three-unit buildings where the owner seeks personal occupancy: covered by 2A:18-61.1(l)(3) with two months' notice under 2A:18-61.2(f).

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 (intro); N.J.S.A. 2A:18-56(b); N.J.S.A. 2A:18-53

• Covered tenancies: a tenant holding over after a fixed term cannot be removed merely for holding over; good cause under 2A:18-61.1 and 2A:18-61.3 is required.
• Exempt tenancies: 2A:18-53(a) permits removal of a tenant who 'holds over and continues in possession' after the term expires 'after demand made and written notice given by the landlord' — no minimum period stated in 2A:18-53(a); 2A:18-56 supplies the notice periods by tenancy type.

Quoted from the source: “after demand made and written notice given by the landlord or his agent, for delivery of possession thereof”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · N.J.S.A. 2A:18-53(a); N.J.S.A. 2A:18-56; N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.3

• Covered housing: every residential lessee/tenant of a house, building, mobile home or land in a mobile home park or tenement, except owner-occupied premises with not more than two rental units and hotels, motels or other guest houses rented to transient guests or seasonal tenants; removal is allowed only on the grounds enumerated in 2A:18-61.1(a)-(r).
• Exemptions: owner-occupied premises with not more than two rental units, hotel/motel/guest-house transient or seasonal occupancy; owner-occupied three-unit buildings are covered but have a personal-occupancy ground (l)(3).
• Grounds include non-payment, disorderly conduct, damage, rules/covenant breaches after notice to cease, code enforcement/demolition, permanent retirement, refusal of reasonable lease changes, habitual late payment, condo conversion, owner/purchaser occupancy, and drug/assault/theft/trafficking offenses.

Quoted from the source: “owner-occupied premises with not more than two rental units or a hotel, motel or other guest house”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 (Anti-Eviction Act, L.1974, c.49); N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.3 (non-renewal)

• Non-payment of rent (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1(a)) is expressly excepted from the written-demand/notice requirement of 2A:18-61.2; the landlord may file the summary dispossess complaint without a prior notice to quit.
• Applies to tenancies covered by the Anti-Eviction Act (all residential except owner-occupied premises with not more than two rental units, hotels/motels/guest houses).

Quoted from the source: “except in the nonpayment of rent under subsection a. or f. of section 2, unless the landlord has made written demand”

Exceptions:

• Federally subsidized housing: federal rules (e.g., 30-day CARES Act notice for covered properties; HUD lease notice rules) apply — NJ DCA bulletin says a 14-day notice must be given in federally subsidized housing.
• N.J.S.A. 2A:42-6.1 (P.L.2001, c.142): five business days' grace period before rent is late for senior citizens receiving Social Security/Railroad Retirement/other governmental pensions and recipients of SSD, SSI or Work First NJ.
• Habitual late payment is a separate ground (2A:18-61.1(j)) that DOES require a written notice to cease followed by one month's notice to quit (2A:18-61.2(b)).

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1(a); N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2 (opening sentence); N.J.S.A. 2A:42-6.1

• Two-step process: landlord must first serve a written 'notice to cease'; if the tenant continues the conduct, landlord serves a notice to quit giving 'one month's notice prior to the institution of the action'.
• Applies to continued violation of landlord's rules and regulations (2A:18-61.1(d)), substantial breach of covenants (2A:18-61.1(e)) and habitual failure to pay rent (2A:18-61.1(j)).
• Notice to quit must 'specify in detail the cause of the termination of the tenancy'.
• The statute says 'one month', not 30 days; recorded as 30 for registry purposes — the landlord should count a full calendar month.
• No statutory cure period is stated for the notice to cease; the tenant must simply stop the conduct after receiving it.

Quoted from the source: “The person has continued, after written notice to cease, to substantially violate or breach any of the covenants or agreements”

Exceptions:

• Public housing under a public housing authority: notice period for substantial breach under 2A:18-61.1(e)(2) follows federal regulations (2A:18-61.2(h)).
• Refusal to accept reasonable lease changes (2A:18-61.1(i)): one month's notice to quit (2A:18-61.2(e)), no notice to cease.
• Non-covered tenancies (owner-occupied <=2 units): 2A:18-53(c) allows a three-day notice to quit for breach of a covenant where the lease reserves a right of re-entry, disorderly conduct, or damage.

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1(d), (e), (j); N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2(b)

• Three days' notice to quit prior to instituting the action for: disorderly conduct after a written notice to cease (2A:18-61.1(b)); willful or grossly negligent destruction/damage to the premises (2A:18-61.1(c)) — no notice to cease required for damage; and grounds under subsections m., n., o., p., q., r. (drug offenses, assault/terroristic threats against landlord/family/employees, civil-action findings of drug/assault/theft liability, theft, human trafficking).
• Disorderly conduct still requires a prior written notice to cease; damage and criminal-conduct grounds do not.
• Notice must specify in detail the cause of termination and be served personally, by leaving a copy with a household member over 14, or by certified mail (regular mail if unclaimed).

Quoted from the source: “or any grounds under subsection m., n., o., p., q., or r. ... three days' notice prior to the institution of the action”

Exceptions:

• Non-covered tenancies (owner-occupied <=2 units): 2A:18-53(c) three-day notice for disorderly conduct, damage, or breach with reserved right of re-entry.

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2(a); N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1(b), (c), (m)-(r); N.J.S.A. 2A:18-53(c)

• Personally upon the tenant by giving a copy; or by leaving a copy at the tenant's usual place of abode with a family member above age 14; or by certified mail, and if the certified letter is not claimed, by regular mail (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2).

Quoted from the source: “by leaving a copy thereof at his usual place of abode with some member of his family above the age of 14 years”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2 (final paragraph)

• Notice to quit content: must specify in detail the cause of termination (2A:18-61.2, final paragraph).

Quoted from the source: “The notice in each of the foregoing instances shall specify in detail the cause of the termination of the tenancy”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2

Reviewed 21 Oct 2026 · N.J.S.A. 46:8-50 (P.L.2023, c.93)