For the first time, Jersey City renters can pull up their address on a phone and find out in seconds whether their landlord is legally capped on rent increases. Mayor James Solomon announced the completion of the first phase of the city’s rent control audit, identifying more than 1,700 properties containing over 20,000 units the city recognizes as rent controlled under its Rent Control Ordinance. The searchable map is live at rentcontrol.jcnj.org — the first time in the city’s history residents can look up this information online. Until now, that information lived in paper files, spreadsheets, and handwritten charts inside City Hall, with tenants having no practical way to determine whether a rent increase was legal. “Rent control only protects you if you know it applies to you,” Solomon said. “Now any renter in Jersey City can pull up their address on their phone and see whether their building is covered.”
Who’s on the map — and who isn’t yet The map is a preliminary, working inventory—not a final list.
It covers buildings of five or more units with no documented exemption on file. Appearing on the map does not by itself change a property’s legal status. Buildings where owners have claimed an exemption were set aside for Phase II of the audit, now underway and expected to wrap up by year’s end. If an owner in Phase II can’t prove a valid exemption, their property gets added to the map and tenants get notified directly.
The city has already issued over 300 summonses this year to landlords who failed to comply with the annual registration requirement under Chapter 260, prioritizing those who’ve ignored the rule for years. Keshav Poddar, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development, described the effort behind the map: “Our team went building by building through records that were never designed to be searched this way.”
Elizabeth R.
Hurley, Esq., legal director of The Waterfront Project, Inc., said her team tested the map against clients already known to be in rent-controlled units. “It got every one right,” she said. What to do if your building is missing — or wrongly listed Renters whose building should be on the map but isn’t can flag it through SeeClickFix under “Rent Control Status Request.”
Anyone who believes they’ve been overcharged can call the Office of Landlord/Tenant Relations at (201) 547-5127 to file an Illegal Rent Petition.
Landlords who think their building was wrongly included can file a Rent Control Exemption Request with the Office; if denied, they can appeal to the Rent Leveling Board. Solomon also named Colleen Smith, MSW, LCSW, as the new director of Housing Preservation — the division leading the audit and overseeing tenant protection programs. “Rent protections only matter if tenants can actually use them,” Smith said. “My job is to make sure people can find out where they stand and get what they are owed.”
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