Your Right to Habitable Housing in New Jersey

New Jersey residential leases carry an implied warranty of habitability: since the state Supreme Court's 1970 decision in Marini v. Ireland, a landlord must keep "vital facilities" such as heat, water, toilets, electricity, and windows in working order for the whole tenancy. If you give the landlord notice of a problem you did not cause and a reasonable time to fix it, you can repair it and deduct the cost from rent, withhold rent and let a court lower what you owe, or ask the court to have rents paid to the court and spent on repairs (rent receivership). State inspectors cover buildings with three or more units, local code offices cover one- and two-unit rentals, and a rental built before 1978 needs a lead-safe certificate unless it is exempt.

What counts as a habitability problem in New Jersey

Under Marini, this warranty, New Jersey's form of one of the basic rights every tenant has, requires the landlord to repair damage to vital facilities from ordinary wear and tear, while a tenant who causes damage through malicious or abnormal use must repair it. The Department of Community Affairs (DCA) lists broken toilets, no hot or cold water, no heat or electricity, broken windows, and broken air conditioning that came with the tenancy as examples of defects in vital facilities. A maintenance problem that does not threaten safety or affect habitability does not support withholding or repair and deduct.

In Berzito v. Gambino (1973), the state Supreme Court endorsed these factors for deciding whether a defect breaches the warranty:

• whether it violates a housing, building, or sanitary code;
• whether it affects a vital facility;
• its actual or potential effect on safety and sanitation;
• how long it has lasted;
• the age of the building and the amount of the rent; and
• whether the tenant waived the problem or caused it.

Before you use any remedy, DCA says the defect must involve a vital facility, you must not have caused it, and you must have told the landlord and allowed adequate time for the repair. Send that notice in writing by certified mail, return receipt requested, and keep the receipt.

Your remedies when the landlord does not fix it

If a court agrees that the landlord's neglect forced you out, DCA says you get your security deposit back and owe no rent for the rest of the lease. Moving out is a risk if a court later disagrees; when conditions justify moving out explains how constructive eviction works before you give up the apartment.

Repair and deduct

Under Marini, if the landlord does not repair a vital facility within a reasonable time after timely notice, you can use repair and deduct: have the work done and deduct the cost from future rent. If you cannot reach the landlord after a reasonable attempt, you may still go ahead. The amount deducted must be reasonable in light of the value of the lease. In Marini itself, the tenant could not reach the landlord about a cracked, leaking toilet, paid a plumber $85.72, and sent the receipt with a check for the rest of her $95 monthly rent ($95 - $85.72 = $9.28); the Supreme Court later described that as payment in full of the rent due.

The landlord can still file a nonpayment case. You would then have to prove the defect, the landlord's failure to act after reasonable notice, and the need for the repair, and DCA says the court will very likely require you to deposit the full rent with the court.

Withholding rent and rent abatement

Berzito held that your duty to pay rent and the landlord's duty to keep the home livable depend on each other. You can withhold all or part of the rent and raise the landlord's breach as a defense if the landlord files a nonpayment eviction case, or you can sue to recover rent you already paid. If the court finds a breach, you owe only the reasonable rental value of the unit in its defective condition for the time you lived there. Berzito also requires that you first give the landlord clear and timely notice, ask for the repair, and allow a reasonable time.

DCA advises keeping withheld rent in a separate bank account. If the court rules for the landlord, you can still end the case by paying all the rent due plus court costs, in cash, certified funds, or a money order; the New Jersey courts say that right lasts until three business days after a lockout, and the landlord must accept the payment and have the case dismissed. Can you legally withhold rent? covers the risks of withholding.

Rent receivership

New Jersey's rent receivership law (N.J.S.A. 2A:42-85 through -96) lets a tenant, or the municipal official in charge of housing conditions, ask the court to order rents paid to the court clerk and used for repairs. The grounds are a lack of heat, running water, light, electricity, or adequate sewage disposal, a substantial violation of the state or local housing or health code, or any other condition dangerous to life, health, or safety. Your petition must show that the owner or manager was told about the conditions and did not act within a reasonable time, describe the work needed, and estimate its cost.

If you win, the court can require every tenant in the building to pay rent to the clerk, appoint an administrator to manage the repairs, and return any surplus to the owner with an accounting. Rent deposited under the judgment is a defense to an eviction case over that rent. The owner can defeat the petition by proving the conditions do not exist or were fixed, a petitioning tenant or family member caused them through malicious or abnormal use, or a tenant refused entry for repairs. The law does not cover owner-occupied buildings with no more than two rental units, public housing, or hotels.

Who inspects and who to call

• Buildings with three or more units: The DCA Bureau of Housing Inspection enforces the state Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law and inspects these buildings on a regular cycle. File a complaint with its State Inspection Section at (609) 633-6227 or BHIInspections@dca.nj.gov. In these buildings, from October 1 to May 15, the landlord must keep each unit at 68 degrees Fahrenheit or more from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and 65 degrees or more overnight. The landlord must keep the heating system working in every case, and must pay for the fuel unless you agreed in writing to supply your own heat and your unit has its own heating equipment whose use is billed separately.
• One- and two-unit rentals: Local ordinances apply, so contact your municipal building, housing, or health office.
• No heat: Call the local health officer as soon as you have notified, or tried to notify, the landlord. If the landlord still does not act, the local board of health can act as the landlord's agent and order the repairs needed to restore heat.

Landlords must register their rentals, with DCA for buildings of three or more units and with the municipal clerk for one- and two-unit rentals (owner-occupied two-family homes are exempt). A landlord who has not registered properly cannot evict a tenant in the building.

Lead-safe certificates for rentals built before 1978

Under P.L.2021, c.182, as amended by P.L.2024, c.74 in September 2024, your municipality must have each rental unit built before 1978 inspected for lead-based paint hazards, along with the shared interior areas of two- and three-unit buildings. The first inspection was due at tenant turnover or by July 22, 2025, whichever came first. After that, units are inspected every three years or at tenant turnover, whichever is earlier, though no turnover inspection is needed while the owner holds a valid lead-safe certificate, which lasts three years. The inspection can be done by the municipality or by a DCA-certified lead evaluation contractor, and the owner may hire that contractor directly.

What the law gives you:

1. At move-in, the landlord must give you evidence of a valid lead-safe certificate and attach a copy to your lease, unless the unit is exempt.
2. If an inspection finds a hazard, the owner must remove or control it using approved abatement or lead hazard control methods, and the unit must pass another inspection before it is certified lead-safe.
3. Units are exempt if they were built in 1978 or later, were certified lead-free, are seasonal one- or two-family rentals rented less than six months a year without consecutive renewals, or are in a multifamily building registered with DCA for at least 10 years with no outstanding lead paint violations from its two most recent state inspections.

If your pre-1978 unit came without a certificate, ask the landlord for it, then contact the municipal office that handles rental lead inspections. Federal disclosure rules apply on top of the state law; see lead paint protections for tenants.

Protection from retaliation

New Jersey's reprisal law bars a landlord from evicting you, refusing to renew your lease without cause, or substantially changing its terms because you tried to enforce your rights, made a good-faith complaint to a government agency about a health or safety code violation, or joined a lawful organization such as a tenant association. A complaint to an agency is protected only if you first brought it to the landlord and allowed a reasonable time to fix the violation. A notice to quit (a written notice ending your tenancy) or a substantial change in terms without cause after any of these acts is presumed to be a reprisal, and you can sue the landlord for damages. The law covers all rentals except owner-occupied buildings with no more than two rental units. The steps a landlord must follow to evict are covered in New Jersey eviction protections.