VERONA, NJ – Verona's senior and disabled tenants would never face a rent increase above 3% a year under a rewrite of the township's rent control law, even when inflation runs higher. Today, seniors' increases track inflation with no ceiling, which allowed hikes approaching 8% in 2022.
The draft, which repeals and replaces Chapter 402 of the Township Code, came up near the end of the Town Council's October 5 meeting, folded together with a companion change to the fee schedule. No council member objected. Mayor Christopher Tamburro called the changes common sense and said he was prepared to introduce them at the October 19 meeting, setting up a public hearing and final vote later this fall.
Councilwoman Christine McGrath said the rewrite responds to how the 2021 law has worked in practice, especially problems with federal CPI reporting. She urged tenants and landlords to read the drafts, which were posted with the meeting packet, and to contact the council before introduction so any tweaks can be made. She also said other towns cite Verona's ordinance when revising their own. The entire proposed ordinance can be viewed on the town website.
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About one in five Verona households rents, roughly 1,200 to 1,300 households, according to Census estimates (QuickFacts puts owner-occupancy at 77.8%). Rent control covers only part of that group: units in buildings with four or more apartments, excluding new construction and subsidized housing.
For most tenants, the core formula would not change. Landlords could still raise rents by 3% or the inflation rate, whichever is greater, and could still reset rents freely when a tenant leaves voluntarily.
What Changes for Tenants
Seniors and disabled tenants get a hard 3% ceiling. Under the current law (Ordinance 2021-08), a household with a tenant 62 or older can be raised by the inflation rate, with no floor and no ceiling. The draft makes it the inflation rate or 3%, whichever is less. It also extends that protection to tenants receiving Social Security disability benefits, who now fall under the general rule.
Under the draft, every blue month above would have been capped at 3% for seniors. In September 2022, the inflation-based limit hit 7.87%. On a $2,000 apartment, that is the difference between a $157 and a $60 monthly increase.
One inflation figure a year instead of one per month. Today the allowable increase depends on the month a lease starts. The draft would use a single figure: the change in the 12-month average of the regional CPI-W, September through August. The township would post it by October 1, and it would apply to every renewal the following calendar year.
That would also avoid problems like last December's. A federal shutdown delayed October CPI data, so the Rent Control Board set a placeholder 3% for January 2026 renewals, with refunds or back-charges once the real number arrived.
What stays the same for everyone else:
Leases that began before the new law takes effect would follow the current rules until renewal. The draft also shortens the scheduled review of rent control from 10 years to 5.
What Changes for Landlords
Most of the landlord changes tighten paperwork and enforcement, and several match proposals the Rent Control Board reviewed in November 2025.
The draft also changes how disputes move. Appeals of the Rent Control Administrator's decisions would go to the Rent Control Office, with copies to the board attorney and township manager. When the person appealing has a lawyer, the board attorney could negotiate a settlement, subject to the board's approval.
How Verona Compares
Verona is in the heart of New Jersey's rent control country. The state has no statewide cap. Instead, 117 of its 564 municipalities had local rent control in 2022, most of them in Essex, Hudson, Bergen and Middlesex counties, according to a 2024 Rutgers study. In Essex, 16 of 22 towns had it, and 98% of the county's renters lived in one of them.
Verona's formula is less common. The Rutgers researchers found most towns set fixed caps, many between 4% and 5.9% a year, and 27 tie increases to inflation alone. Verona does both: a 3% floor with no ceiling short of the 15% total cap, which in 2022 meant increases near 8%. Senior protections, like Verona's proposed 3% cap, are common but vary.
Vacancy decontrol is also the norm. Of the 103 towns that regulate more than mobile homes, 89 let landlords raise rents beyond the annual limit when an apartment turns over, Rutgers found. Some, like East Orange, limit how often. Verona's draft keeps full reset on voluntary vacancy.
State law limits what any town can cover. Since 1987, New Jersey has exempted newly built buildings of four or more units from local rent control for up to 30 years. Verona's own law goes further, exempting any unit's first rent after adoption.
Trenton is weighing a statewide floor. Bills introduced in January (A751 and its Senate twin S452) would cap increases statewide at 5% plus inflation or 10%, whichever is lower. Town ordinances with lower limits, like Verona's, would stand. A separate bill, S433, targets seniors in state-financed housing. In July, Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed the FAIR Act, which bars landlords from using algorithmic software to coordinate rents; it takes effect in July 2027.
What's Next
Mayor Tamburro said he expects to introduce both ordinances on October 19. A public hearing and final vote would follow at a later meeting, likely in November. The law would take effect 20 days after final passage and publication. The Rent Control Board's annual meeting is set for November 11 at 6 p.m.