Voters in this NJ city will decide if rent hikes should be capped at just $20 a year

⚠️ Elizabeth voters will decide in November whether to restore a $20 annual cap on rent increases.

➡️ The proposal reaches the ballot after a judge upheld a petition signed by more than 700 residents.

🔴 Supporters call the measure tenant protection, while landlords warn it would hurt housing quality.

ELIZABETH — A major rent control policy in New Jersey's fourth most populous city will be left up to voters following a court decision.

Elizabeth residents will decide on Tuesday, Nov. 3, after a Superior Court judge's ruling in Bergen County. If voters approve the referendum, it would cap rent increases at $20 per year. In July 2025, a local petition to put the question on local ballots garnered more than 700 signatures.

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Elizabeth's $20 rent cap heads back to voters

Housing activists celebrated the decision. Make the Road New Jersey Legal Director Lauren Herman said it was a win for Elizabeth tenants and others across the state.

"Rent control is constitutional in our state, whether or not corporate landlords like it," Herman said.

However, Matthew Moench, the landlord's attorney, said the policy would ultimately hurt tenants.

"A $20 rent control cap is unconstitutional and will do significant harm to the standard of living in Elizabeth.  This is just another step in our ongoing fight to ensure true fairness and quality housing opportunities to Elizabeth residents," Moench said Wednesday.

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Fight over rent control has lasted for years

The fight over the $20 rent hike cap has been ongoing for years, at a time when New Jersey rents are skyrocketing. It had been Elizabeth's rent control policy until 2022, when the city council scrapped it and instead implemented a 3% limit on rent increases.

More than 100 municipalities in the state have rent control. Around half of all renters in New Jersey are covered by local ordinances, according to some estimates.

State prosecutors have said that landlords are using algorithms to drive rents higher.

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