New Jersey Roommate Agreement
The New Jersey rules that shape the document: the owner-occupied Anti-Eviction Act exception, subtenant status, and the Law Against Discrimination's room-in-home exemption.
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Introduction
A roommate agreement is a private contract between co-tenants, not a lease, and it does not bind the landlord or change what the lease says. In New Jersey, the sharpest state rule is a narrow one: the Anti-Eviction Act's good-cause protection does not apply to an owner-occupied property with two or fewer rental units, or a room in the owner's own home, so a landlord there does not need to prove one of the statute's 18 good-cause grounds. That exception never permits self-help removal; the landlord must still sue and win a court judgment before anyone is removed, since self-help eviction is illegal in New Jersey in every case. Beyond that, New Jersey has no statute giving a tenant the right to add a roommate over a landlord's objection, no default rule on rent liability among roommates, and no rule on splitting a security deposit between them, so this Agreement and the lease are what actually govern those questions. Everything else, the rent split, chores, guests, and quiet hours, is covered by the national template.
Key Things to Know
- 1
New Jersey's Anti-Eviction Act good-cause requirement does not apply to an owner-occupied property with two or fewer rental units, or a room in the owner's own home (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1). That only removes the landlord's duty to prove one of the Act's 18 good-cause grounds. It does not authorize self-help removal: the landlord must still sue and win a court judgment for possession, since self-help eviction, meaning lockouts, utility shutoffs, or forcibly removing someone's belongings, is illegal in New Jersey in every case.
- 2
No New Jersey roommate can remove another on their own, under any circumstance. Only the landlord can remove an occupant, and only through the courts.
- 3
New Jersey has no statute like New York's Roommate Law giving a tenant an affirmative right to add a roommate over the landlord's objection. Whether a new roommate may move in is governed entirely by the lease.
- 4
Absent a landlord agreement adding a roommate directly to the lease, a roommate is generally a subtenant of the original tenant, not an independent co-tenant. Subletting is allowed by default unless the lease itself prohibits it, but the original tenant stays fully responsible for the apartment for the rest of the lease term even after subletting.
- 5
No New Jersey statute or reported case sets a default joint-and-several rent liability rule among roommates sharing one lease. The lease controls what the landlord can collect from each tenant, so this Agreement should state each roommate's payment share explicitly.
- 6
New Jersey's Security Deposit Act regulates only the landlord-tenant relationship and does not address how roommates split a deposit refund or reimburse each other for damage. That split is left entirely to this Agreement.
- 7
New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination exempts an owner from housing-discrimination liability when renting a room, or the other unit of a two-family home, within their own residence, a narrower exemption than the federal baseline. It does not exempt any other rental arrangement or any other protected-class refusal.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Roommate Agreement in New Jersey, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Roommate Agreement guide walks through them.
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New Jersey Requirements for Roommate Agreement
The Anti-Eviction Act's good-cause requirement does not apply to an owner-occupied property with two or fewer rental units, or a room in the owner's own home (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1), and a month-to-month tenancy there may end with a month's Notice to Quit. The landlord must still sue and win a court judgment for possession. State plainly that this exception never authorizes removal without going to court.
Self-help eviction, meaning lockouts, utility shutoffs, or forcibly removing a roommate's belongings, is illegal in New Jersey regardless of who attempts it. Only the landlord can remove an occupant, and only through the courts. The agreement should not suggest any self-help removal right between roommates.
Absent a landlord agreement adding a roommate directly to the lease, a roommate is a subtenant of the original tenant, not an independent co-tenant. Subletting is permitted by default unless the lease prohibits it, but the original tenant stays fully responsible for the apartment for the rest of the lease term even after subletting.
State plainly that the roommate agreement is a contract between the roommates only, does not modify the lease, and does not obligate the landlord, since New Jersey has no statute that would otherwise give it that effect.
No New Jersey statute or case sets a default rule on joint-and-several liability for rent among roommates. Draft the payment clause to state each roommate's share explicitly rather than relying on an assumed New Jersey default.
The New Jersey Security Deposit Act (N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 through 26) addresses only the landlord-tenant relationship, with no provision dividing a deposit among roommates. The agreement should set out how a shared deposit is divided when a roommate moves out.
New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination exempts an owner from housing-discrimination liability when renting a room, or the other unit of a two-family home, within their own residence, narrower than the federal Mrs. Murphy exemption. It does not exempt any other rental arrangement.
Frequently Asked Questions
The lease is between the tenants and the landlord. A New Jersey roommate agreement is a separate contract between the co-tenants themselves, covering rent splits, chores, guests, and issues New Jersey's landlord-tenant statutes do not address, such as how roommates split a security deposit or divide rent responsibility among themselves.
No. A New Jersey roommate agreement does not bind the landlord and cannot change the lease. If the lease requires landlord consent to add a subtenant or prohibits subletting, that term still controls; this Agreement only governs the relationship between the roommates.
No, never. Self-help eviction, meaning lockouts, utility shutoffs, or forcibly removing someone's belongings, is illegal in New Jersey in every case. Even where a New Jersey landlord qualifies for the owner-occupied Anti-Eviction Act exception, the landlord still has to sue and win a court judgment for possession before anyone can be removed.
New Jersey's Anti-Eviction Act normally requires a landlord to prove one of about 18 good-cause grounds before removing a tenant. That requirement does not apply to an owner-occupied property with two or fewer rental units, or a room in the owner's own home (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1), and a month-to-month tenancy there can end with a month's Notice to Quit. The landlord still must go to court and win a judgment for possession; this exception only removes the good-cause proof requirement, not the court requirement.
Usually a subtenant, unless the landlord has agreed in writing to add the roommate directly to the lease. New Jersey's Department of Community Affairs treats subletting as allowed by default unless the lease prohibits it, but the original tenant remains fully responsible for the apartment for the rest of the lease term even after subletting.
No New Jersey statute or reported case sets a default rule on whether roommates are jointly and severally liable for rent to the landlord. The lease itself controls what the landlord can collect from each signer. Because New Jersey law does not fill this gap, the roommate agreement should state each person's payment share explicitly.
New Jersey law does not say. The Security Deposit Act (N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 through 26) governs only the landlord-tenant relationship and has no provision for dividing a deposit among roommates. The roommate agreement is the only thing that governs how a shared deposit is split when someone moves out.
No. Unlike New York, New Jersey has no statute giving a tenant an affirmative right to add an occupant over the landlord's objection. Adding a roommate is governed entirely by the lease, so get the landlord's consent in whatever form the lease requires before relying on this agreement.
Generally no, but New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination exempts an owner from housing-discrimination liability when renting a room, or the other unit of a two-family home, within their own residence. That exemption is narrower than the federal Mrs. Murphy exemption and does not extend to any other rental arrangement.