Housing rights depend on property location, type of occupancy, lease terms, subsidy programs, and local law. A notice from a landlord is not necessarily a court eviction order. Homeowners need to distinguish a lender’s default letter, foreclosure complaint, judgment, and sale notice. Buyers should distinguish an accepted offer from a binding contract and a mortgage preapproval from a final loan commitment.
| Topic | New Jersey | New York | Washington, DC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eviction | Landlord-tenant court procedures; anti-eviction protections and exceptions matter. Landlords cannot simply use locks or utility shutoffs to remove a tenant. | Court process is required for eviction; NYC Housing Court procedures and statewide protections must be distinguished. | Court process and lawful enforcement are required. Current OTA guidance describes statutory grounds and rejects landlord self-help. |
| Security deposit | Covered residential deposits generally capped at 1.5 months’ rent; generally return/accounting within 30 days after tenancy termination, with coverage and special situations to check. | Generally a one-month security-deposit cap; the AG guide describes 14-day return/itemization rules for non-regulated units. Regulated units need their own analysis. | Current OTA guidance: cap at initial monthly rent; within 45 days after vacating, return or notice of amounts claimed, with balance-return rules during the following 30 days. Interest rules depend on tenancy length. |
| Rent increases | Lease terms, municipal rent-control ordinances, anti-eviction law, and statutory exceptions matter; there is no single universal local cap. | Rent-regulated housing and Good Cause coverage differ from other rentals. Good Cause is not universal statewide coverage and has exemptions. | Rent control is not universal. Current OTA materials describe notice and registration requirements; annual caps and special petitions require current checking. |
| Repairs | Habitability, lease, code enforcement, and appropriate court remedies matter. | Warranty-of-habitability and housing-code routes apply; NYC programs are not statewide programs. | Building inspection and Housing Conditions Court can address repair problems; that court is not the route for every damages or deposit claim. |
| Building sale | Sale does not by itself answer all tenancy rights. Review notices, lease, and applicable protections. | Check lease, regulation, Good Cause coverage, and foreclosure-specific tenant protections. | TOPA rights and exceptions require current property-specific review. September 2026 OTA guidance includes significant exemptions; not every tenant has a purchase right. |
Sources for this table: NJ Truth in Renting, NJ deposit bulletin, NY tenants’ guide, NY Good Cause, DC Tenant Bill of Rights, September 2026, DC Housing Conditions Court. The DC revision’s new disclosure-document implementation date should not be confused with the effective date of each underlying law.