Is your property exempt from the NJ lead-safe law?

Nov 4
2026

Four exemptions exist: units built in 1978 or later; units certified lead-free under N.J.A.C. 5:17-3.6(b); seasonal rentals leased under 6 months a year; and multiple dwellings registered with DCA for 10+ years with no outstanding lead violations. In Hudson County, honestly, most rentals fit none of them.

Each exemption, against real Hudson County buildings

Built in 1978 or later. The certificate of occupancy date controls. Helps for new construction along the waterfront and recent mid-rises; useless for brownstones, railroad flats, and frame walk-ups, which is most of the county’s rental stock.

Certified lead-free. A one-time XRF test of every painted surface. If the unit passes, the exemption is permanent. Realistic for gut renovations where old paint was stripped or encapsulated; see when lead-free pays off.

Seasonal rental. Under 6 months a year, no consecutive renewals to the same tenant. Designed for shore towns; almost never applies in Hudson County’s year-round market.

DCA-registered 10+ years, clean record. For registered multiple dwellings with no outstanding lead-based paint violations from the two most recent cyclical inspections (P.L.2024, c.74 raised this from one inspection to two). You can look the building up yourself: the DCA publishes a searchable registry of registered multiple dwellings, filtered by county, municipality, and street address, showing the BHI registration number, unit count, and whether the registration is active. Registration is only the first condition; you still need a clean paint record from the last two Bureau of Housing Inspection cyclical inspections.

The honest paragraph

Per U.S. Census data (ACS table B25034), 52% of Hoboken's housing units were built before 1980, and the countywide picture is older still: 71% in Union City, 64% in West New York, 75% in North Bergen, and 79% in Bayonne. If you own a typical pre-war rental here, plan on the inspection. The exemption worth investigating is lead-free certification for renovated units; the rest are narrow.

If you think you qualify

Document it: the certificate of occupancy for post-1978 buildings, the lead-free certificate number, lease records for seasonal use, or your DCA registration history. Keep the paperwork with your rental registration. An exemption you cannot document does not protect you from a notice of violation.

Short answers

My building gets state BHI inspections. Is it exempt from the NJ lead-safe law?

Possibly: a multiple dwelling registered with DCA for at least 10 years is exempt if its two most recent state cyclical inspections left no outstanding lead-based paint violations. P.L.2024, c.74 raised that test from one inspection to two (P.L.2021, c.182, as amended by P.L.2024, c.74, § 1 c.(3)); N.J.A.C. 5:28A-1.3(b)4 still shows the older wording. The 10 years may include a previous owner. A multiple dwelling has three or more units, so a stand-alone two-family house does not qualify (N.J.A.C. 5:28A-1.2).

Are student or seasonal rentals exempt from the NJ lead-safe law?

Only seasonal ones: New Jersey exempts a single- or two-family seasonal rental rented under six months a year to tenants without consecutive lease renewals, and nothing for students. The statute lists no student-housing exemption, so a pre-1978 unit rented to students for six months or more a year is covered like any other rental (P.L.2021, c.182, as amended by P.L.2024, c.74, § 1 c.(4); N.J.A.C. 5:28A-1.3(b)2).

Exemption questions

My building is from 1985. Am I exempt from the NJ lead-safe law?

Yes. New Jersey’s lead-safe law applies to residential rentals built before 1978, so a building constructed in 1985 anywhere in Hudson County, Bayonne and Jersey City included, needs no lead-safe certificate. The cut-off is the federal ban on lead-based paint in housing, and the exemption list is set by N.J.A.C. 5:28A-1.3(b). Keep proof of the construction year: the municipality asks for it rather than taking your word.

My unit was remodeled in the 1990s. Exempt?

No. Remodeling a pre-1978 New Jersey rental does not change its construction year, and the exemption list in N.J.A.C. 5:28A-1.3(b) does not mention renovation. The only route out for an older building is a lead-free certificate based on an XRF survey of every painted surface under N.J.A.C. 5:17-3.6(b).

Is an owner-occupied duplex exempt?

Half of it. In New Jersey the unit the owner lives in is not a rental dwelling and needs no lead-safe certificate; the unit rented out is fully covered by P.L. 2021, c.182 and needs its own inspection at tenant turnover or every three years. In a Hudson County two-family that means one certificate, not two.

Does Section 8 or a HUD inspection count?

No. A HUD housing-quality inspection does not substitute for the New Jersey lead-safe certificate. The exemption list in N.J.A.C. 5:28A-1.3(b) is exhaustive and does not include federally assisted units, so a Section 8 rental in Hudson County still needs its own visual inspection and its own certificate valid three years.

Not sure which side you fall on?

Describe the building on the call; if it is exempt, we will tell you so and you keep your money.

☎ Call (551) 373-3311