New Jersey changed two big screening rules in 2026: a $50 cap on application fees and an income test that must use only the tenant’s share of the rent. Add the Fair Chance in Housing Act, in force since 2022, and even the first conversation with a prospect has rules. Here is what you can ask at each stage.

What can you ask a prospect on the first call or message?

Ask about the unit, the timing and your written criteria, and nothing about the person’s background. The same script for everyone is the safest one.

Questions that are fine on first contact:

  • When do you want to move in, and for how long?
  • How many people will live in the unit? Reasonable occupancy limits are allowed (42 U.S.C. 3607).
  • Do you have pets? An assistance animal for a person with a disability is not a pet, and refusing a reasonable accommodation is unlawful (24 CFR 100.204).
  • What rent range works for you, and would you like our screening criteria and fee?

Say what the application fee is up front. The Attorney General warns that failing to clearly disclose a required fee when advertising, or hiding the rent price until someone pays a fee, is likely an unconscionable practice under the Consumer Fraud Act (AG guidance).

What should you never ask?

The Law Against Discrimination bars refusing to rent because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, nationality, marital status, civil union or domestic partnership status, pregnancy or breastfeeding, sex, gender identity or expression, affectional or sexual orientation, familial status, disability, liability for military service, or source of lawful income used for rent (Division on Civil Rights). It also bars an application form or any record or inquiry that expresses a limitation based on those traits (N.J.S.A. 10:5-12(g)).

Questions to keep off every call, text and form:

  • “Have you ever been convicted of anything?” A housing provider may not make any oral or written inquiry about criminal record before a conditional offer (N.J.S.A. 46:8-55). The only pre-offer exceptions are a methamphetamine production conviction on the premises of federally assisted housing and lifetime sex offender registration.
  • “Are you married?” or “Is this your partner?”
  • “Do you have kids?” or “Are you pregnant?”
  • “Do you have a disability?” Federal rules ban asking whether an applicant has a disability or how severe it is, though you may ask all applicants whether they can meet the tenancy’s requirements (24 CFR 100.202(c)).
  • “Will you take a drug test?” A housing provider may not require a drug or alcohol test, or ask for consent to get records from a drug treatment facility (N.J.S.A. 46:8-60).
  • “Is that a voucher? We don’t take programs.”

What can the rental application ask for?

The application can ask for identity details, rental history, references, employment and income, and consent to a credit check. Apart from the two narrow exceptions above, it cannot include criminal history questions, which must wait for a conditional offer.

Since January 12, 2026, you may not ignore an applicant’s rental assistance when you apply an income requirement. Any minimum income standard must be calculated only on the portion of the rent the tenant will pay, not the full monthly rent (Division on Civil Rights). Source of lawful income includes child support, alimony, supplemental security income, unemployment, disability and veterans’ benefits, and rental assistance vouchers.

Before accepting any application fee, you must disclose in writing whether your criteria include criminal history, and that the applicant may provide evidence of inaccuracies in their record or of rehabilitation (N.J.S.A. 46:8-55(b)).

Can you run credit and background checks, and when?

Credit checks can run once the applicant has applied and authorized one. If a report contributes to a denial, a co-signer requirement, a larger deposit or higher rent, federal law requires an adverse action notice naming the reporting company and explaining the right to a free report within 60 days and to dispute (FTC).

Criminal checks come only after a conditional offer. The Fair Chance in Housing Act covers every rental except a unit in an owner-occupied building of no more than four units (Division on Civil Rights). Under N.J.S.A. 46:8-56:

  • Never consider arrests or charges without a conviction, expunged, pardoned, vacated or sealed records, or juvenile adjudications.
  • After the offer, you may consider convictions for murder, aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping, arson, human trafficking, certain sexual offenses, and crimes carrying lifetime sex offender registration, whenever they occurred.
  • Other convictions count only if recent: first degree within six years, second or third degree within four years, fourth degree within one year. Each runs from the conviction, or the end of any prison sentence, to the date of the conditional offer.
  • You may withdraw the offer only if needed for a substantial, legitimate and nondiscriminatory interest, after an individualized assessment. The applicant gets written reasons and a chance to appeal with evidence.

Penalties run up to $1,000 for a first violation, up to $5,000 for a second within five years, and up to $10,000 for a third or later within seven years (N.J.S.A. 46:8-63).

Are application or screening fees capped?

Yes. From May 1, 2026, landlords and their agents may not charge more than $50 for an application fee or other similar fee to apply to lease or sublease a home (AG guidance). The cap does not apply to units in one- or two-family dwellings, and violations carry penalties of up to $1,000 each.

The Attorney General’s guidance adds:

  • Separate “administrative” or “screening” fees count toward the same $50.
  • Collecting fees for units that are not really available, or from applicants you know will not qualify, may violate the law.
  • So may collecting an excessive number of applications for one unit to gather fees.

What about security deposits?

The deposit may not exceed one and a half times one month’s rent, and any yearly increase in the deposit may not exceed 10% of the current deposit (N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.2). The Department of Community Affairs says prepaid funds held to secure future rent, including last month’s rent, count toward that limit (Truth in Renting).

The Security Deposit Law does not apply to owner-occupied buildings with no more than two rental units, unless the tenant gives 30 days’ written notice invoking it (N.J.S.A. 46:8-26).

At a glance

Rule New Jersey
Application fee cap $50 from May 1, 2026, including similar fees; not for units in one- or two-family dwellings
Security deposit cap One and a half months’ rent; yearly increases of 10% at most
Source-of-income protection Yes; income tests only on the tenant’s share of rent since January 12, 2026
Criminal history Only after a conditional offer; lookbacks of 6, 4 or 1 years by degree; written pre-fee disclosure
Drug and alcohol tests Not allowed
Key statutes N.J.S.A. 10:5-12; 46:8-21.2; 46:8-52 to 64; P.L.2025, c.405