Hoboken Is Introducing the First STR Ordinance in Its History. The World Cup Is Why. Here Is What It Would Do.

Hoboken has roughly 300 Airbnb listings available for World Cup weekends this June. It has exactly zero rules governing any of them.

That is about to change. Councilman Joe Quintero has put forward the first short-term rental ordinance in Hoboken’s history, targeting the city’s rent-controlled housing stock and proposing hotel taxes on platform listings. The timing is not coincidental. Eight FIFA World Cup matches, including the final, are scheduled at MetLife Stadium in neighboring East Rutherford. New Jersey expects more than 1.2 million visitors. And Hoboken, a 1.25-square-mile city where two-thirds of households rent their homes, has been operating in what Quintero calls “the gray zone.”

“If we don’t have clear rules set, it will be the Wild West,” Quintero told Gothamist.

He is not wrong. While nearly every municipality within commuting distance of MetLife Stadium has passed some form of STR regulation, Hoboken has had none. Not a permit requirement. Not a night cap. Not a registration system. That makes it an outlier in a region where at least 75 New Jersey towns have enacted STR restrictions, and where New York City’s Local Law 18 has effectively eliminated 90% of its Airbnb market. As StaySTRA reported earlier this month, Hoboken residents have been watching the transformation happen in real time as listings multiply across their neighborhoods.

What the Proposed Ordinance Would Do

The ordinance centers on two provisions that would affect the market most directly.

First, it would ban short-term rentals in rent-controlled units. Hoboken’s rent control ordinance (Chapter 155) applies to buildings 30 years or older. In a city where 66% of households are renter-occupied and the median rent sits at approximately $3,600 per month, rent-controlled apartments represent one of the last affordable housing tools the city has. Converting those units to nightly Airbnb listings, Quintero argues, undermines the entire purpose of the rent control system.

“The point of rent control is to protect housing that is affordable for Hoboken residents, not to allow people to make excessive income off rent-controlled units,” then-council members Emily Jabbour and Jim Doyle wrote when they first proposed a similar measure in 2021.

Jabbour is now the mayor. The measure she co-sponsored five years ago never passed.

Second, the ordinance would impose hotel and occupancy taxes on STR listings. New Jersey already requires platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo to collect state sales tax (6.625%) and a state occupancy fee (5%) on short-term stays. But municipalities can layer additional occupancy taxes on top of those. Hoboken currently collects none. Quintero sees this as leaving revenue on the table at the worst possible time.

“That is a revenue source that we can and should avail ourselves of if we have the opportunity,” Quintero told Gothamist. With World Cup weekend rates in the region spiking well above normal levels, the per-night tax revenue from roughly 300 listings could be meaningful for a city that just introduced a 2026 budget with a 3.5% spending increase.

The 2021 Attempt That Failed

This is not Hoboken’s first run at STR regulation. In June 2021, Jabbour and Doyle introduced an ordinance that would have prohibited rent-controlled units from being listed on Airbnb and similar platforms. The penalty structure was progressive: $500 for a first offense, $1,250 for a second, $2,000 for a third. All collected fines would have gone to Hoboken’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

The ordinance never made it to a final vote. It was tabled after a fierce debate that had more to do with local politics than housing policy. Council President Ruben Ramos called the measure a “political attack.” Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher called it “predatory politics.” The backdrop: Councilman Mike DeFusco had been renting his own apartment on Airbnb 23 times during the pandemic. He characterized it as an owner-occupied condo, not an exploitative practice.

The politics killed the policy. Five years later, a World Cup has created the urgency that local politics could not.

The Jersey City Blueprint

Quintero has said publicly that he is modeling Hoboken’s approach after Jersey City’s permit system, and for good reason. Jersey City’s Chapter 255 is the most comprehensive STR regulatory framework in New Jersey, born from a 2019 referendum that voters approved overwhelmingly, 19,725 to 3,068, despite an aggressive and well-funded campaign by Airbnb to defeat it.

Documents show Jersey City’s framework includes several provisions Hoboken is likely to replicate:

• Permit requirement: Every STR operator must obtain a permit ($250 initial, $200 annual renewal) before listing or advertising a property.
• Rent-controlled unit ban: Properties subject to rent control are prohibited from short-term rental use.
• 60-night cap: Owners who are not on-site can rent their property for no more than 60 nights per year.
• No renter-hosts: Tenants are prohibited from operating short-term rentals.
• Building size limit: STRs are forbidden in buildings with more than four units if the owner is not present.
• Safety inspections: Properties must pass fire safety and property maintenance inspections before a permit is issued.

StaySTRA data for the Jersey City metro shows 2,287 active STR listings with an average daily rate of $251.69 and 78% occupancy. The regulatory framework did not kill the market. It structured it.

The NJ Metro Pattern Hoboken Is Joining

Hoboken is the last domino in a regulatory chain that has swept through the NJ/NYC metro area over the past several years. Here is what the surrounding municipalities have already done.

Kearny expanded a 2017 STR ban to cover all multifamily housing in March 2026, with penalties of $750 to $2,000 per day plus potential jail time. The town council voted unanimously.

North Bergen passed a 60-night annual cap in March 2026, limiting STRs to owner-occupied primary residences only. No person or entity can hold more than two STR permits in the township.

Union City banned rentals shorter than 31 days back in 2016 through a “Peace and Good Order” resolution from its Board of Commissioners.

Weehawken banned all rentals under 30 days, citing quality-of-life concerns.

West New York prohibits short-term vacation stays entirely.

Across the Hudson, New York City’s Local Law 18 reduced Airbnb listings from 38,000 to roughly 3,000. Boston, another FIFA host city, rejected Airbnb’s lobbying efforts to loosen its rules for the tournament.

StaySTRA’s analysis of New Jersey’s expanding STR restrictions found that at least 75 municipalities in the state have enacted some form of regulation. For a broader look at how all 11 U.S. host cities are handling STR enforcement, see our complete regulatory roundup. And for a closer look at how regulation is rippling outward from FIFA host markets into surrounding towns, see our adjacent cities analysis.

That Hoboken, a city that borders Jersey City and sits within the primary World Cup impact zone, has gone this long without any rules is the real story.

Why Hoboken Took So Long

The question every investor watching this market should ask: why did it take this long?

Part of the answer is political. The 2021 ordinance was collateral damage in a council power struggle. Part of it is structural. Hoboken is small, with roughly 60,000 people packed into 1.25 square miles, and its city government has moved slowly on housing issues. And part of it is philosophical. Unlike Kearny or Union City, Hoboken’s leadership has not been hostile to STRs. Mayor Jabbour has deferred the issue to the City Council rather than championing a position. Airbnb policy representative Michael Blaustein has publicly praised Hoboken’s permissive stance.

But the World Cup changed the calculus. The combination of a 1.2-million-visitor projection, hotel prices exceeding $8,000 per night in some North Jersey markets, and Airbnb offering $750 bonuses to first-time hosts in World Cup ZIP codes created a visible surge that made inaction politically untenable.

“That means we need more police and fire on duty. There could be potential for more accidents. There could be just increased traffic congestion,” Quintero acknowledged to CBS New York.

For a city that earns zero STR tax revenue and has zero regulatory oversight of its short-term rental market, the gap between the scale of the incoming demand and the city’s capacity to manage it was too large to ignore.

What STR Hosts and Investors Should Know Right Now

If you own or operate an STR in Hoboken, or are evaluating a Hoboken property for short-term rental investment, here is what the data indicates.

The ordinance is not law yet. As of late April 2026, Quintero’s proposal has been introduced but has not been adopted. New Jersey municipal ordinances require a public hearing and second reading before passage. The timeline is compressed. World Cup matches begin June 11 at MetLife Stadium. Whether the ordinance can be finalized before then remains an open question.

Rent-controlled properties are the primary target. If your property is not subject to rent control, the immediate impact is likely limited to new tax obligations rather than an outright ban. But if it is rent-controlled, sources suggest a prohibition is coming.

Tax obligations will increase. Even if the ordinance stalls, platforms already collect state-level taxes (11.625% combined). A municipal occupancy tax would add to that. Operators should model their returns accordingly.

The Jersey City model suggests what comes next. If Hoboken follows through on the Jersey City template, expect permit requirements, safety inspections, night caps for non-owner-occupied properties, and a ban on renter-hosts. Jersey City charges $250 for the initial permit and $200 for annual renewal.

StaySTRA does not yet have a Hoboken-specific location page. The closest available market data is the Jersey City metro page, which shows an average daily rate of $251.69, 78% occupancy, and average monthly revenue of $3,227 across 2,287 active listings. Use the StaySTRA Analyzer to run numbers on specific properties you are evaluating.

We do our best to keep our reporting accurate and up to date, but situations evolve and we are only human. Always verify current details directly with local officials and sources before making decisions.

Ready to evaluate a Hoboken or New Jersey investment property? The StaySTRA Analyzer shows you market-level revenue, occupancy, and ADR data so you can run the numbers before the rules change. Start with the Jersey City metro data page for the closest available market comparison.