Newark, New Jersey

Newark actively regulates and enforces short-term rentals, and the central constraint for investors is that the city requires STR hosts to both own the property and use it as their principal residence, verified against a driver’s license or state ID. This rules out non-owner-occupied investment STRs entirely. An STR is defined as a dwelling offered for stays up to 28 continuous days. Owners living on-site may rent up to two rooms, or rent their whole primary residence while temporarily away; two-family homes only qualify if the other unit is owner-occupied, and HOA or condominium association rules can prohibit STRs outright, with condo applicants needing association approval.

Since 2024, an annual STR permit costing $250, administered through the Engineering Department’s online portal, has been actively enforced using monitoring software to identify unpermitted operators; violations carry fines of up to $2,000 per violation, per day, plus possible permit revocation. Hosts must carry at least $500,000 in general liability insurance. Tax obligations are substantial: a 6.0% Newark municipal hotel/transient occupancy tax, a 1% New Jersey state occupancy fee (a reduced rate specific to Newark), and 6.625% New Jersey sales tax, and critically, platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo do not collect the local Newark tax, so hosts must register and remit it themselves. Enforcement is rated strict, the strictest rating in recent batches of this dataset.