Independent Living in New Jersey

New Jersey Independent Living Regulations

Each state regulates senior living communities differently. If an assisted living community provides independent living, the community may share regulation guidelines for assisted living. You can use APFM’s guide to assisted living regulations to learn more about facilities and learn how to access facility records in New Jersey.

In New Jersey, independent living communities — also known simply as retirement communities — are geared towards seniors who are able to live on their own, without daily assistance, and prefer to live among people their age. This usually means residents are self-sufficient and do not require hands-on care. Think of independent living communities as age-restricted (typically 55+) rental complexes that provide organized activities, meal services, and transportation.

New Jersey independent living communities aren’t licensed the same way as assisted living communities. However, combined facilities that include both independent and assisted living are licensed by New Jersey’s Department of Health. If your independent living community is part of a combined community, it may share spaces that are impacted by some of New Jersey’s assisted living regulations.

The general rental regulations outlined below may or may not apply to your future independent living community, so be sure to inquire about them while touring. If your prospective community shares common areas with an assisted living community, it might also be helpful to review our New Jersey assisted living laws and regulations page.

Resident rights

Renting an independent living apartment is similar to renting a traditional apartment. This means independent living communities have to follow specific rules and standards to ensure they respect your rights as a renter in New Jersey, like the following:^[01]

• Community owners and landlords must make renters aware of all fees.
• As a senior, you must be allowed five business days to pay any late fees.
• You’re allowed to have a service animal in your rental unit, even if the community has a no-pets policy.
• Community owners and landlords can only increase monthly rent if they offer a new lease.
• If you need to make repairs to make your unit more habitable, you can deduct that cost from your rent.

For more in-depth information on your rights, we recommend reading the Tenants’ Rights in New Jersey handbook.

Reasonable accommodations and modifications

If you’re a senior with a disability, you have additional rights as a renter in New Jersey. Specifically, you have the right to reasonable accommodations and modifications in your living unit under the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA):^[02]

• Reasonable accommodations include changes to rules and policies, such as permitting you to live with a service animal or assigning you an accessible parking space.
• Reasonable modifications include physical changes to the building or unit, such as widening doorways to fit a wheelchair and installing bathroom grab bars.

New Jersey landlords and community owners must allow tenants with disabilities to make these reasonable modifications to their units. However, these changes must be paid for and done by the tenant.^[01]

Building requirements

If you move into a stand-alone New Jersey independent living community, your unit must have the three following elements:^[01]

• Lockable doors
• A functioning heating system
• Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors

If your independent living community is part of a combined facility that includes assisted living, the following building regulations may apply to your unit:^[03]

• Units can house up to two seniors.
• Each unit must have a kitchenette, lockable entry door, and private bathroom.
• Seniors must have access to bathrooms in common areas.

New Jersey Department of Health contact information

New Jersey Department of Health
55 North Willow St.
Trenton, NJ 08608
Phone: 1-800-367-6543

Inspection summaries

If your independent living community is part of a larger facility that also provides assisted living, you can look up that facility’s inspection results online. The New Jersey Department of Health makes these results, called inspection summaries, available to the public on their health facilities search page. Follow the directions below to view the inspection summary of a community you’re interested in:

1. Type the name of your city, or leave that space blank to search the entire state.
2. Select “Assisted Living Residences” under “Type of Facility.”
3. Click on “Start Search.”
4. Click on a facility’s name.
5. Choose the “Inspection Summaries” tab and click on “More Info” to view the inspection dates and to access PDFs of the summaries.