What is the New Jersey security deposit interest rate right now?

No published figure exists. New Jersey sets no rate. The tenant is owed the interest or earnings the deposit actually produces in the account or fund the Act requires the landlord to use, and which vehicle applies turns on the size of the building.

When must a landlord pay or credit deposit interest in New Jersey?

The tenant's interest or earnings "shall be paid to the tenant in cash, or be credited toward the payment of rent due on the renewal or anniversary of said tenant's lease or on January 31," the January date applying "if the tenant has been given written notice ... that subsequent interest payments will be made on January 31 of each year." The annual security-deposit notice goes out with each annual payment.

Does the deposit have to be in an interest-bearing account in New Jersey?

Yes — for the tenancies the law covers, New Jersey law requires the deposit to sit in an interest-bearing account or names the investment vehicle; the coverage conditions are on this page. The deposit must sit in the vehicle the Act names for that landlord's building size: for 10 or more rental units, an insured money market fund established by a New Jersey-based investment company or a variable-rate account at an insured New Jersey banking institution; for fewer, an insured New Jersey account bearing interest on time or savings deposits. The money may not be commingled and does not become an asset of the landlord.

What happens if a landlord does not pay deposit interest in New Jersey?

If the landlord "fails to invest or deposit the security money in the manner required under this section or to provide the notice or pay the interest to the tenant," the tenant may give written notice "that such security money plus an amount representing interest at the rate of seven percent per annum be applied on account of rent payment or payments due or to become due." The tenant must first give written notice and then allow the landlord 30 days to comply with the annual interest payment and notice requirements — but that 30-day allowance is not required where the landlord failed to deposit the money properly at the start.

Does a landlord have to pay interest on a security deposit in New Jersey?

Verified August 29, 2026 All New Jersey topics →

Check your municipality. New Jersey does not preempt local rent regulation — city or county ordinances may impose rent caps, notice periods, and fee limits that are stricter than the state law on this page. Verify your municipality's ordinances before relying on any figure below. Verified local pages: Atlantic City, Bayonne, East Orange, Elizabeth, Fort Lee, Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark, Passaic, Paterson.

What the state record says

New Jersey has no statewide rent control statute, but roughly 100 municipalities — including Newark, Jersey City, Elizabeth, Paterson, and Fort Lee — maintain rent control or rent leveling ordinances with their own caps, notice rules, and boards. This is the leading NON-preemption state: municipalities have had confirmed authority to enact rent control since Inganamort v. Borough of Fort Lee, 62 N.J. 521 (1973). State law also polices increases through the Anti-Eviction Act's unconscionability standard.

New Jersey requires landlords to pay tenants the interest their security deposits actually earn, once a year.

Cited to N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 through 46:8-26 (Rent Security Deposit Act, full statutory text as published by the Department of Community Affairs' Landlord-Tenant Information Service) §§ 46:8-19, 46:8-21.1, 46:8-26 and 3 more cited sources · Verified August 29, 2026

There is no statewide rate to look up: the money has to sit in an interest-bearing account or money market fund the law describes, and whatever it earns belongs to the tenant — paid in cash or credited against rent on the lease renewal or anniversary, or on January 31 each year if the landlord gave written notice that payments come then. The size of the building picks the account, not the duty: a landlord with 10 or more rental units uses an insured New Jersey money market fund or a variable-rate insured account, and a smaller landlord uses an insured New Jersey account bearing interest on time or savings deposits. Owner-occupied buildings with no more than two rental units sit outside the Act unless the tenant opts in with 30 days' written notice. A landlord who fails to deposit the money properly, or to give the required notices, can be told in writing to apply the deposit plus 7% a year to the rent — and may never collect another deposit from that tenant.

New Jersey deposit interest at a glance

Interest owed to the tenant	Yes — required by statute
How the rate is set	Whatever the account actually earns
Current figure	No published figure exists
Rate rules	New Jersey sets no rate. The tenant is owed the interest or earnings the deposit actually produces in the account or fund the Act requires the landlord to use, and which vehicle applies turns on the size of the building. A landlord of 10 or more rental units must invest the money in "shares of an insured money market fund established by an investment company based in this State" whose only investments are instruments maturing in one year or less, or deposit it in a State or federally chartered bank, savings bank or savings and loan association in New Jersey, insured by an agency of the federal government, "in an account bearing a variable rate of interest, which shall be established at least quarterly." A landlord of fewer than 10 units must deposit the money in such a New Jersey institution "in an account bearing interest at the rate currently paid by such institutions and associations on time or savings deposits." The Commissioner of Banking and Insurance may by rule extend the larger-landlord requirements down to smaller landlords. Whatever the vehicle, the return belongs to the tenant: the interest or earnings paid on the account "shall belong to the person making the deposit or advance." There is no figure to look up, but there is a figure to read: the written notice the landlord owes states the current rate on the account.
Accrual and payment	The tenant's interest or earnings "shall be paid to the tenant in cash, or be credited toward the payment of rent due on the renewal or anniversary of said tenant's lease or on January 31," the January date applying "if the tenant has been given written notice ... that subsequent interest payments will be made on January 31 of each year." The annual security-deposit notice goes out with each annual payment. That same written notice — the institution's name and address, the type of account, the current rate and the amount held — is also due within 30 days of receiving the deposit and within 30 days of moving or transferring the money. On a sale or other conveyance the deposit plus the tenant's interest passes within five days, and the new owner is responsible for the investment, the notices and the interest whether or not the money actually changed hands. At the end of the tenancy the deposit and the tenant's interest come back within 30 days with an itemized statement of any deductions.
Who and what is covered	The Act applies "to all rental premises or units used for dwelling purposes except owner-occupied premises with not more than two rental units where the tenant has failed to provide 30 days written notice to the landlord invoking the provisions of this act" — so a tenant in such a building can still bring the tenancy inside the Act by giving that written notice, at any time during the tenancy. Seasonal rentals — 125 consecutive days or fewer, to a person with a permanent residence elsewhere — sit outside the investment and deposit requirements. The 10-unit line inside the Act is not a coverage condition: it picks the investment vehicle, not whether interest is owed.
Statute controls where or how the deposit is held	Yes
Interest-bearing account required	Yes
Custody rules	The deposit must sit in the vehicle the Act names for that landlord's building size: for 10 or more rental units, an insured money market fund established by a New Jersey-based investment company or a variable-rate account at an insured New Jersey banking institution; for fewer, an insured New Jersey account bearing interest on time or savings deposits. The money may not be commingled and does not become an asset of the landlord. Written notice of the institution's name and address, the type of account, the current rate and the amount is due within 30 days of receipt, again at each annual interest payment, and again within 30 days of any transfer or move of the money; it may be given in the lease itself.
Penalty for violation	If the landlord "fails to invest or deposit the security money in the manner required under this section or to provide the notice or pay the interest to the tenant," the tenant may give written notice "that such security money plus an amount representing interest at the rate of seven percent per annum be applied on account of rent payment or payments due or to become due." The tenant must first give written notice and then allow the landlord 30 days to comply with the annual interest payment and notice requirements — but that 30-day allowance is not required where the landlord failed to deposit the money properly at the start. Once the remedy is invoked, "thereafter the tenant shall be without obligation to make any further security deposit and the person receiving the money so deposited shall not be entitled to make further demand for a security deposit." At the end of the tenancy, failing to return the deposit with the tenant's interest within 30 days exposes the landlord to double the money due plus costs, with attorney's fees at the court's discretion. A landlord who willfully fails to return a deposit paid by a welfare agency faces a civil penalty of $500 to $2,000 for each offense, and unlawfully diverting deposit money is a disorderly persons offense.
Local rules	None noted for this state

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, New Jersey Security Deposit Interest Laws (verified August 29, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/deposit-interest/new-jersey/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

Calculate New Jersey security deposit interest — free, no signup, built on the same verified New Jersey law as this page.

Notes and caveats

The 10-unit line picks the account, not the duty — It is often reported that New Jersey requires interest only from landlords with 10 or more rental units. That is a misreading. The unit count decides which investment vehicle the landlord must use — an insured New Jersey money market fund or a variable-rate insured account for 10 or more units, an insured New Jersey account bearing interest on time or savings deposits for fewer. Both are interest-bearing, and every covered landlord owes the tenant the earnings.
The landlord's administrative fee was repealed in 2003 — Guides still in circulation say a New Jersey landlord may keep 1% of the deposit, or 12.5% of the interest, as an administrative fee. That allowance is gone. In the housing department's own words: "Pursuant to P.L. 2003, c. 188 landlords are no longer allowed to take administrative expenses from security deposit money. The earnings or interest belongs to the tenant."
Owner-occupied buildings of two rental units or fewer: the tenant can opt in — These buildings are outside the Act by default. A tenant in one can bring the tenancy inside it by giving the landlord 30 days' written notice of the desire to receive the Act's protection, and that notice may be given at any time during the tenancy — so the exemption is the landlord's only until the tenant writes.
Seasonal rentals of 125 days or less — A rental of 125 consecutive days or fewer to a person who has a permanent residence elsewhere is outside the investment and banking requirements, so no interest-bearing vehicle is required for it.
Where a tenant finds the actual figure — Because the return is whatever the account earns, there is no published New Jersey percentage. The figure comes from the landlord's written notice, which must state the current rate along with the institution's name and address, the type of account and the amount held — within 30 days of the deposit, at each annual interest payment, and on any transfer.
Paying on January 31 takes advance written notice — The default payment date is the renewal or anniversary of the lease. A landlord may move it to January 31 each year, but only if the tenant has been given written notice that the interest payments will be made then.

Common questions: New Jersey deposit interest

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

What is the New Jersey security deposit interest rate right now?: No published figure exists. New Jersey sets no rate. The tenant is owed the interest or earnings the deposit actually produces in the account or fund the Act requires the landlord to use, and which vehicle applies turns on the size of the building.
When must a landlord pay or credit deposit interest in New Jersey?: The tenant's interest or earnings "shall be paid to the tenant in cash, or be credited toward the payment of rent due on the renewal or anniversary of said tenant's lease or on January 31," the January date applying "if the tenant has been given written notice ... that subsequent interest payments will be made on January 31 of each year." The annual security-deposit notice goes out with each annual payment.
Does the deposit have to be in an interest-bearing account in New Jersey?: Yes — for the tenancies the law covers, New Jersey law requires the deposit to sit in an interest-bearing account or names the investment vehicle; the coverage conditions are on this page. The deposit must sit in the vehicle the Act names for that landlord's building size: for 10 or more rental units, an insured money market fund established by a New Jersey-based investment company or a variable-rate account at an insured New Jersey banking institution; for fewer, an insured New Jersey account bearing interest on time or savings deposits. The money may not be commingled and does not become an asset of the landlord.
What happens if a landlord does not pay deposit interest in New Jersey?: If the landlord "fails to invest or deposit the security money in the manner required under this section or to provide the notice or pay the interest to the tenant," the tenant may give written notice "that such security money plus an amount representing interest at the rate of seven percent per annum be applied on account of rent payment or payments due or to become due." The tenant must first give written notice and then allow the landlord 30 days to comply with the annual interest payment and notice requirements — but that 30-day allowance is not required where the landlord failed to deposit the money properly at the start.
Do any cities or counties in New Jersey have their own deposit-interest rules?: None noted for this state.

Citations

N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 through 46:8-26 (Rent Security Deposit Act, full statutory text as published by the Department of Community Affairs' Landlord-Tenant Information Service) · §§ 46:8-19, 46:8-21.1, 46:8-26 (verified 2026) Official source
N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 (Rent Security Deposit Act — investment of the deposit, the tenant's interest, annual payment and notice), as stated by the Department of Community Affairs in its Security Deposit Bulletin (revised July 2025) · Investment of security deposits; interest and earnings (verified 2026) Official source
N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1 (return of the deposit together with the tenant's interest), in the same departmental bulletin · Return of security deposit (verified 2026) Official source
P.L. 2003, c. 188 (repeal of the landlord's administrative-expense allowance), in the same departmental bulletin (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Read of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Security Deposit Bulletin (May 2010, revised July 2025), the Landlord-Tenant Information Service publication of the department that administers the Rent Security Deposit Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 through 46:8-26 — covering the investment rules and their unit-count tiers, the owner-occupied opt-in, the annual payment and notice duties, the seasonal-rental carve-out, the conveyance rules, the 7% remedy and its cure mechanics, and the repeal of the landlord's administrative-expense allowance by P.L. 2003, c. 188. The verbatim statutory text of N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 through 46:8-26 was then read in full in the same department's published text of the Act (Security Deposit Law, N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 through 26, Landlord-Tenant Information Service), each section with its session-law history line, and every quotation in this record conformed to that statutory text; the July 2025 bulletin remains the currency cross-check, and its statements match the statute throughout.