Rent Security Deposit Act

N.J.S.A. 46:8-19

Money deposited as security under a residential lease remains the property of the tenant, must be held in trust by the landlord, and may not be commingled with or become an asset of the landlord. A landlord with 10 or more rental units must invest the deposit in shares of an insured New Jersey money market fund (or a bank account bearing an equivalent variable money-market rate); a landlord with fewer than 10 units must deposit it in an interest-bearing account at a federally insured bank or savings institution located in New Jersey. The interest or earnings belong to the tenant and must be paid in cash or credited toward rent annually (on the lease renewal/anniversary or each January 31).