Union City New Jersey - Rent Control and evictions policies

[Ahmed Elias]

Hi BP Nation,

I was hoping you guys could help me with my current situation. I'm in the process of buying a 3 family property for 637k (asking price was 650k). The seller has accepted the offer but wants to sell the property as-is. The property is currently fully rented out but under market value. Tenants have been living there for over 7 years and most likely month to month.

I plan to househack using FHA 3.5% down but what's worrying is the rent control part of this acquisition.

Few questions:

1. After acquiring the property can I directly raise the rent to market value given that its owner occupied ? Ex - once I acquire the property, can I increase the rent from 1300 to 1800 during the renewal of the rental agreement?

2. Let's say the tenant decides not to accept the rent increase. Will I be able to evict the tenant given that union city is very tenant friendly ?

3. Also since the tenant is on month to month can I just ask him to leave in 30 days or do I have to go through an eviction process?

4. Also how does rent control actually work in union city ? Is there an official document where landlords could review the maximum allowable rent for 2 bed 1 bath or 3bed 1 bath ?