Leasing and Property Management on the NJ Real Estate Exam

The short answer: Property Management is 3% of the salesperson exam's national outline (5% for broker and instructor candidates). It covers finding and qualifying tenants, fair housing in rentals, setting rents, and landlord and tenant rights (PSI candidate bulletin). Rental questions also come up under Contracts (leases) and Agency (tenant representation), and the NJ portion names the Truth in Renting Act.

That makes rentals a small slice on paper but one that touches several sections. Here's what the outline lists and the New Jersey rules behind it. For the exam as a whole, see our NJ real estate exam guide.

Where do rental topics appear in the PSI outline?

Outline areaWhat it lists
VIII. Property Management (Sales 3%)A. Duties: procuring and qualifying tenants; fair housing and ADA compliance specific to property management; market analysis for setting rents. B. Landlord and tenant rights and obligations
VIII, broker onlyMaintenance and risk management; handling landlord and tenant funds and trust accounts; property management contract provisions
V.B. Purchase and Lease ContractsLeases and rental agreements; lease-purchase agreements; types of leases
VI.A. AgencyBuyer brokerage/tenant representation contracts
NJ Statutes and Rules, item 13"Other laws," including the Truth in Renting Act

Source: PSI candidate bulletin, national outline sections V, VI and VIII and the NJ portion.

Salesperson candidates can skip the broker-only lines. The lease vocabulary (gross, net, percentage, ground leases and the like) comes from your course textbook. The contracts exam guide covers the contract basics that apply to leases too.

What NJ security deposit rules should you know?

These numbers are easy to test:

  • Maximum deposit: 1½ times one month's rent. Any yearly increase in the deposit can't exceed 10% of the current deposit (N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.2).
  • Holding it: the deposit stays the tenant's money, held in trust and not mixed with the landlord's own money. It goes into an interest-bearing account at an insured NJ institution (larger landlords may use an approved money market fund). The tenant gets written notice of the bank, account type, rate and amount within 30 days (N.J.S.A. 46:8-19).
  • Returning it: within 30 days after the lease ends, with interest, less itemized charges, by personal delivery or registered or certified mail. It's 5 business days after a displacement by fire, flood, condemnation or evacuation. A court awards the tenant double the amount wrongly withheld, plus costs (N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1).

What is the Truth in Renting Act?

The Department of Community Affairs publishes a statement of tenants' and landlords' rights. Covered landlords must give it to each new tenant at or before occupancy and keep it posted (N.J.S.A. 46:8-46).

"Covered" is the testable part. The Act doesn't apply to buildings with two or fewer units, owner-occupied buildings of three or fewer, or hotels and guest houses serving transient or seasonal guests. It covers rentals for a term of at least one month (N.J.S.A. 46:8-44). The current guide is on DCA's site (Truth in Renting guide).

When can a NJ landlord remove a tenant?

Under the Anti-Eviction Act, residential tenants can be removed only for one of the "good cause" grounds the statute lists. Examples include nonpayment of rent, disorderly conduct after written notice, willful damage, and breaking reasonable rules or lease terms after written notice. Another is refusing reasonable lease changes at renewal after written notice (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1).

The main exception: owner-occupied premises with not more than two rental units, and hotels or guest houses rented to transient or seasonal tenants. Notice how the unit counts differ between this Act and Truth in Renting. That's exactly the kind of detail exam writers like.

How does fair housing apply to rentals?

Federal and NJ fair housing law applies to leasing just as it does to sales. The outline calls out fair housing and ADA compliance "specific to property management." New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination has a narrow exemption: renting the other unit in an owner-occupied two-family home, or rooms in an owner-occupied one-family home (LAD, as amended by P.L.2025, c.251). The same law now bars refusing a tenant because of a lawful source of income, such as a housing voucher. Our NJ Law Against Discrimination guide has the full picture.

Do agency rules apply to rentals in NJ?

Yes. In the 2024 Real Estate Consumer Protection Enhancement Act, "buyer" and "seller" include tenants and landlords. So the same brokerage-relationship rules reach leasing (P.L.2024, c.32). Whether a leasing job needs a license at all is covered in our guides for leasing agents and property managers. The agency exam guide covers representation itself.

How can you check yourself?

Try these before looking at the answers:

  1. A landlord rents a unit for $2,000 a month. What's the largest deposit allowed? ($3,000: 1½ months.)
  2. A tenant moves out June 30. By when must the deposit be returned? (Within 30 days, by July 30.)
  3. Does the Truth in Renting Act cover a two-unit building? (No; it excludes premises of two or fewer units.)
  4. An owner lives in one half of a two-family house. Is the other half covered by the Anti-Eviction Act? (No; owner-occupied premises with not more than two rental units are excepted.)

Then work full-length questions under time pressure. Our practice exam guide explains how to use them well, and you can try the Practice Exams.

Rental law starts in the pre-licensing classroom. Business Elementary's 75-hour course covers it alongside the rest of the NJ outline.

Sources

Last reviewed: October 31, 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

How many property management questions are on the NJ salesperson exam?

PSI gives percentages, not question counts: Property Management is 3% of the salesperson national outline, 5% for brokers and instructors (PSI candidate bulletin). Lease and tenant-representation items also sit in other sections.

Do salesperson candidates need to know trust accounting for rents?

The outline marks handling landlord and tenant funds and trust accounts as broker-only within the Property Management section (PSI candidate bulletin).

Can a NJ landlord charge two months' rent as a security deposit?

No. The cap is 1½ times one month's rent (N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.2).

What happens if a landlord doesn't return a deposit properly?

In a tenant's lawsuit, the court awards double the amount owed, plus costs, and may award attorney's fees (N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1).

Is the Truth in Renting guide available in Spanish?

Yes. DCA says the statement is available in English and Spanish and posts both on its website (DCA Truth in Renting guide).