GetMyDepositBack
Vicinage 15 (Cumberland/Gloucester/Salem), NJ Courts ↗county guide

Getting your deposit back in Salem County, NJ: the courthouse, the boards, and who helps

You do not need a lawyer to sue for a deposit here. On the county's median rent, a full-deposit case lands in Small Claims at the Salem courthouse - but that depends on your deposit, not the median, and the check below settles it. The rules behind it are the state's, not the county's: New Jersey law governs the deposit in all 15 municipalities, for the 7,211 households that rent here. What is local is everything around the rule: which courthouse hears the case, which towns keep a rent board, where the landlord is registered, and who will help for free.

Check my landlord's deadline - free →Build my case

← New Jersey deposit law, the rules themselves

I

Where you stand

Your deadline, your numbers, and why no Salem County ordinance changes either.

Has your landlord missed the 30-day deadline?

Two fields, ten seconds - the math follows N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1, the same statute in every Salem County town. Add your deposit to see what you can demand and which Salem track the doubled claim lands on.

The rules themselves: 30 days, doubled, one and a half months

These rules come from New Jersey state law, not from the county. We checked the published code of all 15 Salem County municipalities against the state's 2026 survey: not one has a deposit ordinance of its own, so a landlord who tells you it works differently in Salem, Pittsgrove or Alloway is wrong.

The Rent Security Deposit Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 to 46:8-26, reads the same in every Salem County town. The New Jersey page has the full text and the case law; this is the short version.

30 days
to return it after you move out
2x
what a court awards on money wrongfully kept
1.5 months
the most any NJ landlord may collect

The clock starts the day the tenancy ends - usually the day the keys go back - and runs 30 days, five business days if fire, flood or condemnation put you out. Miss it, or keep money without an itemized reason, and the court doubles what was withheld: "shall", not "may", with costs on top. The same doubling applies at the Salem courthouse as anywhere in the state. The statute in full, the exemptions and the case law are on the New Jersey page.

What a deposit dispute looks like in Salem County, in numbers

$1,253
median monthly rent
$1,880
the most a landlord may hold on it
7,211
renter households - 29% of the county

The median Salem County renter pays $1,253 a month, so the deposit on a median unit tops out at $1,880 - one and a half months is the state cap. If a landlord keeps all of it past the 30 days, the claim is that amount doubled, $3,759, which stays under the $5,000 Small Claims line: a typical full-deposit case in this county is a Small Claims filing, on the short form with the $35 fee. Only a deposit above $2,500 doubles past it into the Special Civil Part.

One rent board in the county: Pittsgrove

Rent control is the one landlord-tenant rule New Jersey towns set locally, and one town in Salem County keeps a board. None of it touches deposits - the cap and the 30 days are the state's everywhere - but a board knows its local landlords, which is worth a call when a management company has gone quiet.

The 1 Salem County boards, and the towns without one
MunicipalityCoversAnnual limitBoard
PittsgroveMobile Homes of 1+ tenants onlyCPI-U Philadelphia and NJ between 120 days prior to the expiring lease's commencement and 120 days prior to its expiration. Maximum of 6%.Rent Control Board
(856) 358-2300 ext. 6021

No rent control: Alloway, Carneys Point, Elmer, Elsinboro, Lower Alloways Creek, Mannington, Oldmans, Penns Grove, Pennsville, Pilesgrove, Quinton, Salem, Upper Pittsgrove, Woodstown. In those towns the rent is whatever the lease says, and the deposit is still capped at one and a half months of it.

II

The courthouse, and how you file

The Salem window, the form your claim needs, and what it costs here.

Where a Salem County deposit case is filed

Deposit lawsuits go to the Special Civil Part of the Superior Court, which sits by county. You file in the county where the landlord lives or does business - not where you live - and if the landlord is out of state, in the county where the rental is. A Salem tenant whose landlord runs the building from the next county over files there; a Salem tenant with a Salem landlord files here. The Special Civil Part window is in the Salem County Courthouse. Salem shares a vicinage with Cumberland and Gloucester, but each county keeps its own Special Civil Part office - file at the Salem one.

The courthouse
Salem County Courthouse
Special Civil Part (Small Claims Section)
92 Market Street, Salem, NJ 08079
Phone and hours
856-878-5050 ext. 15945
Mon - Fri: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Small Claims Section
Claims up to $5,000. Filing fee $35, plus $5 for each additional defendant.
Special Civil Part
Claims up to $20,000. Filing fee $50 to $75.

The Salem office in practice

Checked on September 4, 2026 against the court's own pages. Rooms, hours and phone extensions change without notice - confirm with the office before you rely on any line below.

Special Civil Part / Small Claims line - the courthouse number above
856-878-5050 ext. 15945

Free help inside the courthouse. The vicinage's Ombudsman office - Cumberland County Courthouse, 60 West Broad Street, Bridgeton, NJ 08302, 856-878-5050 ext. 15159, [email protected] - explains forms and procedure to people without a lawyer, Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Contact the ombudsman for appointments in Gloucester and Salem counties. Staff cannot give legal advice, but they can tell you which form, which window, and what is missing from your file before you pay the fee.

Settling before the judge. On the hearing date the court sends both sides to a settlement conference first; many deposit cases end there with a payment plan.

Filing here: the Salem County layer

The procedure is the state's - what is local is the window you hand it to. Filing to judgment in New Jersey, in four steps has the sequence, the exhibit stack and the hearing itself. Here is the Salem County layer.

Before you file
Send the demand letter by certified mail first, citing N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1 and the 30-day deadline, and give it 10 to 14 days. A judge will ask whether the landlord had a chance to pay, and the letter becomes your first exhibit.
Your form
Up to $5,000 it is the Small Claims kit; above that the Special Civil Part complaint. Enter your deposit in the check at the top and this page names your form.
Where to hand it in
The Special Civil Part window, 92 Market Street, Salem, NJ 08079 - in person during court hours, by mail to the same address, or online through JEDS. One copy of the complaint per defendant.
What it costs here
$35, plus $5 for each additional defendant in Small Claims, $50 to $75 in the Special Civil Part. A fee waiver is available if you cannot afford it - ask the clerk for the form when you file.

The Salem office at 856-878-5050 ext. 15945 can tell you the current wait - count on two to three months from filing to a hearing date in most vicinages.

The forms, from the court itself

III

Looking things up, and getting help

The landlord's legal name and address, which of 15 Salem County clerks holds it, and who helps for free.

Finding the landlord's mailing address

A demand letter needs an address, and the one on the lease is often a management office that has since moved. Under New Jersey's Landlord Identity Law your landlord had to register the owner's name and address - with the municipal clerk for one- and two-unit buildings, with the state for anything larger - and the clerk's copy is public. The lookup below has the clerk for every one of Salem County's 15 municipalities.

3 Salem County cities run their own rental registries on top of the state filing - an inspection or licensing office that holds the current owner and managing agent for every registered rental. Where your building is in one of them, that office is usually quicker than the clerk.

  • Salem City · Landlord Rental Registration Application and Certificate of Occupancy (Salem Code Chapter 172, Rental of Residential Units) (Department of Inspections and Permits / Housing Office, 125 West Broadway, Salem, NJ 08079 (Sean M. Brown, Director of Housing and Economic Development)) · 856-935-0372 (ext. 204 Director)

    The combined form ($100 per unit registration for July 1-June 30, CO $50) records owner name(s), mailing address, day and evening phone, email, LLC/corporation formation certificate, the property manager/agent and a 24-hour emergency contact name and phone; a new CO is required at each change of occupancy. Not stated; contact the Housing Office by phone or OPRA to the City Clerk.

  • Pennsville · Landlord Identity Registration filed with the Housing Office as part of rental Certificate of Occupancy issuance (Housing Office / Construction Code Office, 90 N. Broadway, Pennsville, NJ 08070 (Dave Curry, Housing Officer)) · 856-678-3089

    The township's Landlord Identity Registration Form is filed with the Housing Office (Mon-Fri 8-4) to let the Code Office issue a rental Certificate of Occupancy, so the Housing Office holds the owner identity data; the form PDF returned 404 and its fields were not verified. Not stated; phone the Construction Code Office or use the township OPRA request page.

  • Carneys Point · Tenant Registration Statements (Carneys Point Code Chapter 193) and rental Certificate of Occupancy (Chapter 64) (Township Clerk (tenant registration statements); Housing / Health office of the Construction Department (rental CO) - Demi Romansky, Housing Assistant; Robert Schmid, Housing/Zoning/Public Health Officer) · 856-299-0070 x127 (Housing Assistant); x128 (Housing Officer)

    Every landlord files a tenant registration statement with the Township Clerk by January 30 and July 30 each year, and a rental CO ($125 inspection) is required before each rental occupancy; the owner/agent fields were not visible (site blocked fetching). Not stated; Housing Assistant available Mon-Fri 8:00-3:30, or OPRA to the Township Clerk.

Where the landlord's registration is filed: the municipal clerk

New Jersey's Landlord Identity Law makes every landlord file a registration statement - the owner's legal name and address, and the managing agent's - and for one- and two-unit buildings it is filed with the clerk of the municipality the rental is in (larger buildings register with the state Department of Community Affairs). The clerk's copy is a public record. Pick your town for the office that holds it.

All 15 municipal clerks in Salem County
MunicipalityClerk's officePhone
Alloway Township49 S. Greenwich Street, Alloway, NJ 08001(856) 935-4080
Carneys Point Township303 Harding Highway, Carneys Point, NJ 08069856-299-0070 x147
Elmer Borough120 South Main Street, Elmer, NJ 08318856-358-4010 x110
Elsinboro Township619 Salem Ft-Elfsborg Rd, Salem, NJ 08079856-935-2200
Lower Alloways Creek Township501 Locust Island Road, PO Box 157, Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038(856) 935-1549
Mannington Township491 Route 45, Mannington, NJ 08079856-935-2359
Oldmans Township40 Freed Road, Pedricktown, NJ 08067856-299-0780
Penns Grove Borough1 State Street, Penns Grove, NJ 08069856-299-0098 x102
Pennsville Township90 N Broadway, Pennsville, NJ 08070856-678-3089
Pilesgrove Township1180 Route 40 East, Pilesgrove, NJ 08098(856) 769-3222
Pittsgrove Township989 Centerton Rd, Pittsgrove, NJ 08318856-358-2300
Quinton Township885 Salem Quinton Road, Salem, NJ 08079(856) 935-2325
Salem City125 West Broadway, Salem, NJ 08079856-935-0372 Ext 215
Upper Pittsgrove Township431 Route 77, Elmer, NJ 08318(856) 358-8500
Woodstown Borough25 West Ave., Woodstown, NJ 08098856-769-2200

List from the county's own directory, checked September 4, 2026.

Free help in Salem County

IV

If it goes wrong

What losing costs, whether they can retaliate, and how a Salem County judgment is actually collected.

Before you file: the three things people worry about

What if I lose?
You are out the filing fee and the time. You are the one suing, so losing leaves you where you started and puts no eviction on your record. What losing actually costs - and the one point most failed claims turn on - is on the New Jersey suing page.
Can the landlord retaliate?
After a move-out, barely - the tenancy is over and you are the plaintiff. If you still rent from them, New Jersey bars reprisals for exercising a legal right. The full answer is on the New Jersey suing page; in Salem County the ombudsman at the Salem County Courthouse and South Jersey Legal Services (SJLS) - Cumberland/Salem County office both take the question in person, for free.
If I win, how do I get paid?
The court does not collect for you - a judgment is an instrument you enforce, and judgments against landlords are unusually collectable. Collecting your judgment walks through levy, garnishment and liens. The writ is issued by the Vicinage 15 (Cumberland/Gloucester/Salem) clerk at the same Salem window you filed at.

Build your case

The case builder runs on New Jersey law, which is exactly the law that applies here. It checks the 30-day deadline against your move-out date, grades each deduction, and writes the demand letter with the statute cited - the letter that becomes Exhibit A at the Salem courthouse if it comes to that.

Build your case →

Sources

Court, board and legal-aid details checked on September 4, 2026. Phone numbers and fees change; confirm with the office before you rely on one. Not reviewed by a licensed attorney, and not legal advice.