As of December 30, 2021

This doc is for informational functions solely, will not be
meant as authorized recommendation, and doesn’t substitute for consulting
with a lawyer about particular info and circumstances. This doc
doesn’t represent a solicitation, and your use of this doc
doesn’t create any attorney-client relationship between you and
Lowenstein Sandler. Low-income tenants ought to contact their authorized
companies places of work for help, as Lowenstein Sandler accepts professional
bono issues solely by referrals from our authorized companies
companions. The agency doesn’t in any other case symbolize particular person tenants
in residential eviction issues.

LOCKOUTS

Can I be locked out of my residence through the ongoing
COVID-19 emergency?

Perhaps.  Whether or not you possibly can qualify for
safety from eviction depends upon your family earnings and your
completion of a sworn certification.

On August 4, 2021, the Governor signed a new
law and issued Executive
Order 249. This is how they work:

Who Is Eligible?

• The brand new legislation protects sure tenants from eviction primarily based on
  nonpayment of lease, ordinary late fee of lease, or failure to
  settle for a lease improve. We’ll refer to those three grounds of
  eviction collectively as “rental
  debt.”




• In case your family earnings is under 120% of the realm median
  earnings (“AMI”) to your county, you’re eternally protected
  from eviction primarily based on rental debt that got here due
  between March 1, 2020, and August 31,
  2021, however you have to file a certification to get this
  safety. See under.




• In case your family earnings is under 80% of the AMI to your
  county, and also you meet sure different standards (see under),
  you’re eternally protected against eviction primarily based on rental debt that
  got here due between March 1, 2020, and December 31,
  2021, however you have to file a certification to get this
  safety. See under.

Can my landlord acquire my rental debt one other
method?

• Sure! Your landlord can nonetheless sue you in
  court docket to gather the lease you didn’t pay throughout these intervals, however
  your landlord can not evict you due to your rental debt. Your
  landlord can not sue you for any lease that was paid by the
  authorities or a nonprofit offering rental help.

How Do I Self-Certify?

• You may full
  the self-certification by going
  to https://covid19.nj.gov/renter.
  This web site will information you thru a sequence of questions to find out
  whether or not you’re eligible for eviction safety primarily based in your
  family earnings. You need not know your AMI
  to finish the shape; the pc will calculate that for
  you when you enter your county of residence and the mixed earnings
  of all grownup members of your family.




• To qualify for safety from eviction primarily based on
  rental debt that got here due by December 31, 2021, your
  family earnings should be under 80% of AMI (which the pc will
  calculate), and you may have to certify that you just suffered
  hardship resulting from COVID-19 and that you’ve got utilized for rental
  help. When you have not suffered hardship resulting from COVID-19
  and/or you haven’t utilized for rental help, you possibly can reply
  “no” to these questions and nonetheless full and
  submit the certification. You should still be eligible for
  safety from eviction primarily based on rental debt that got here due between
  March 1, 2020, and August 31, 2021.




• You need to  complete the Income
  self-certification form online as quickly as
  doable, whether or not or not your landlord has filed an eviction motion
  in opposition to you. In case you are not capable of full the shape on-line, you
  can name 
  609-490-4550 for
  help.  The State has posted FAQs concerning the
  self-certification course of 
  here.

What Safety Do I Get?

• If you happen to full and submit a self-certification exhibiting that
  you’re eligible for cover, your landlord can not
  evict you primarily based on rental debt that got here due
  between March 1, 2020, and August 31, 2021, or, in case you are
  a qualifying lower-income individual, that got here
  due by December 31, 2021.
  This safety from eviction is everlasting;
  as long as you full a qualifying self-certification, your
  landlord can by no means evict you primarily based on
  lease you didn’t pay through the relevant lined interval.




• The court docket should dismiss eviction actions primarily based on rental
  debt—unpaid lease, ordinary late fee of lease, or refusal
  to simply accept a lease improve—through the relevant lined
  interval.

Who Is Not Protected?

• If you happen to owe lease from earlier than  March 1, 2020,
  your landlord can go to court docket to get an eviction order primarily based on
  that unpaid lease.




• If you happen to owe lease that got here due after August
  31, 2021, and you do not qualify for cover from eviction
  primarily based on rental debt that comes due by December 31, 2021, your
  landlord can go to court docket to get an eviction order primarily based on that
  unpaid lease




• In case your earnings is greater than 120% of AMI,
  your landlord can go to court docket to get an eviction order primarily based
  on no matter lease you owe.




• In case your landlord is making an attempt to evict you for causes apart from
  nonpayment, ordinary late fee, or failure to pay a lease
  improve, the court docket can enter an eviction order if the owner
  proves different “good trigger” for the eviction underneath state
  legislation.




• New Jersey tenants might get safety from eviction solely underneath
  state legislation at this level. On August 26, 2021, the Supreme Courtroom of
  america ended
  the federal eviction moratorium issued by the Facilities for
  Illness Management and Prevention (CDC).

If I utilized for rental help, do I nonetheless must
self-certify?

• Sure! Relying in your circumstances, you
  ought to do each, and it is most likely
  greatest to use for rental help first (see under).
  Filling out a self-certification can shield you from eviction
  primarily based on rental debt that got here due throughout sure intervals.
  Finishing a rental help software might get you monetary
  assist to pay the lease. The functions are not the
  similar.

What if my landlord locks me out illegally?

It’s a crime to your landlord to lock you out. Below New
Jersey legislation, solely the courts can order evictions, and solely
authorities officers can take away you from your house. In case your
landlord locks you out, name the native police. They’re required to
make it easier to get again into your house. The New Jersey Lawyer Common
has issued 
guidance to law enforcement on their obligations in
responding to unlawful lockouts. You may present this to police who might
not perceive their function.

What if I reside in a lodge/motel? Can I be evicted
now?

Perhaps. Below Executive
Order 249, the state eviction moratorium doesn’t apply to
rooms rented to a “transient visitor or seasonal
tenant.” Nonetheless, longtime lodge and motel
residents, together with many others, should not thought-about
“transient” or “seasonal” and needs to be handled
the identical as every other tenant underneath the brand new legislation.

To debate your particular person circumstances, contact a authorized
companies group akin to Legal Services of New
Jersey, Volunteer Lawyers for Justice –
New Jersey, Community Health Law
Project, Essex County Legal Aid Association,
or 
City of Newark Office of Tenant Services.

RENT PAYMENTS

Do I nonetheless have to pay my lease?

Sure. Hire continues to be due, and you need to pay
if you happen to can. Even in case you are eligible for cover from eviction
underneath the brand new state legislation, your landlord can sue you to gather any
lease that you just owe. If you happen to get help from the federal government or a
nonprofit in paying the lease, you’ll not owe what’s paid in your
behalf.

Is rental help accessible?

Perhaps.  There may be substantial some
authorities funding accessible to help tenants struggling to pay
their lease. The NJ Division of Group Affairs (DCA)
administers some new rental help applications, and you may apply
for them by the identical online site.

How do I apply? Go to https://njdca.onlinepha.com and
observe the directions to submit a pre-application. You could apply
on-line at this web site. No paper functions might be accepted. You
will need to have an e mail tackle to use. When you have a incapacity,
restricted English proficiency, or restricted web entry, you possibly can
name 609-490-4550 for assist. A buddy, member of the family, or
group may make it easier to apply. You may additionally be capable of get
assist from licensed HUD housing counselors by Housing Help
NJ.

What rental help is
accessible?  As you will notice if you happen to go to https://njdca.onlinepha.com,
the ready checklist for the brand new applications is at the moment closed. That’s
as a result of DCA has allotted all the cash it had accessible for these
applications. However, you possibly can and may full a
pre-application at this web site. Finishing a
pre-application will add you to the group that might be eligible for
assist if the New Jersey Legislature commits extra funds for
rental help.

How will recipients be chosen? 
By computerized lottery. Each pre-application submitted may have
an equal probability of being chosen.

Can I apply if I’ve or have had different rental
help?  Sure, however the state seeks to keep away from
duplication by allowing a family to obtain just one kind of
help for any given month.

Can my landlord refuse to cooperate or settle for the
funds? No. It’s a violation of NJ Regulation In opposition to
Discrimination for a landlord to not settle for funds or full
the required paperwork.

Can my landlord cost late charges for the lease
funds I missed? In case your landlord receives
state or federal funds to assist cowl your missed lease, your
landlord might not cost late charges for the interval throughout which your
landlord receives such funds.

What’s Nan McKay &
Associates?  Nan McKay & Associates is the
contractor working with the state to implement this
program. If you happen to obtain communications from Nan McKay,
reply!

If I self-certified to get safety from eviction,
does that rely as an software for rental
help?  No! The 2 software processes
are completely different. The self-certification can get you safety from
eviction. The rental help software will help you cowl the
lease. You need to apply for each, and it is
most likely greatest to begin by making use of for rental help.

Different rental help.  The brand new legislation
requires DCA to ascertain an Workplace of Eviction Prevention. Amongst
different tasks, the Workplace is charged with compiling,
publicizing and updating data referring to all federal,
state, native, and different sources of monetary help for
residential tenants dealing with eviction. Till the Workplace of Eviction
Prevention’s web site is up and working, you possibly can examine the DCA
web site for 
summaries of rental assistance programs, and you should utilize
the DCAid
portal to see in case you are eligible. The DCA web site additionally
gives 
some general answers to questions about rental assistance.

COURT PROCEEDINGS

Are the courts accepting circumstances that landlords file
in opposition to tenants?

Sure. Landlords are permitted to file
eviction complaints in opposition to tenants, and the courts accepted these
filings even when most trials weren’t being scheduled. Chances are you’ll
due to this fact obtain an eviction criticism within the mail and/or posted
at your residence.

Is the court docket holding pretrial conferences? Do I’ve to
attend them?

Sure, if you happen to obtain a discover for a pretrial convention
you have to attend.

On July 14, 2021, the New Jersey Supreme Courtroom issued a Notice
and series of Orders saying adjustments to the
landlord-tenant course of. The brand new course of includes conferences amongst
court docket workers, landlords, and tenants earlier than trial (“pretrial
conferences”). Usually, these conferences are distant (by
videoconference or phone), not in individual. If you happen to should not have
entry to the know-how or tools essential to take part in a
distant continuing, you possibly can name your county courthouse and ask to
use a “know-how room.” You can too ask to look
in-person.

The pretrial conferences have a number of functions. New workers within the
courts, referred to as “landlord-tenant (LT) specialists,” will
attempt to be taught the standing of the case. The LT specialists will refer
tenants to websites the place they’ll self-certify for cover from
eviction and apply for rental help if that is smart. The
LT specialists may refer unrepresented events for authorized assist.
And the LT specialists will help events settle their circumstances
if each the owner and the tenant
voluntarily conform to a settlement.

In case you are a tenant and also you obtain a discover from the court docket
directing you to look at a pretrial convention by phone or
video, you need to:

Is the court docket holding eviction trials?

Typically and in some counties. The courts
have been scheduling sure sorts of eviction trials for a lot of
months, together with these the place the owner claims to have proof
that the eviction is critical to guard the protection of different
tenants or of the property.

Below the July 14, 2021, Notice
and Orders, it appears different eviction trials had been set to renew
on or after September 1, 2021, however not all counties have restarted
such trials.

Below the brand new course of, most trials might be
held remotely  (by videoconference or
phone). Once more, if you happen to should not have entry to the know-how or
tools essential to take part in a distant continuing, you possibly can
name your county courthouse and ask to make use of a “know-how
room” or ask to look in-person.

Can I nonetheless get emergency repairs in my
residence?

You at all times have a proper to 
safe and decent housing. When you have issues about points such
as insufficient warmth, publicity to steer, infestations, leaks,
crumbling partitions and ceilings, or different hazardous circumstances, you
ought to ask your landlord in writing to make repairs (make a copy).
If repairs should not made rapidly, you possibly can name 2-1-1, contact the
state 
Bureau of Housing Inspection, or name your municipality to
report the issue. Attributable to COVID-19, code enforcement businesses might
nonetheless be working with restricted workers, and it could take longer to get
repairs or inspections. As a substitute, if you happen to can handle the
repairs by yourself, and your landlord fails to reply to your
requests for repairs, you may make them or pay somebody to make
them. You may then withhold the cash you spent on repairs from
your lease (save all receipts for the repairs!).

If I am in a HUD-subsidized unit, do I get any
particular protections in eviction proceedings?

Sure.  Tenants in HUD-subsidized properties
get a variety of particular protections in eviction proceedings. Below
a 
new rule, your landlord can not file an eviction motion in opposition to
you for nonpayment of lease until the owner has given you 30
days’ discover that features details about the provision
of federal emergency rental help. The rule applies when the
federal authorities has allotted funds for rental help in
response to the declaration of a nationwide emergency, akin to
COVID-19.

ELECTRICITY, GAS, WATER, COMMUNICATIONS

Can my utilities, water, or sewer service be shut off
through the COVID-19 disaster?

No. A law enacted
on December 21, 2021, prohibits most utilities and water/sewer
suppliers from shutting off service till March 15,
2022, in response to unpaid payments that accrued through the
pandemic. Furthermore, earlier than inserting, promoting, or imposing a lien on
residential property in response to such unpaid payments, the utility
or water/sewer supplier should provide the residential buyer a
favorable fee plan.

Can my cellphone and web be shut off through the
COVID-19 disaster?

Sure, as of January 1, 2022.  After this
date, underneath Executive
Order 246, an web or voice service supplier should provide to
enroll a buyer in specified fee plans earlier than shutting off
service and will not shut off companies to a buyer who makes the
required funds.

Do I nonetheless must pay for utilities, water, sewer,
cellphone, and web?

Sure. You continue to must pay no matter
electrical, gasoline, water, cellphone, or web payments you usually pay. If
you can’t pay now, you’ll have to pay later. DCA gives
low-income tenants assistance
with some utility bills. You can too name the customer support
quantity in your utility invoice, or lookup the quantity here,
to attempt to work out a fee plan; or you possibly can examine the website of
the Board of Public Utilities for a listing of businesses that supply
help.

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The content material of this text is meant to offer a common
information to the subject material. Specialist recommendation needs to be sought
about your particular circumstances.