Tagged: Leasing

Much has been written about the need for moratoria on evictions, at both the federal and state levels, in order to avoid widespread displacement of residential tenants. Indeed, one of Governor Murphy’s very first Executive Orders – issued on March 19, 2020, just ten days after he declared a State of Emergency – was to halt all residential evictions until two months after the State of Emergency ends. Of course, the State of Emergency continues today, and thus the residential eviction moratorium also continues with no immediate end in sight. Early on during the COVID-19 crisis, as a companion to the Governor’s Executive Order, the New Jersey Supreme Court authorized the temporary suspension of all landlord-tenant trials (both residential and commercial) as of March 16, 2020. While residential and commercial landlords could continue to file complaints to get “in the queue,” those cases could not advance to trial, and the Landlord-Tenant Court backlog today is in the tens of thousands. Some commentators predict hundreds of thousands of eviction complaints may be filed in New Jersey when the pandemic ends. While much attention has been given to the residential eviction crisis, far less has been written about the impact of lengthy moratoria on both commercial landlords and tenants, whose cases are filed identically to residential matters...