Unable to evict tenants, some N.J. landlords sue them instead
Updated 9:59 AM;
Today 9:59 AM
New Jersey landlords may not be able to evict non-paying tenants during the pandemic, but there is nothing stopping them from filing civil lawsuits to recoup their rent money, legal experts say. John Jones | For NJ Advance Medi
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Last fall, it seemed that the worst was over for Tanya Ortiz.
Her landlord had filed to evict her from her Jersey City apartment over the summer, but because of the state’s eviction moratorium, she would not be forced to leave. After spending a few months without work, she had resumed her job as a mail carrier. And she had just learned that a county-administered grant of CARES Act funding would cover much of her back rent.
After serving three years in prison for selling a small amount of Xanax pills, Charles Thompson found even worse accommodations upon his release in 2015: the sand under the Atlantic City Boardwalk.
âI couldnât get housing and I hated shelters,â said Thompson, 60, of Atlantic City. âSo I slept for months with the âpossums, raccoons, and squirrels. There was no General Assistance to help me.â
People convicted of felony drug distribution in New Jersey cannot receive GA, a program that gives low-income adults with no dependent children a monthly stipend of $185, as well as job training. Thanks to a strange quirk of law, anyone who completes a prison sentence for a non-drug distribution felony â including a violent crime â can get GA. People convicted of drug possession may receive GA.