Hudson County is creating a rental assistance program to help those who have fallen behind on their rent as a result of COVID-19.
As the county develops the program, county officials want to hear directly from renters.
“I urge renters impacted by the COVID19 shutdown to take this survey,” Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise said in a statement. “The more we understand how renters have dealt with their landlords during this crisis, the better we can craft our program to support them.”
Click here to complete the survey, or go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HCCOVIDRentalAssistanceSurvey.
The county will collect contact information, which will be used only to notify respondents when the rental assistance application is available.
The survey asks residents for their monthly income, current rent, and other information regarding rent payments and evictions.
Visit https://cares.hcnj.us/ for information on the current eviction moratorium, tenant resources, and information on the rental assistance program when it’s available.
The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency will be release a program aimed at small landlords with tenants who have been unable to pay rent. Visit https://www.nj.gov/dca/hmfa/rentals/sleg/index.shtml.
For more information on county housing programs, visit the Hudson County Division of Housing & Community Development at its website.
Moratorium on evictions
Renters may not be removed from their homes for the inability to pay rent during the COVID-19 emergency under Gov. Phil Murphy’s executive order.
Executive Order 106 suspends evictions throughout the state, meaning no tenant may be removed from his or her home as a result of an eviction proceeding. There are rare exceptions for cases such as when a tenant is violent or endangering other tenants.
The eviction moratorium, however, does not halt court proceedings; it prevents lockouts and removals.
The New Jersey Supreme Court controls court proceedings related to eviction and has suspended all eviction proceedings for now. This means that landlords cannot take tenants to court at this time, but they will be able to once the courts reopen.
The eviction moratorium will last until two months after Gov. Murphy declares an end to the COVID-19 health crisis, unless the governor issues another Executive Order to end it sooner.
For questions regarding the eviction moratorium, go to the State’s Q&A Form at https://covid19.nj.gov/forms/renter.
If your landlord is trying to force you from your home imminently, call the police.
If the removal is not imminent, contact legal services here.
Virtual information conference
The Hudson County Vicinage will host a virtual information conference. Participants may submit questions via the “chat” option.
Individual cases will not be discussed or resolved.
The conference is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Call Pauline Daniels at 201-748-4400 ext. 60145 or email HudsonHelp.Mailbox@njcourts.gov.
Two conferences will be held via Zoom. The first will take place on Aug. 19 from 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. The second will take place on Aug. 26 from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
For updates on this and other stories, check www.hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Daniel Israel can be reached at disrael@hudsonreporter.com.
