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What if I can’t pay my rent? Can I still get evicted? Is there any rental relief?

Last Updated: 02/06/2023

Eviction Protection

The State of New Jersey has introduced protections to renter households who experienced economic hardships during the pandemic:

  • All renter households with incomes below 120% of their county's Area Median Income are permanently protected against eviction or removal at any time for nonpayment of rent, habitual late payment of rent, or failure to accept a rent increase that accrued from March 1, 2020 through August 31, 2021.
  • Low- and moderate-income households who have applied for state or local rental assistance, and who have experienced an economic impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic are also protected from eviction for unpaid rent accrued through December 31, 2021.
  • These protections are not affected by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision regarding the CDC's eviction moratorium.

For the special New Jersey eviction protections to take effect, you must provide the required self-certification form to your landlord, and if there is a pending action against you, to the courts.

Complete the self-certification form to understand which protections you may be eligible for, submit a self-certification of your income to the courts, and receive a copy of the form that can be kept in your records and shared with your landlord at covid19.nj.gov/renter.

Note that even if you qualify for protections, your rent is still due to your landlord. Unpaid rent will be considered a "civil debt," recoverable through a money judgment, but not grounds for eviction.

Rental Assistance

The COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program Phase II (CVERAP2) / Eviction Protection Program (EPP) portal is currently closed as funding has been fully obligated. If you have already submitted a pre-application for CVERAP2/EPP and are contacted by DCA, please follow the application instructions you are given.

If you have not previously submitted a pre-application and are in need of help in paying rent arrears or future rental assistance, you may submit a pre-application to be considered, in the future, if DCA receives additional funds.

Legal Protections and Aid

In addition to eviction protections described above, New Jersey law protects renters in a number of other ways:

  • Landlords who are receiving rental assistance must waive any late fees accrued by tenants during the special protections period.
  • Landlords may not report delayed rent to crediting agencies and they cannot sell the debt.
  • Landlords may not disclose non-payment of rent to others and prospective landlords may not deny renting to a person who wasn't able to pay rent during the covered period of March 1, 2020 and August 31, 2021.
  • Landlords must accept all sources of lawful income as rent payment, including rental assistance such as CVERAP.

If you need help, free legal assistance is available through Legal Services of New Jersey (LSNJ). Learn more by visiting their site, or get advice, referrals, and information through their hotline by calling 1-888-LSNJ-LAW (1-888-576-5529) or by visiting www.LSNJLawHotline.org.

Additional Housing Assistance

Visit www.nj.gov/dca/dcaid to see if you are eligible for any of the state's housing assistance programs. These include temporary assistance to households who are being evicted due to a short- term loss of income and temporary financial assistance to help pay for housing and case management and services to maintain housing. There are also programs available to help veterans, low-income families, the elderly, single-parents, and more.

Source: Executive Order No. 106; https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/news/562020/approved/20200328c.shtml; https://nj.gov/governor/news/news/562020/approved/20200319c.shtml; Executive Order No. 128; https://nj.gov/governor/news/news/562020/approved/20200424c.shtml;