By Eric A. Inglis, Esq.

The New Jersey Supreme Court recently issued an order partially unfreezing the largely inactive Landlord-Tenant Court of the State and will now allow evictions in certain narrow circumstances. The Court essentially stopped processing evictions on March 16, 2020, with all trials suspended, though the Court has been conducting remote settlement negotiations with parties to attempt to resolve cases.

The Supreme Court’s recent Order will allow the Court to hear Orders to Show Cause seeking to evict tenants on grounds other than non-payment of rent. The types of emergency evictions the Court will now hear include, but are not limited to, those based on violence against other tenants, criminal activity, extreme damage to the residence, or death of a tenant. Nevertheless, trials of eviction complaints for non-payment of rent continue to be suspended with no end in sight.

A practice point for landlords and attorneys handling eviction complaints is that the Court will now require the plaintiff-landlords to list the tenant’s email address on the eviction complaint. Therefore, it is important that landlords attempt to secure that information for all new tenants at the start of the tenancy.

This Order is a modest attempt by the Supreme Court to clear the massive backlog of eviction complaints caused by the public health emergency. When the Court stopped conducting trials there were 12,500 cases pending, an addition 17,000 cases have been filed since the shutdown, and the Court anticipates an increase in filing when enhanced unemployment benefits terminate and Payroll Protection Program money runs out at the end of July 2020.

Many attorneys assume in-person trials will not resume until 2021 and it may be that long until eviction trials based on non-payment of rent resume. Once the Court re-opens there will be backlogs in all branches of the Court - criminal, family, and civil - and the number of judges devoted to the various types of cases may vary from county to county.

Please feel free to contact the attorneys at Schenck Price to answer any questions you have regarding landlord-tenant matters.

DISCLAIMER:  This Alert is designed to keep you aware of recent developments in the law. It is not intended to be legal advice, which can only be given after the attorney understands the facts of a particular matter and the goals of the client.