Many landlords across New Jersey have not been able to collect rent from their tenants during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These landlords have not been able to evict these tenants because of Gov. Phil Murphy’s Executive Order 106, which has placed a moratorium on evictions for the time being. And now some of these landlords say that they are having difficulty paying their own bills.

Bergen County landlord Howard Thompson rents out a multifamily home.

“I have a tenant who has not paid rent since August of last year,” he says. “The tenant is a working tenant, refused to pay rent.”

Thompson is owed $12,000 in rent. He says that the tenant’s only excuse is the public health emergency. Executive Order 106 is designed to help renters who lost their jobs during the pandemic to keep from losing their housing.

“I can appreciate what the governor has done, however with the broad brush and no vetting in the process, it unfortunately affects the landlords,” says Thompson.

It is believed that over 100,000 landlords in the state are suffering under the moratorium. There is now a bill moving through the state Legislature sponsored by state Sens. Brian Stack and Ron Rice that would dole out $750 million in rental assistance and credit protection for tenants.

This could help because once Murphy ends the moratorium, there could be mass evictions. Thompson says that he will move to evict his tenant.

“They showed no sympathy. They showed no reasoning, they showed that they’re unwilling in any way, shape or form by just not communicating,” he says.

Thompson says that he has had to get a second job to make up for the loss in rent. He says that he is in essence paying his tenant’s rent himself. He says that his other tenants in the multifamily home have been paying their rent on time.