NJ continues to see backlog in eviction cases, but there are improvements

If a landlord filed to evict a tenant in Essex County this year, there's a good chance the court hasn’t yet turned to the case.

Essex consistently records the most eviction filings in the state, the bulk coming from landlords in Newark. And after the Garden State paused most landlord-tenant proceedings for nearly two years during an eviction moratorium to keep people safely housed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with a shortage of judges statewide, Essex now leads the state with the largest backlog of cases to sift through, at more than 15,500.

That’s over a third of the 42,500 cases languishing statewide for more than two months, according to court data through the end of November. Hudson, Passaic and Camden counties are also slogging through a combined pileup of 14,000 cases.

In some filings from 2020, “you need an accounting degree to figure out the amount really due and owing,” said Jose Ortiz, deputy director of Essex Newark Legal Services. Other cases involve landlords who received rental assistance, or tenants who had already moved out, and have yet to be dismissed, said Allison Nolan, senior staff attorney for Volunteer Lawyers for Justice.

And as judges trudge through the years-long backlog, the eviction filings are picking up, though not quite at pre-pandemic levels. The monthly average of 8,200 cases this year is not as high as the 12,600 that courts saw each month in 2019, but higher than 2021’s 4,000 monthly cases. Filings refer to the number of cases that landlords take to court, not the number of people removed from their homes or the number of families who move outside of the official legal process.

Attorneys representing both landlords and tenants see glimmers of hope in getting through cases more quickly and working out deals after an Oct. 27 state Supreme Court notice ordered the eviction process to start returning to courthouses after a year of livestreaming. Judges will have discretion to hold online hearings in certain cases.

“In court more deals get done, and more residents stay in the property, getting them on a reasonable repayment plan, in my experience,” said Derek Reed, a partner at Ehrlich, Petriello, Gudin, Plaza & Reed and past president of the Property Owners Association of New Jersey. “It’s also difficult when you’re sitting in your living room or kitchen to fully understand the seriousness of the matter pending before the court.”

Ortiz, who represents low-income tenants in Essex County, said it’s more difficult for judges to make credibility calls over a computer screen, where such details as body language may be hard to discern. While some of his clients liked virtual proceedings because of work or child care issues, many others didn’t know how to navigate the technology, he said.

In Hudson County, tenants receive a postcard in the mail that gives the date and time of their hearing but no link to the proceeding, said Amy Albert, managing attorney for the Jersey City-based nonprofit the Waterfront Project. They have to call the courts to find out how to log in, she said.

“Other times, people are getting emails from eCourts, but when they click the link to their case they can’t get in unless they already have an account, so they get confused and don’t know what to do,” Albert said. “It could be a lot more accessible than it is.”

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In November, Essex County alternated between two weeks in person and two weeks online as part of a pilot program and implemented changes that are making the process work more smoothly, attorneys say. The county redesigned the courthouse — creating spaces for attorneys and tenants to negotiate at long tables rather than in crowded hallways — and added a step for tenants to check in so they wouldn’t miss their cases being called.

“The changes send a message that we respect you, we're here to help you, we're here to provide the administration of justice and fairness,” Ortiz said.

The county is also holding due process hearings. In most counties, when a renter doesn’t show up to trial, a judge automatically finds in favor of the landlord. Now, Essex is requiring landlords to show evidence and documents that they are entitled to an eviction.

“That to me is an important change, one that helps with due process,” Nolan said.

How have protections stacked up?

Last summer, to stave off a predicted "tsunami" of evictions of low-income families who lost their jobs and couldn’t afford rent, New Jersey passed some of the strongest tenant protections in the country. If low- and moderate-income families filled out a self-certification form and applied for rental assistance, they could not be kicked out of their homes for rent they missed from the beginning of the pandemic through Aug. 31, 2021, or the end of 2021 for the poorest New Jerseyans.

Although more than 69,000 people filled out the forms, only 11,500 people saw their cases dismissed because they filed the self-certifications, according to court data through Nov. 8.

Every tenant’s case may not be eligible for dismissal. Some renters may make too much money or missed rent payments before the pandemic began, or a landlord may have moved to evict them for a reason other than failing to pay rent.

New Jersey also set up an “eviction diversion” program, sending out 28 caseworkers across the state to landlord-tenant courts to help renters understand the legal process and apply for rental and utility assistance and other social service programs. The Department of Community Affairs estimates it has helped close to 3,200 families, and it plans to expand the number of caseworkers deployed across the Garden State.

“They can make a huge difference for people facing eviction, because we know it’s not always just that one crisis hitting at a time, but a confluence of a few different things,” Nolan said. “We want to make sure we’re addressing as many of the issues that are causing the crises as possible. The sooner they can start connecting with resources, the better.”

Another 1,000 low-income families in Atlantic City, East Orange and Trenton received legal and social services assistance in an “access to counsel” program, according to the DCA. The one-year pilot aimed to level the playing field: While landlords have lawyers helping them through the confusing, rapidly changing legal process in about 90% of cases, renters have legal help in less than 10% of cases.

But this program is limited to families in three cities who make less than 200% of the federal poverty level.

“There’s a gap where the working poor may not be eligible for free legal services,” Ortiz said. “And at the end of the day, there’s only so much an attorney can do when the client does not have the rent money. We’re still dealing with a financial crisis where families are struggling, especially individuals on disability or Social Security on a fixed income. It is so difficult with the rising rents in New Jersey to meet those obligations.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Has NJ gotten through its eviction case backlog?