Fair Share Housing Center Executive Director Adam Gordon issued the following statement regarding Governor Murphy’s announcement of the Small Landlord Emergency Grant Program:

We applaud Governor Murphy and Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver’s decision to devote $25 million in federal CARES Act funds to the Small Landlord Emergency Grant Program to protect vulnerable renters.

The program will keep families in their homes by covering up to four months of missed or partial rent payments from families living in smaller buildings who have lost income because of the pandemic-related economic crisis.

This announcement builds off of the temporary moratorium on evictions and foreclosures the Governor announced earlier in this crisis. By focusing on small properties with rents affordable to low- and moderate-income renters, the program will help many of the renters struggling the most in this pandemic.

While this program will help a segment of those impacted by the pandemic, more needs to be done to protect low-income New Jersey residents over the long term.

We need legislative solutions, and call upon the State Senate to pass A4266/S2340/A4034 to provide support to renters to prevent a wave of eviction once the moratorium expires. The bill, which passed the General Assembly on July 30 and is sponsored by Asw. Timberlake, Sen. Singeton, and Asm. Wimberly, would also offer loan forbearance to prevent homeowners who missed a mortgage payment from being foreclosed upon when the foreclosure moratorium expires.