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Law enforcement officers are prohibited from taking action to evict or otherwise displace residents, according to the new moratorium on evictions and home foreclosures. The law firm Connell Foley, NJBIA’s Employment Law Resources provider, analyzes what the new policy means.

The initiative is part of the state’s overall coronavirus response. Legislation passed last week authorized the Governor to issue executive order issuing a moratorium, which he did. The order itself is open ended but will not be in effect beyond 60 days after the current public health emergency is over, according to attorneys Robert A. Verdibello and Andrew C. Sayles.

“Significantly, the order does not prevent mortgage or lease holders from pursing judgments of evictions or foreclosure,” the attorneys state. “Rather, it prevents those parties from seeking removal of a lessee, tenant or homeowner once judgment is obtained per execution of a Warrant of Removal or Writ of Possession. Accordingly, a party may still pursue its appropriate judicial remedies in the event of a mortgage default or breach of lease.”

The order applies only to residential properties and specifically excludes residential healthcare facilities, hotels, motels and other guest properties or rooms rented to a transient guest or seasonal tenant, they say. At this stage, commercial tenant are not subject to the moratorium.

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