Like everyone else, we expected 2021 to be better and easier. At the beginning of the year, the vaccines were starting to roll out, the feeling was positive and the worst was behind us. But then the reality of 2021 set in. Across the country, with the rise of the Delta variant, supply chain problems, labor shortages and unanticipated weather events, we were thrust into another difficult year. It wasn’t the 2021 we had all hoped for — it was “2020 redux” — and it was just as challenging but in different ways.

When COVID-19 hit the United States, most Americans never imagined the impact it would have on daily life. As the virus spread, states like New Jersey started to implement policies to promote social distancing and to help those impacted by the economic fallout of the crisis, including policies such as an eviction moratorium. While such a policy addresses one specific immediate-term problem, it does not address the systemic need for rent revenue that supports an entire multifamily ecosystem, which is a critical component of New Jersey’s economy and significantly supports the State and municipalities through taxes. Without rental assistance and an understanding that rent is still due, multifamily jobs will be lost, private-sector financial obligations may not be met, utilities will not be paid and municipalities might see shortfalls due to the inability to pay property taxes. That is why we need a rental assistance program immediately.