BECKLEY, WV (WVNS)– “Landlords are helpless when a eviction moratorium is in place,” Jonathan Switzerlette said.

The Center for Disease Control announced the eviction moratorium was extended from January until March of this year. This will continue to halt evictions for people who can not make their rent.

This is good news for renters but bad news for landlords. Jonathan Switzerlette is a local landlord in Raleigh County. He said he provided free rent to his tenants that lost their jobs to COVID-19.

“An eviction moratorium which is unconstitutional, because it is a violation of the 5th amendment of the constitutional carries with it repercussion and those repercussions are that landlords are taking advantage of,” Switzerlette said.

Switzerlette said now that the moratorium is extended, it will cost him a lot of money. He said this makes it hard for landlords to pay their bills as well.

“Landlords have bills to pay, they have payments to make they have mortgage payments to make they have taxes to pay, they have insurance to pay, they have management fees to pay and they are helpless. Which is why this is wrong,” Switzerlette said.

Switzerlette said this moratorium devastated him.

“But the government violated their unconstitutional right has devastated us landlords and that is because people have taken advantage of the situation,” Switzerlette said.