By Roger Susanin, Rob Polansky

WESTBROOK, CT (WFSB) -- State leaders shut down housing courts because of safety concerns tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and the governor recently placed a moratorium on evictions until next year.

However, some lawyers and landlords said those decision have created an explosive combination that is expensive and possibly even dangerous.

In Westbrook, a family that lives on Seaside Avenue said its rent is effectively zero. The folks who live in the apartment told their landlord they’re simply not paying.

“He’s told me outright that because he's done this so many times before,” said Jeffrey Dunn of Westbrook, the owner. “He says ‘I'm staying here until the sheriff comes to take me out. Because he knows that he can stay there that long. The laws protect them.”

Dunn’s building is just one house back from the beach. He also owns a home right on the water, but said he skipped most weekends there this summer because the situation with his current tenants is too painful.

“It's gut-wrenching to come here because the emotion it takes on my wife is devastating,” he said.

Back in November, Dunn rented the home to Robert and Faith Maura for $1,400 dollars per month. He did not do an extensive background check. He said it was a mistake he now regrets.

“I went with my gut and I just rented it to them because they seemed like nice folks,” Dunn said. “So that was the wrong thing to do.”

Court records showed that last year alone, the Maura’s were evicted from two different Westbrook homes after their landlords said they just stopped paying rent. They got the boot from the first house in Feb. 2019. By April, a second landlord took them to court. They were evicted from that house by October. A short time later they moved into Dunn’s home.

Dunn said they announced they weren’t going to pay him rent in January long before the pandemic began.

“I don't know how anybody could be like this,” Dunn said. “I've never met people that could do something like this.”

Even worse, the Mauras 6 month lease ended in May. Nearly five months later, they are still there. It forced Dunn to cancel all of his summer rentals at nearly $2,000 a week. He said now the Mauras refuse to leave, pay rent, or even answer the door.

When Channel 3 knocked, at least three people were inside, but they didn’t come out to greet the crew. The station also gave them a call, but they haven’t responded.

Dunn’s attorney said the reason this has gone on for so long is tied to COVID-19.

“Six months now, the courts have been closed,” explained attorney Yona Gregory, who represents hundreds of landlords in Connecticut.

Gregory said the state’s housing court shut down in mid-March due to the pandemic and remained completely closed for more than half a year.

“Landlords and tenants are basically having to fend for themselves out here with laws but no court,” he said.

Within the last few weeks, the housing court began scheduling some virtual hearings, no “in person hearings.”

Last week Gov. Ned Lamont announced an eviction moratorium, which ensured tenants won't be evicted until at least Jan. 2021, except in extreme circumstances.

Gregory said Dunn's situation somehow doesn't qualify for that.

“This is an issue where the court just abandoned the landlord and made him unable to remove these people, and the hardship is unbelievable,” Gregory said.

Gregory said the moratorium and housing court closure meant hundreds of landlords who tried to start eviction proceedings before the pandemic were still waiting and tensions can escalate.

“Emotions are running high,” he said. “There's no court for these people to solve any disputes and they’re left to just fend for themselves and it’s a very dangerous situation, I believe.”

Dunn said he's lost more than $40,000 and knows now that his tenants won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

“Yesterday I was out weeding the driveway,” Dunn said. “She stuck her head out the window and said ‘get off my property. Get off my property.’”

On Monday, Channel 3 received a phone call from the couple in the house. They claimed that they gave their entire stimulus check to the landlord. They also claim the landlord told the couple he was going to use that money for other things like the electric bill and "something else." They also claim the landlord increased the rent to $1,800 overnight without any notice and that they offered to pay him in increments, and he refused.

Dunn's attorney says none of those claims are accurate. Gregory told Eyewitness News that although the Maura's did send over a check for more than $500 in June, that only covered utility fees that they owed and the Maura's still owe the Dunn's more than $40,000.

Gregory also said the Dunn's never raised the Maura's rent during the period that covers their signed lease agreement, although the Dunn's do charge more to rent their home in the summer, which as after the lease expired.