The government did not have the right to invalidate the contract between a renter and the owner. It unilaterally block owners from receiving that which they had a right to, in a legal, valid contract.
The government acted criminally. Unfortunately there is no higher authority on this planet which can throw all the politicians in jail. They make the laws and they violate the laws.
The owners retained the obligation to provide a safe place, without being paid. This is forced servitude, and that is illegal.
I don’t care which level of government made this decision. It was wrong.
The underlying reason is the statists are moving us toward communism, in which all property is owned by the state.
This is already the case. You are merely a caretaker of property. You cannot do much without asking various local government offices for permission. Once you are forced to ask permission to do something on "your property", it no longer belongs to you.
“The government did not have the right to invalidate the contract...”
Sadly, the government doesn’t need rights when it has force.
The landlords who were mandated to accept this situation should include the tenants’ IOU with their county tax payments and indicate, “deduct this from moneys owned the State”.