31% Can't Pay the Rent: 'It's Only Going to Get Worse'

[Demovictory9]

First it was the waitress whose restaurant closed. Then the waiter, the bartender, the substitute teacher, the hairdresser, the tattoo artist and the Walgreens manager.

One after the other, the tenants called and emailed their landlord, Bruce Brunner, to say they were out of work and the rent was going to be late. A week after the bill was due, some two dozen of Mr. Brunner’s 130 tenants had lost their jobs or had their hours reduced. He’s working out payment plans and using security deposits as a stopgap while directing tenants to the emerging patchwork of local, state and federal assistance programs.

“Six weeks ago, you could name your price and you’d have multiple people applying,” said Mr. Brunner, who lives in Minneapolis, where he owns and manages 20 duplexes and triplexes across the city. “Now you’re deferring and working out payment plans, and it’s only going to get worse.”


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Some tenants are simply moving out. College students are breaking leases to move home. Laid-off workers are showing up at rental offices to exchange their keys for their deposits, saying they are moving in with family members.

And there is Terra Thomas, a florist in Oakland, Calif., who could pay her April rent with savings if she wanted but has decided to withhold the $833 she pays for her studio. With her usually busy wedding season shaping up to be grim, she’d rather conserve her money than pay bills now.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/business/economy/coronavirus-rent.html

[Rorey]

1. It's not looking good for me

I have four rentals, and so far I've received full rent on one, and partial rent on another. I'm hopeful that another will be paying his rent. He has tried to call me the last couple of evenings, but for various reasons we didn't connect. He usually pays by the 5th, so I guess I'll find out in the next day or two.

The other tenant is a mom who worked in a retail store, and that store closed a couple of weeks ago. She actually called me to tell me she had rent for last month (March), but it was right when everything was really getting serious, and I told her to hang onto it and we'd work it out later. I'm thinking I'll be losing one month's rent from her, at the very least. She always pays late, so I'm not even thinking about April's rent yet.

The rental income is how I pay my own bills, so this is going to hurt. But it kinda is what it is. I'm hoping this doesn't last too long.

[Demovictory9]

3. I live in a huge apt complex in California, run by a corporation. They told all tenants in March

that, with proof of layoff or loss of income, April and May rent can be delayed with payment plan. They got ahead of the curve. They email stated that tenants had started calling in March saying they were losing jobs, etc.

This the 2nd plan they emailed us: Earlier in March, the corporation had emailed a plan of 1/2 rent in april, with remaining 1/2 spread out over six months... but I'm thinking they began to realize people wouldn't be able to pay even half. Note: 1 bedrooms rent for almost $2,000 here.

(i hope you get your rent)

[Rorey]

4. I'm a horrible businesswoman. I'm probably going to go broke.

I hate being a landlady. Got a divorce last year and we split the rentals. So far it's been one thing after another.

I just couldn't, in good conscience, take that tenant's rent, knowing what we were all facing. Even worse, she's not going to be able to catch up. She was already living paycheck to paycheck.

I'm hoping things will work out, but this does suck.

[duforsure]

2. trump and the GOP failures to provide enough stimulus

Directly to the American people will only make things much , much worse , and slow down any recovery. That's from trump and the GOP policies , not the Democrats proposals they wanted which would have provided more directly getting to the American people causing the economy to see significant improvements,and gains. trump is failing at everything with this crisis. We're in a recession now , and its looking like with these people involved we could be having a lot worse economic problems in the very near future from them. trump and the GOP could be driving us into a catastrophic economic disaster.