With nearly 17 million people filing for unemployment in the first three weeks of April alone, you may find yourself asking your property manager about a rent payment plan.
“We encourage our residents to get in contact with us ASAP if they are not able to pay their rent on time,” says Justin Becker, owner of Brookfield Management, which owns and manages multifamily housing around the world. “We are willing to work with our residents on payment plans, as long as they hold up their end of the bargain.”
Get the lowdown
Before approaching your property manager, spend a little time learning about newly enacted protections for renters. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as of March 27, the CARES Act provides for a suspension or moratorium on evictions.
If your landlord has a federally backed mortgage or multifamily mortgage, you can’t be evicted for nonpayment of rent for 120 days. When that period is up, a landlord can’t require you to leave without 30 days’ notice.
If the property you rent isn’t covered by the CARES Act, many states have suspended all evictions and foreclosures due to the pandemic. Check state government, state court or legal aid websites for up-to-date information.
Give plenty of notice
Approach your property manager as early as possible with your concerns. Landlords and property owners are well aware of the current situation and many, as Becker says, are willing to work with residents.
It’s an emotional time for everyone, and owners feel your pain — they, too, may have mortgages to cover — but on a practical level, they’ll have a difficult time renting your space if you leave.
Be aware that you may have to back up your claim of need with documents, such as furlough or layoff notices, pay stubs or bank statements.
Use your security deposit
Before devising any rent payment plan, find out if your city, town or county has passed the Emergency Renters’ Choice Plan (Cincinnati actually passed this legislation in January 2020).
The rules may vary from town to town, but, basically, if you can opt in to this plan, you’d have 30 days to replace your security deposit. You also will have the option to replace your cash deposit with low-cost insurance that has small monthly payments.
This will free up your security deposit to be put toward rent. Even if your municipality hasn’t passed this legislation, it can’t hurt to ask if your landlord would be willing to apply your security deposit toward rent.
Keep a record
Contact your landlord or property manager in writing, via email, video chat or by a documented phone call since many management offices are not open. Work together with them to devise a plan:
- Ask if they’ll accept a credit card payment for rent. It’s been reported that some landlords will waive fees associated with credit card payments. If they will, make sure that you won’t get in over your head with a high-interest rate that will put you further behind.
- See if it’s possible to set up a rent payment plan where you’ll pay a portion of your rent now and spread out the rest of the payments over the course of the year
- Ask if your landlord is willing to lower the rent and forgive the difference in payment — or forgive rent completely for a certain number of months. Nationally, there have been discussions about rent forgiveness. For example, in March, the New York Senate introduced a bill (S8125A) that would allow a suspension of “rent payments for certain residential tenants and small business commercial tenants and certain mortgage payments for ninety days in response to the outbreak of COVID-19.”
Don’t ignore the situation
Whatever you do, don’t ignore the situation and hope it will disappear or that the government will step in to help just when you need it. Yes, various municipalities, organizations and government agencies are trying to create legislation to aid renters, as well as property owners, but information changes almost daily. Help may — or may not —be on the way. Be proactive and communicate early about a rent payment plan. We’re all in this together.
