How to Respond to the Impact of the Pandemic (& How to Help as a Landlord)

As we mentioned in a previous article, there are many ways the pandemic has affected those around us, including our tenants.

So, we made a list of the ways we can help your tenant, and either establish or maintain a good relationship with them during these hard times.

Communicate with your tenant

Many cities are required to give a landlord notice if they have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and are unable to make a rent payment when it is due.

However, it is still important to communicate with your tenant in order to ensure that the tenant is understanding of what is going on, and so are you. With that, keeping open communication is key to making sure that both of your needs are being met.

Encourage your tenant to pay what they can now

Encouraging your tenant to pay what they can now, is helpful in many cases. The first being that you are getting a payment. While full payment is ideal, during this time, a partial payment may be all that your tenant has.

With that, encouraging them to pay what they can, will help give them time to come up with the rest of the payment or what is owed.

Allow your tenant to set up a payment plan

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, your tenant may have been laid off, or may not be making as much money as they were prior to the pandemic. With that, allowing your tenant to set up a payment plan is helpful in getting them to where they need to be, but also creates a schedule for when they should be making payments.

While this may require your tenant to play catch up, and is not the ideal situation for both parties, it helps create guidelines for both you and your tenant.

See if you qualify for a government loan

If the above options are not going to cut it because of your financial situation. The SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans are available for rental property owners in all of the U.S.

With that, this may help you in staying afloat when your tenant cannot make a payment due to the current circumstances.