2020 has been a year of firsts for millions of people around the world. Due to the widespread dangers of Covid-19, the majority of the country is now struggling to afford living expenses due to months of being off work.
Landlords are also struggling to stay afloat while dealing with tenants who can’t afford to pay their bills. We’ve found a few different rent collection strategies during Covid to help you recoup some of your losses. Anything is better than nothing.
If Covid is hurting your pocketbook, you should consider using these five strategies to collect rent from your tenants. Using tools like commercial property management software can help you apply for any of these solutions.
Government Rental Assistance Relief Programs
Covid-19 has caused the entire country to experience financial hardships, with hundreds of thousands of people currently out of work.
If you’re a landlord who has tenants who are behind in their rent payments, you might want to consider government rental assistance relief programs for help.
To qualify for some of these programs, both you and your tenant will need to provide proof of varying criteria, such as proof of unemployment or furlough, bank statements, or other evidence of hardship.
When you use commercial property management software, you’ll have easy access to some of the things you or your tenant might need to provide for approval.
CARES Act
In an effort to help reduce the financial strains for Americans, the government signed into effect the CARES Act on March 27, 2020.
This piece of legislation provided over $17.4 of funding to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help with rental assistance, public and elderly housing, and housing vouchers for hundreds of people in need.
Do your research to determine if you or your tenants qualify for assistance under the CARES Act. If all the needs are met, you can recoup some of your lost rental payments.
HUD Rental Assistance
HUD is another rental assistance program intended for low income families. If your tenants are struggling with their rent, they may qualify for rental assistance by HUD.
This means you would get a portion of the rent due, even if the tenants don’t have their half of the costs. A little money is better than none at all.
However, you may have to go through some paperwork to get your house qualified for HUD assistance, and it often requires you to reduce your rent amount to a lower cost.
When you use property management software, you’ll have an easier time amending your leases for HUD approval.
Non-Profit Relief
A lot of non-profit organizations are starting to offer assistance in the form of one month’s rent paid. These companies can be privately owned through investment or financing companies or they may be in partnership with the government.
The best place to start checking resources in your area for rental relief assistance would be the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
This website provides a lot of useful information about state and emergency rental assistance programs. There are new programs created all the time so it’s a useful site to visit regularly.
Be aware that some of these programs will require the landlord to fill out paperwork and may expect you to start the process instead of the tenants. With commercial property management software, you can fill these papers out faster.
Flexible Payments
Many landlords have started to look into amended or suspended rent payments on federally backed mortgages, which are the most practical solution at this point in time.
Under the CARES Act, these mortgages can get suspended for up to 12 months. This legislation also puts a pause on late fees, reporting to the credit bureaus for missed payments, and the money will not have to be paid back once the loan payments resume.
If postponing your payments is not an option, you can work with your tenants to take lower or partial payments, which is better than getting nothing at all.
Rent Collection Strategies During Covid
If you’re a landlord that is struggling to collect rent during the Covid crisis, you may find value in using these helpful tips. We are in scary times where the majority of Americans are struggling financially due to so much missed work.
Now, more than ever, we should show compassion and understanding to our fellow man. Try these non-combative and useful rent collection strategies during Covid to help you still get paid.
