Who reduced rent for the tenants?
Yesterday we sent message to our tenants that we reduce rent by 5% till the end of the year considering pandemic.
To the best of our knowledge both families are still have the same employment situation as at the time when they moved in.
However, one family left the city during lock down and asked us for rent reduction of 25% because they do not live in the apartment. We refused at that time.
We are family of professionals, one of us learned that his contract will not be extended till the end of the year.
Diary of a small landlord indeed.
How other small landlords handle the situation?
lucie
in General Discussion 5 years ago
27
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27 replies
IronBalls | 5 years ago
I’ve had some tenants ask for reductions, and I’ve given them 10% to 15% off. Lots of folks are leaving the city permanently and it’s very hard to find tenants. Folks on Brownstoner should all sign the Impeach de Blasio petition. Unless we get new leadership, private property owners are going under in NYC. Yeah, it’s only symbolic, I know.
Guest User | 5 years ago
For my 3rd part management employer, we offered lease renewals at slight increase, and allowed for negotiating down to zero increase or slight reduction in some cases to avoid vacancy. Not many people want to move within or into NYC through end of June is what we’re seeing. Many tenants able to temporarily or permanently move out of NYC this summer are doing so in our experience
Guest User | 5 years ago
For my 3rd part management employer, we offered lease renewals at slight increase, and allowed for negotiating down to zero increase or slight reduction in some cases to avoid vacancy. Not many people want to move within or into NYC through end of June is what we’re seeing. Many tenants able to temporarily or permanently move out of NYC this summer are doing so in our experience
benoit | 5 years ago
I did reduced the rent by 30 % . I told my tenant that i’ll keep it like that until it get better . Prefer to have lower it by 30 % that not to get pay .
RobertGMarvin
in General Discussion 5 years ago
Reading this thread makes me SO happy that I’ve never been a landlord. Thank goodness for Lefferts Manor’s single family seed covenants.
NeoGrec | 5 years ago
Olga P: Your tenants who chose to leave town made a choice that isn’t available to the vast majority of NYC residents (both owners and renters alike). I don’t think you owe them a cent. It was their decision to go elsewhere. I agree with you that, when tenants lose income or entire jobs, other considerations may factor in. But frankly you shouldn’t feel an ounce of guilt over tenants who just opted out. I mean, you don’t pay for their summer vacation when the city gets uncomfortably hot in July and August, right?
restorationcontractor | 5 years ago
Not looking to argue or preach, everyone is absolutely entitled to their own opinion. I almost died from Coronavirus so my outlook what is important in this life we are given has radically changed. I sincerely wish you all the best in your endeavors.
donatella | 5 years ago
Well, I am responding to the original poster. So, to her, I say, if your tenants are in trouble and you want to give them a break and can afford it, do it. But answer those questions I pose first. It didn’t seem like there was any financial emergency from those tenants but they tried to get something out of the situation. I have been doing this for 16 years. I have a very nice place and have had the good luck of getting great tenants who don’t move, whom I take great care of and I have no issues. Part of not having issues is respect for them and insisting on the boundaries which come from honoring our mutual responsibilities., i.e treating them like responsible adults who can manage their own business and not like parents. And to the sermonizers about MORAL RESPONSIBILITIES, save it.
yudashasom | 5 years ago
@pneumatic, so you have the money to offer handouts, but not to pay your mortgage? I said this early on in another thread. your credit score might not be impacted, but any mortgage modification or forbearance will be on your record for a long time. if you don’t need it, it’s foolish to do it.
lucie | 5 years ago
I feel much better now about our position in handling tenants demands on reducing rent after reading the thread I started ( actually it is only one family, who demanded big reduction on the basis that they left and do not live in their apartment).
But all in all we all should be grateful that we are all alive and do not have any permanent damages to our health. This is what matters now, I think.
Stay healthy and thank you for your feedback.
lucie | 5 years ago
I feel much better now about our position in handling tenants demands on reducing rent after reading the thread I started ( actually it is only one family, who demanded big reduction on the basis that they left and do not live in their apartment).
But all in all we all should be grateful that we are all alive and do not have any permanent damages to our health. This is what matters now, I think.
Stay healthy and thank you for your feedback.
pneumatictubes | 5 years ago
Uhgg. We reached out to all of our tenants immediately in mid-March to ask what their circumstances were. All had been with us for some time. One was fine and didn’t need an adjustment. We voluntarily and at our suggestion cut the rent in half for 3. Two had been laid off and one had a reduction in pay. We told them we couldn’t do it forever but started with April/May/June reduction and said we’d revisit after that. We have no need to cause unneeded stress and we also want them to stay with us after this is over. We can afford it – we’d built up a savings to apply to the units should we need to make repairs/improvements/etc. that we are dipping into. (One of us also lost our gig and had our mortgage postponed for the duration. Note: We don’t live in the house we rent.) No way would I raise rent this year.
Chas373 | 5 years ago
donatella If restorationcontractor’s statement of, “Yes we are in business, however we are providing someone with their home, we should have some higher moral responsibility as fellow humans if WE CAN AFFORD TO DO SO”, isn’t something you can agree with then nothing is going to sway your opinion. Often times YOUR approach can come back to bite you in unexpected ways. I’ll say this, I quickly ascertained 27 years ago when I became a landlord, that achieving a balance with tenants is the optimal way of getting optimal results. The goal should be a scenario where everyone wins as best as it can be. Rarely though a tenant does prove to be beyond reasoning with, and/or proves to have a nefarious agenda. In that case I quickly and legally deal with them. In fact I currently am dealing with one of these which started way before the pandemic. My attorney has been on it and will continue legal action as soon as is possible. It’s annoying but it WILL get resolved. If I let this situation affect my mindset with the rest of my tenants then I end up hanging myself. And it’s grossly unfair to them. This way of dealing with tenants has worked very well for me for all these years and to be honest I know that I’ve received “help from above” in the day to day running of my building. I’m also pretty sure that if I were to go “all dollars and cents” on all my tenants and throw all moral considerations out the window, that help would dry up until I came to my senses. I go with what works and has for over 25 years.
donatella | 5 years ago
So WHO should show some compassion? To WHOM? The landlord in this case needs some compassion. HIGHER MORAL RESPONSIBILITY? To do what? Vague nonsense guaranteed to cause confusion in the relationship. There is NO tenant in this situation who is in trouble. SMH. Good luck to you. You will need it.
restorationcontractor | 5 years ago
To be clear I am only suggesting that we be compassionate to tenants who are in distress through no fault of their own in this pandemic.
I am NOT suggesting a rent reduction or any other form of assistance to those who do not need it.
Yes we are in business, however we are providing someone with their home, we should have some higher moral responsibility as fellow humans if we can afford to do so.
I am saying this as someone who normally follows the “it’s not my problem philosophy”
donatella | 5 years ago
I ask those questions. My questions are the right questions to ask. You make your decisions. I am not hearing that any of the tenants were in trouble. This only one in financial duress (lost a contract) was the landlord. So why reduce rent at all? My experience is that this is a business arrangement and that certain boundaries exist in this relationship. Landlord provides a nice apartment at a fair price, provides good services, respects the tenants’ privacy, and the tenant pays the rent on the 1st. Too much inappropriate guilt being levied. This is why landlords get in trouble. Compassion for what? Who is hurt here?
restorationcontractor | 5 years ago
Bottom line If you can afford to help out a good tenant, fellow human being who is in need why wouldn’t you? Nobody was prepared for this and many hard working people were thrown out of work.
I allowed security deposits to be used for rent. I had a month to month tenant leave and another break his lease and leave 3 days before the end of the month with no discussion. I would have been fine with them staying. I have another long term tenant who was short with the rent, but he approached my managing agent and let her know the situation (he lost his job) I instructed her to do whatever needed to keep him on and we could work it out later. As it turn out he got another job and paid in full.
If you want to look at it from a purely financial sense if a tenant wants to they can just stay and not pay rent, there is a moratorium on evictions until August 20th, and how backlogged do you think the courts will be?
If they do leave you are stuck with an empty apartment that can’t be shown or rented right now anyway.
Show some compassion.
yudashasom | 5 years ago
Why would you subsidize their extended vacation.
donatella | 5 years ago
You are subject to the same pressures — financial, medical and otherwise — that your tenants are. Did your expenses go down? Is your building some kind of health hazard? Do you have the opportunity to go off and live in the country somewhere? Did your mortgage company come to you and out of compassion offer you a 25% break on your payments? Will the credit score agencies wave this away if you don’t pay your mortgage? Are you willing to go into arrears with your own bills?
One person gave me some advice about being a landlord. “Your problem is not my problem”. This may sound cold but it is about protecting yourself. You need to do that. We all have responsibilities and your are not their parent. Good luck. I think it is good of you to pass along some kind of utility break but you don’t need to do that. I didn’t reduce rents.
Good luck, stay healthy and safe.