Who reduced rent for the tenants?
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.
IronBalls
in General Discussion 5 years ago
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27 replies
lucie | 5 years ago
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?
Rick | 5 years ago
As a small time landlord I am sympathetic to my tenants and the situation . Mortgage and the running expenses still have to be paid and I hope my tenants will still make rent . You ask, ” How other small landlords handle the situation? ” Answer, one month at a time.
Chas373 | 5 years ago
If it were me I possibly would have accepted the 25% reduction while they were away, but more that likely would have first countered with a 10 or 15% reduction. BUT with the understanding that upon their coming back to stay, the rent reverts to the original amount. This of course is if you value them as tenants. The one thing to consider is none of us can be sure what the rental market will look like when the lock down ends. And more importantly when the moratorium on evictions is lifted in August. Many renters will be hurting financially and if they move out in large numbers, who is to say that there will be an equal influx of new renters to keep the market pricing up? I have already spoken with my tenants (those of whom I value and want to keep) and have said that I will look at market rents for like apartments at that time. And if the current pricing is more than what the then market is showing, I would then discuss a reduction with them. At that point it would become a tenant’s market. It will be foolish to try to keep a tenant locked into a rent for an apartment that they would be able to find elsewhere for less. They will most likely have a keen eye themselves on the market. Also making sour grapes now for them doesn’t bode well for giving them a sense of “home” and the feeling that you are a really great landlord vs a greedy one who is looking to squeeze every last bit you can out of them. I think it makes sense to keep the money coming in, in as steady a way as possible. After this mess ends the last thing I want to be dealing with is replacing tenants with new ones that are unproven while the market readjusts itself and returns to normal.
lucie | 5 years ago
Why I would accept 25% reduction? They were under market already, we never raised rent in 4 years. They did not mention that employment situation is changed for them.
We are giving them another 150 discount for not using utilities ( like water) . In all the fairness OUR employment situation is changed. One of us will not get an income from his job for some time. We do not ask anybody to do anything for us 🙂
If they will not be happy – so be it.
I am sympathetic to my tenants and willing to reduce rent even more if, god forbid, their income suffers due to coronavirus lockdown and they show me this.
We did not raise rent since tenants moved in ( in 4 years and in 3 years) and we already reduces rent till the end of the year for 5%.
Our tenants did not tell us that they lost jobs, I know that they are able to work remotely.
I hope that we are reasonable in our approach.
lucie | 5 years ago
Why I would accept 25% reduction? They were under market already, we never raised rent in 4 years. They did not mention that employment situation is changed for them.
We are giving them another 150 discount for not using utilities ( like water) . In all the fairness OUR employment situation is changed. One of us will not get an income from his job for some time. We do not ask anybody to do anything for us 🙂
If they will not be happy – so be it.
I am sympathetic to my tenants and willing to reduce rent even more if, god forbid, their income suffers due to coronavirus lockdown and they show me this.
We did not raise rent since tenants moved in ( in 4 years and in 3 years) and we already reduces rent till the end of the year for 5%.
Our tenants did not tell us that they lost jobs, I know that they are able to work remotely.
I hope that we are reasonable in our approach.
NewOwner | 5 years ago
Both of the tenants in our brownstone left for the time being. Their rents are also below market. We offered each a $100/monthly reduction, clearly laying out that most of our operating costs are fixed and that the reduction represents the likely decrease in water and reduced garbage day effort.
Chas373 | 5 years ago
Olga , I’m sorry if I sounded as though I was saying you’re unreasonable. That was not what I meant at all. And in fact one of my tenants also has been with me for 6 yrs and they too are under market as it is now. They are quarantining out of the City, but have paid the rent and did not ask about a reduction. I do understand your position and I’m sorry to hear that one job for you will not be bringing income. My mindset was to advise as to how to keep the tenants for long term. You are right there comes a point where it’s not worth it just to have the apartment filled but it still isnt enough to cover your expenses. I do see you have made attempts to be reasonable. and hopefully it will all fall into place for you. I’m hoping that anyway.
lucie | 5 years ago
Yes, I think we are on the same page.
1. We actually planned to raise rent for both of our tenants this year. We hate to do this and it took us some time to contemplate 🙂 We planned to do this the way we halndled this before: we write to our tenants and ask them to raise rent to what they will be comfortable and reasonable. It worked before. But while we were fidgeting with we hit pandemic situation.
2. We gave our tenants who left one month $150 discount ( actually they sent less $200 🙂 ) for the absence and not using utilities.
3. We thought it was not fair to our other tenants who stayed and we send message to both families that we cut %5 till the end of this year.
4. Also, we will give another $150 for tenants that are away till they are away.
I wanted to get a feel from Brownstoner community if this is reasonable.
I do not believe that Park Slope rental market is crushing. We are landlording for 16 years. We never had vacancies and our normal mode is to race to do renovations in 2 weeks between tenants with leases already signed. So, I am pretty optimistic.
lucie | 5 years ago
Yes, I think we are on the same page.
1. We actually planned to raise rent for both of our tenants this year. We hate to do this and it took us some time to contemplate 🙂 We planned to do this the way we halndled this before: we write to our tenants and ask them to raise rent to what they will be comfortable and reasonable. It worked before. But while we were fidgeting with we hit pandemic situation.
2. We gave our tenants who left one month $150 discount ( actually they sent less $200 🙂 ) for the absence and not using utilities.
3. We thought it was not fair to our other tenants who stayed and we send message to both families that we cut %5 till the end of this year.
4. Also, we will give another $150 for tenants that are away till they are away.
I wanted to get a feel from Brownstoner community if this is reasonable.
I do not believe that Park Slope rental market is crushing. We are landlording for 16 years. We never had vacancies and our normal mode is to race to do renovations in 2 weeks between tenants with leases already signed. So, I am pretty optimistic.
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.
yudashasom | 5 years ago
Why would you subsidize their extended vacation.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.