Why is the first thought rent reductions instead of accepting payment delays? Isn't payment delay and forgiveness of late fees cheaper than a rent reduction?
I don't have the experience level of the bigger landlords, and my situation's different - 20 years of renting out rooms in my house, that's it. Still, because I communicate face to face, what I hear from tenants so far is:
1. Worry about gaps in pay, not permanently losing pay
2. Each one wants to stay
3. In past situations, the one who is sometimes late is happy to pay late fees in exchange for acceptance of being 1 to 2 weeks late
I figured that:
4. Everyone's going to converge on "you can't kick people out right now", so the issue is simply how to frame it
5. I'd rather have stability and good relations than turnover
6. Renters don't want to leave either
7. Accepting late payment and waiving late fees until they have capacity to pay preserves the ability to eventually be paid, without rancor or legal difficulties
In the event:
8. All 3 renters have obtained payment flows sufficient to cover rent in full within a couple of weeks
9. All 3 have several months' worth of credible income, one guy just has that 2 week gap before his cash arrives
10. I'm pretty sure that after 2-3 months, their regular income will resume enough to pay rent (1 renter is WFH, 2 are in restaurant work)
11. A long slow $100 or $200 per month catch-up on rent just means stable income for me during the next year
12. I offered the slow payer late waiver up front and said if he would catch up later, I'd work with him; that's when he explained he had cash coming in 2 weeks, just nothing at all right now
13. I said no problem
14. Then I went into my bedroom, came back with $200 cash and handed it to him saying, "If you need money for groceries and stuff, use this. Pay me back when you have enough coming in."
15. He was thrilled. I'm guessing no rent reductions will be necessary.
PS. Maybe a bigger landlord could just contact each tenant and ask "How is this coronavirus era going?" Then respond from a menu of basic options such as "I'm glad you're doing all right, I value you as a person not just a tenant" and "I understand it's hard right now. I am willing to accept late payment AND waive late fees if you tell me what a fair payment plan is. As long as you meet your new commitments, we will consider you in good standing." Admittedly the wording might have to be tweaked if your tenant group includes scammers/deadbeats, but you get the picture. Would this type of thing be better than a rent reduction, which after all implies future rent raising or losses? Or is the late-payment approach fatally flawed?