The Coronavirus is going to go down as the most impactful even of 2020, maybe of the whole decade of the 20’s when it’s all said and done. Covid-19 is causing major disruptions with people’s work as there are many shelter-in-place or work from home orders that are going around the country.
This means that many businesses are just shut down for the time being.
Well, what if your business is shut down and now you don’t have the money you once did to pay the rent? Can your landlord evict you? What are your rights and their rights in this never before seen situation?
If you rent from a private landlord, they CAN evict you for not being able to pay the rent. If you rent from a HUD financed, owned, or assisted facility, or you are assisted in some way by HUD, then all evictions are suspended until at least May of 2020.
Now, before you go getting all up in arms about your landlord being able to evict you for reasons that are well and truly out of your control, take a deep breath!!
Landlords have to make payments to their bank as well, and they are going to want to keep as many good tenants as possible.
They are in a similar, but different, situation that you the tenant is in, regarding making it very difficult to pay those people you owe money to.
So, let’s go over what is going on right now, and what you can do to alleviate some stress in your life concerning your apartment, and what you can do to help you and your landlord get through this crisis.
What If The Coronavirus Causes Me To Lose My Job?
Millions of workers are staying home due to state and federally mandated orders to shut down all non-essential businesses to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
For apartment renters, this can be an absolutely devastating blow to their income.
Fortunately, Congress is working on passing a stimulus package that has some relief in it for both renters and landlords that will hopefully help both of them financially survive this unprecedented time in our history.
As a landlord, I have already received notice from a couple of tenants that they have been laid off and they don’t know when they are going to be able to come back to work.
From a landlord’s perspective, this is the course of action you want to see the tenants taking.
At the very least, both the landlord and the tenant have communication open between the two parties and can figure out a plan of action on how to deal with it.
The stimulus package is going to be giving checks out to every American, which is going to mean instant cash in their pockets.
This cash isn’t meant to be a windfall that you go out and buy a new flat-screen tv but instead to allow you to pay those crucial bills that you need to pay, housing being one of them.
Personally, I am allowing the tenants that talk to me to have a very generous grace period at this point because I don’t want to lose good tenants.
Do I Have To Pay Rent If The Coronavirus Makes Me Lose My Job?
The short answer is “Yes, you still have to pay rent, even if you lose your job.”
Why is this?
Your lease agreement is not going to have anything written in it that says you don’t have to pay if such and such happens. It is only going to have spelled out how much you need to pay, and when you need to pay it.
Just like you need to pay your bills, the landlord needs to pay theirs, and so on up the line.
As long as you don’t live in a HUD-owned, funded, or assisted housing building, your lease agreement is going to be an agreement between two private citizens.
If one end of the agreement isn’t made, then the other party has legal recourse to do something about it. We will go over the HUD stipulation more below.
But don’t think that just because you can’t pay the rent, you are automatically going to be evicted. Your landlord is a person too, and they are in the same boat that everyone else is at the moment. They are worried about their short term income and being able to pay the bills just like a renter is.
They are going to be more than willing to work with you as a tenant to set something up during a time like this.
Don’t Just “Not Pay”
The worst thing you can do during this time is to just “Not Pay”.
Whether you don’t talk to your landlord about your personal situation, or whether a check comes from the government and you choose not to pay your rent obligation, the quickest way to put yourself in a bad position with your landlord is to not pay anything at all.
Again, your landlord knows what’s going on in the world, and they are going to be understanding about it. Talk with them, tell them your specific situation, and let them know what you are willing to pay, what you are able to pay, and as assistance comes in from the government, what you can expect to pay from that.
After the crisis is over, you can talk with them about back rent, how they want to work with you on it, and what your options are.
However, talking with your landlord about it is going to be the first step in relieving some of the stress you have with making your normal monthly payment.
Even if you live in a big, corporate-owned complex, still call the manager of the apartments and ask them what procedures the complex is putting out to deal with so many people out of work and not being able to pay.
Rest assured, these places are wanting to keep their apartments full, even if they have to be flexible about it in the meantime.
HUD Suspending Evictions
Currently, HUD has suspended all evictions until around May 15th, 2020.
The government did this as a stopgap measure to help people who live in HUD-owned, financed, or assisted facilities across the country.
These are the only facilities where the federal government has the power to stop those evictions because public money is being used to fund them.
If you live in a HUD facility or get assistance from the government, you are going to have a moratorium put on evictions during this time. Also, this applies to people who have their lease ending during this time.
If your lease is up, and you can’t move to another place due to work or travel restrictions, the federal government has mandated that you can stay in your current residence at least through May 15th, 2020.
Private Landlords Deal With Tenants Themselves
If you rent an apartment from a private citizen who is just a small business owner, then you will be dealing directly with them if you get laid off or lose your job due to the coronavirus.
Rest assured that you are not going to be the only one that has talked to them about this situation. Remember, they are going to want to keep as many people in their units as possible during this unsure time and are going to be willing to make concessions and allowances to make it happen.
This is why it is good to have a conversation with your landlord about the issue. Let them know what happened with your income source, what you are able to pay now, what you can pay when government assistance checks come in, and how long the landlord wants to keep letting you pay a smaller amount.
Any sort of payment plan, just to show them that you are willing to pay the rent if you can, is going to get you the goodwill you may need to get you through this extremely trying time.
If you are ALREADY behind on your rent, your landlord DOES have the option to continue with the eviction process if they so choose. Which is why we always recommend being a great tenant whenever possible!
This is going to ensure when unexpected things like the Coronavirus pop up, you have the relationship you want with your landlord to get you through this period.
If you lose your job due to the Coronavirus, the first thing you want to do is to talk to your landlord. Figure out what their policy is during this time, what you can do to make a payment of some sort, and how they want to work the situation going forward.
I think you are going to see that your landlord or management is willing to work with you to keep a good tenant in their complex.
