A question that is becoming more and more pressing as the Coronavirus rages on is whether or not your landlord can evict you if you don’t pay the rent. Until there is further action taken on the part of states or municipalities, the facts may surprise you.
Yes, your landlord can evict you during the Coronavirus if you don’t pay the rent.
Why is this the case?
Because as a tenant, you have voluntarily gone into an agreement with another person to exchange money in return for an apartment. Nothing has changed about that agreement, regardless of whether or not the Coronavirus is marching on.
Now, this may seem cold with no heart in it whatsoever. And you would be right, but at THIS POINT, we are talking about a legal obligation between two people, nothing else. The document that both of you signed, being the lease agreement, just outlines the terms of the agreement. It doesn’t have any specific clauses in there in case there is a pandemic on. (If there is, you are in great shape!)
The GOOD NEWS is, that you aren’t just dealing with a robotic piece of paper and an uncaring legal document. Regardless of your run-ins in the past with them, your landlord is a living, breathing human, that at one point, more than likely, had feelings. This is who you have to deal with because they signed the other half of your legal document.
So, there IS hope!!
Does COVID-19, the Coronavirus, Change My Obligations To My Landlord?
Currently, the Coronavirus doesn’t change your financial obligations to your landlord or the fact that the rent is due at the beginning of the month.
Now, that might change as the Coronavirus Crisis goes through the next weeks and months, but as of right now, the fiscal stimulus in the form of Stimulus Checks is the primary action that is being taken.
You Can Read Here About The Best Ways To Spend Your Stimulus Checks If You Live In An Apartment.
But if you are hoping to have something done in the vein of putting a moratorium on your payments, then you ALSO want your landlord to have a moratorium put on their payments at the bank as well. Because the primary reason they are knocking on your door for rent is because they have bills that have to be paid too.
In this way, both landlords and tenants are both in the same boat at the moment. Both have bills to pay, and both don’t know where their future payments are coming from. Realizing this allows you to have empathy for your landlord, and your landlord to have empathy for you. This is what is going to help both parties understand each other and get through this crisis together.
What Right’s Do I Have If I Live In A HUD Facility?
The one exception at this point is HUD financed, owned, or assisted facilities. HUD facilities currently have a moratorium put on future evictions until at least April 15th, 2020.
The government considers these facilities as partly or fully owned by the public, and therefore, they have made the decision, as the representative of the public, to not evict people until a bit more clarity comes out of this situation.
Remember that this moratorium on evictions is ONLY applicable to people in HUD facilities, NOT if you have a normal lease agreement with a private party.
What Can I Do As A Tenant To Help Myself During This Time?
The best thing you can do at this time is to TALK TO YOUR LANDLORD.
Your landlord has their income thrown into upheaval as well, and no doubt, they are worried how they are going to keep the lights on for hundreds of people if they don’t have the money to pay the bills either.
More than likely, at some point down the road, there will be either some direct assistance from the government in regards to payments needed to be made to the bank or other creditors. What this will take the form of is still up in the air, and will also depend on how long the crisis actually lasts.
But the fact of the matter is that if you talk to your landlord about the problem, either directly, over the phone, or in a letter, you are going to be in a MUCH better position to come out of this situation unscathed than if you just bury your head in the sand.
OVER THE PAST COUPLE DAYS I have dealt with several tenants who have come to me saying they have been laid off, wanting to make arrangements on how to pay, when to pay, and what to do going forward. I KNOW that I have MANY MORE tenants at my complex that are in this situation, but I am looking on with appreciation at those tenants who have come and talked to me immediately to get ahead of this.
So to help any tenant talk to their landlord about this situation, I have written a letter you can use to communicate with your landlord.
All you need to do is copy and paste this into your email and replace the names with your own and that of your landlord and you will be good to go.
There is no understating how important it is to talk to your landlord immediately about your situation and what is going on with your ability to pay. Doing so will help you out in ways you don’t even realize at the moment.
Below is the letter I drafted. Please feel free to use this free of charge.
Dear (Landlord),
This is (Your Name) in Apartment #(Your Apartment #).
I am writing to you today because my income has been drastically reduced during the middle of the Coronavirus. As you know, this virus is affecting everyone, and making it difficult to work in an effective manner.
Federal and State Health Organizations have made it clear that they don’t want people congregating for the sake of the health of others, and to help slow the spread of the virus. Unfortunately, that impacts me especially hard as it means that I am no longer to work until these restrictions on gatherings have been lifted.
My employer (Name of Your Employer) has laid me and everyone else off until they get word from the State that it is sufficiently safe to start operations again. Thus, until that point, I am left without much of an income.
I know this has impacted you as well, and are no doubt worried about how many of your tenants are going to be able to pay rent in the coming months. There may be some government assistance that helps with both of our situations in the coming weeks and months, but I wanted to reach out and speak with you about this now, in hopes that we can come to a mutual arrangement that is good for us both.
I enjoy living at (Your Apartment Complex) and have no desire to move in the immediate future if I don’t have to. I would like to continue to rent from you at least until the term of my lease is up. I worry about how to do that currently, given the situation with my income, and am asking you to hear my appeal.
We both realize a good tenant who pays is better than leaving an apartment to sit vacant. I know it is going to be hard for me to pay you full rent in the next couple of months due to this unprecedented situation we are all going through.
Normally, my rent is ($x.xx) per month. I am proposing that I pay you a reduced rent of ($x.xx) per month, until (Pick a month) or we receive word from the government of some sort of assistance program for us both. However, by doing this, you will be able to keep a good tenant who is willing to pay you what they can, rather than having a vacant apartment.
I would be happy to revisit this at any time during the next couple of months, especially if the crisis ends sooner than expected or conditions change with payments to creditors for both of us and I am willing to follow that directive once we know what it is.
If possible, please respond at your convenience to (Your Phone Number) or email me back at (Your Email Address).
Thank you,
(Your Name)
