Survey: How Have Landlords Survived During The Pandemic?

Survey:

Undoubtedly, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a tremendous effect on the renter community since its emergence in 2020 in the United States.

The Census Bureau’s Household Pulse

Survey revealed that one in almost five renter households were behind on rent as of December 2020. Fast-forward to 2021, the rent arrears crisis sprang up as a result of the pandemic amounts to about $57B.

Yet, no one knows how the rental property owners are faring in this financial constraint period. We seem bothered by the renters but forget that the landlords are also affected because without rents, their means of livelihood is cut short. From February to April this year, a survey was conducted by the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, and the Housing Initiative at Penn, with over 2,500 respondents.

RENT COLLECTIONS WAS DOWN IN 2020 COMPARED TO 2019

The researchers discovered that the number of landlords who collected 90% or more of their charged rent per year fell from 89% to 62%. Additionally, only about 9% of landlords collected less than half of their yearly rent in 2020. This implies that the amount of rent they collected dropped massively in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Non-rental payment rose disproportionately in lower-income

How Have Landlords Survived During the Pandemic

neighborhoods and communities. These neighborhoods are primarily the abode of people of color and the Hispanics. Nearly 40% of properties in these neighborhoods had 10% rental shortfalls or more compared to 30% of the properties in higher-income areas.

The share of landlords that granted rental extensions increased from 15% to 48%, while those that deferred property maintenance rose from 5% to 31%. Other things landlords did to manage their portfolios during the pandemic include forgiving a portion of back rent and decreasing monthly rent.

Generally, landlords of all sizes struggled to collect rent in 2020. As the number of rental units in one’s portfolio increases, so are the chances of at least one unit falling behind in rent. It isn’t that the renters are refusing to pay their rents intentionally, the financial strain caused by the

pandemic exacerbated the status of these renters, particularly the people of color.

How Landlords Survived During the Pandemic Landlords employed different business tactics to survive during the pandemic. More than 50% of landlords in 2020 reportedly granted rental extension to at least one of their tenants, while reducing tenant late fees and rental fees. Most of these practices were not prevalent in 2019, but the financial status of renters in 2020 influenced these practices.

Many owners altered their practices to recover funds by cutting rental costs, waiving the late penalty fees, and reducing investments. Reducing investments meant that buildings that were old won’t be renovated to avoid costs, which might affect the health of the tenants. This is particularly common in communities dominated by Blacks and the Hispanics.

Fast forward to 2021, the number of people behind rent was alarming due to the extension of eviction moratorium. Several landlords felt this was unfair to them, considering the steps they had taken to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the tenants and the owner. The Supreme Court finally ended the eviction moratorium.

Are you a landlord and are looking for the best possible way to rent your property? We can help you to reach out to the right clients for your property. Contact one of our agents on our website at www.thepowerisnow.com.

ABOUT THE POWER IS NOW MEDIA

The Power Is Now Media is an online multimedia company founded in 2009 by Eric L. Frazier, MBA, and is headquartered in Riverside, California. We are advocates for homeownership, wealth building, and financial literacy for low to moderate-income and minority communities. The Power Is Now Media corporate office is located at 3739 6th Street Riverside, CA 92501. Ph: 800-401-8994 Website: www.thepowerisnow.com.

Published by Eric Lawrence Frazier, MBA.

References

https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/research/files/harvard_jchs_ covid_impact_landlords_survey_de_la_campa_2021.pdf