Business Operation in the Time of Coronavirus: A Landlord’s Guide

There have been a lot of changes in how we live our lives ever since the global coronavirus pandemic. We had to adjust our ways to adapt to new norms like social distancing, working from home, homeschooling, and a temporary halt to economic activities.

Businesses have to adapt as well. For landlords, here are the areas of your business that could be affected by the health crisis and how you can respond to it proactively:

TENANTS

Since economic activity has been limited in order to minimize gatherings and physical interactions, most businesses had to stop operating, which caused a financial strain on them. In order to minimize costs to keep their businesses afloat, most of them had to lay off some employees. If your tenant was one of the unfortunate ones to lose their jobs, they could no longer be able to pay rent at some point.

RENTAL FEES

Not all tenants have the capacity to set aside money for emergencies. Most of the time, they live from paycheck to paycheck. But even those tenants who were able to build an emergency fund could eventually run out of money to keep up with rental payments, especially since it’s still uncertain when this pandemic will end.

Threatening them with eviction might cross your mind. It would likely happen in this time of desperation. However, in a crisis like this where everyone needs to work together to survive, you don’t want to be the person who’ll throw other people under the bus just for your own gain. Try to find a way where you and your tenant can meet halfway.

If other landlords in your area start dropping their rental rates, you have the option to follow suit. If you think about it, a decrease in your income might be better than dealing with a vacancy.

Another fair course of action is setting up a revised payment plan that’s reasonable to all parties involved. Make sure the agreement is written in black and white and signed by you and your tenant. If your tenants still fail to give their end of the bargain, only then can you bring up lease termination.

In the event when the tenant still fails to pay rent despite all the adjustments you’ve made, ensure that the eviction is in accordance with the laws and moratoriums issued on your state regarding tenant evictions in this time of COVID-19.

Consult with a real estate attorney before you make changes on rental agreements so that you can make sure that you will not be legally liable if it comes to a point when you have to evict tenants. New policies to address the crisis are still being drafted so you have to stay updated as well.

REPAIRS

You also have to perform your responsibilities as a landlord. Repairs on your unit is one responsibility you have to deal with. Due to community restrictions, repair services might be difficult to provide. Before electricity and plumbing issues arise, inform your tenants that conducting repairs would be challenging and delays are expected.

Once service becomes available, make sure that tenants would wait in a designated area outside their unit while the service crew perform repairs. The latter, on the other hand, must wear face masks and gloves while inside the unit.

COMMUNICATION

Since you also have to practice social distancing with tenants, keep your communication with them purely online regardless if you need to discuss rentals adjustments or just announce new preventive rules. This ensures the safety of everyone involved.

VACANCY

In cases where you have to fill in vacancies due to a tenant’s eviction or you still have unoccupied units prior to community lockdowns, you have to consider certain things as well.

Before posting your listing to property listing management platforms like Padleads.com, make sure you have the unit thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. It’s best to hire professionals to perform the sanitization required.

You should also prepare to conduct virtual tours of your unit so that you can minimize in-person walkthroughs that might expose you and your potential client to the virus.

Once you start receiving tons of inquiries on your Padleads listing, you’ll have higher chances of closing deals if you can assure interested tenants of their safety and your virtual tours are thorough. They must agree to follow the updated policies you have implemented so that they will not become problematic tenants.