11 May #58 Timely Information about Tenant Rights & Nonpayment of Rents
OiC has a property management division and with all of the recent events regarding the rights of tenants and the responsibilities of a rental property owner, we thought it may be helpful to share 3 important things to know which will potentially clear up confusion!
First, a property owner should start a conversation with their tenant as soon as possible. If the tenant indicates they are experiencing a hardship, the owner needs to notify the tenant that they must provide them in writing a statement that they are experiencing a hardship. This written notification must be received prior to when rent is due.
Second, just because they say a tenant does not have to pay rent does not give them a free pass. Contrary to what many people are saying, a tenant does have to pay rent if they have the means to do so. In fact, they must notify the owner in writing the reason they may not be able to pay their rent, they also have to PROVE they actually have a hardship. A tenant can ask for the rent to be reduced, or a partial amount paid, however, if they do this it will impact the next point.
Third, if a hardship does exist, the tenant and owner need to create a written agreement of how the tenant will repay the rent once they are in a position to do so. For example, if a tenant has a rental agreement saying they agree to pay $2,000.00 in rent however, due to provable hardship, can only pay $1,000.00 for two months, then when they are able to go back to paying the $2,000.00, they would then have an extra $200.00 added to the rent for 10 months to repay the back rent owed. This is why making at least some of the rent is beneficial to both the tenant and owner.