LANDLORDS, TENANTS URGED TO BE PATIENT
COVID-19 crisis not a rent-free holiday but arrangements can be negotiated
Wednesday is the first of the month. How many tenants won’t be able to pay The Man?
In a period of COVID-choked incomes, it’s no small question: there are more than 130,000 rented dwellings in the city of Ottawa alone — landlords big and small, tenants stable or suddenly broke.
Some landlords are being generous, like the south-end Wingale Housing Co-op, which has given its 50 tenants two months of rent relief, or the Parc Beausoleil, in Lowertown, which cancelled April’s payment for its 56 members.
For bigger landlords, flexibility is the guiding principle.
The Eastern Ontario Landlord Organization, which has 40,000 rental homes under its umbrella, is urging both tenants and landlords to accommodate each other, according to personal circumstances.
Tenants with no interruption in income (public servants, pensioners, for instance) should pay the rent, say the EOLO, while those with a sudden loss need to catch some monetary relief from the landlord, at least for April.
(The EOLO is clearly saying that tenants and landlords with stable incomes should not treat the COVID-19 crisis as some kind of rent/mortgage holiday available to everybody.)
It urges distressed tenants to reach out to their landlord, explain the situation, “pay what you can,” and apply for federal government income relief of roughly $2,000 a month.
“Everybody needs to play their part. If you can’t pay, fine. We don’t expect you to pay. But if you can pay, you need to pay,” said chair John Dickie, pointing out that proper building maintenance depends on an income stream.
Strapped landlords, meanwhile, should reach out for mortgage payment deferral or any other program being eyed by the three levels of government. (Most of Canada’s big banks are offering mortgage deferral, not forgiveness.)
“Everybody is feeling it,” said Adam Pearce, vice-president of Sleepwell, which manages about 1,700 housing units in Ottawa.
“We’re not coming in with an iron fist,” said Pearce, noting the Ontario government has put all evictions on hold.
“If you can’t pay your rent, we’re not breathing down your neck or not providing any relief at the same time. It’s all about case by case.”
While much sympathy has been expressed for tenants, he pointed out that small landlords can easily find themselves in a jam. Like the owner of a triplex who might have retail on the ground floor, and suddenly, the tenants are out of work and the store is closed to daily business. Yet the mortgage will still come due.
And, Dickie points out, small landlords may depend on outside jobs for income — jobs that might be on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So, the pinch can work both ways.
Minto, one of the city’s largest landlords with 5,200 units, announced Friday it’s postponing rent increases that were scheduled for April, May and June. It will “re-evaluate” the situation ahead of July 1 rents.
It’s also encouraging tenants in hardship to speak to their property managers, “who will work with them on a payment plan solution.”
Commercial tenants are feeling the crunch, too.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business released a survey on Monday that found a quarter of small businesses won’t be able to pay their rent or mortgage in April.
Among the hardest hit sectors are hospitality (44 per cent), arts and recreation (40 per cent) and personal services (32 per cent) reporting high rates of distress for next month’s rent or mortgage payments.
And, as might be expected in such a fluid situation, there is confusion.
A tenant at Westgate Shopping Centre, for instance, was sent a memo from mall owner RioCan that said, although retail was down to a bare bones operation: “Please be advised that despite only essential services remaining open at Westgate Shopping Centre, maintenance and security will continue to be upheld and the terms of your lease unrelated to operating hours will remain in full force and effect.”
In other words, pay the piper. Though it was sent on March 25, turns out this information was misleading.
RioCan, an investment trust with 220 properties and
$15 billion in “enterprise value” across Canada, is actually giving independent tenants a break, as it clarified to the Citizen on Monday.
“In the immediate term, RioCan is offering those independent commercial tenants who have requested rent relief, an automatic 60-day, interest-free rent deferral, payable in the subsequent 12 months,” the company has announced, just as it warned its revenues might drop by 25 per cent.