Landlords deserve fair treatment, too

Re: “With rents due today, some laid-off tenants are scrambling to pay” (Montreal Gazette, April 1)

I am a landlord. Please do not think I am insensitive, but I am tired of everyone thinking landlords are just rich.

Two-thirds of Quebec landlords are small and very dependent on their income to preserve their assets in which they have heavily invested and leveraged. Most are duplexes and triplexes in which they also live.

The larger ones have employees, management staff expenses, construction costs and mortgages. They have weekly obligations dependent on their revenue. And ongoing emergency services for blocked toilets, leaks and now additional disinfectant cleaning by janitors and managers who are exposing themselves to protect the common areas and the tenants.

Which tenants are at risk? Not employees of the government, institutions, essential services and professionals working from home; not the elder pensioned and those on unemployment and welfare. Not subsidized renters — their partial rents are already sent in.

The balance will start receiving their government subsidies toward the end of April. There is a narrow group of affected tenants.

I don’t know any landlord who will not work out payments stretched into the next months when a tenant reaches out. The tenants have their home, and the landlords are providing the promised services.

The Régie du logement has already stated it will not hear cases nor rule during this period. I cannot imagine a Régie judge evicting anyone for late payments from this period. I can imagine a strong chastisement of any landlord so insensitive to file against their residential tenants for late payments during April and probably May.

The government has already foreseen the issue and is protecting the vulnerable, providing subsidies and freezing the Régie. The media seem to prefer to profile tenant advocates claiming tenants will be thrown into the streets. Fake news.

Mark Lazar, CEO, Lazar Equities Real Estate, Montreal