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Rent Deferred. Full Amount Due. What Landlords Are Telling Tenants During The COVID-19 Crisis.

Steven Kresena had planned to open a restaurant this month. His girlfiend, Cherie Little, got laid off. They worry about paying rent on their South Austin apartment.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
Steven Kresena had planned to open a restaurant this month. His girlfiend, Cherie Little, got laid off. They worry about paying rent on their South Austin apartment.

It鈥檚 a hell of a time to try and open a restaurant.

That鈥檚 what Steven Kresena was thinking last week as he watched Austin Mayor Steve Adler  in an attempt to stall the spread of the coronavirus. Kresena had just inspected the tile in his new restaurant, Ovenbird, which was set to open on South Congress this month.

His girlfriend, meanwhile, had been laid off from her job at Odd Duck, a high-end restaurant on South Lamar. The couple had $500 a week coming in from what was left of the seed money for Kresena鈥檚 now-shuttered, never-opened restaurant, but they weren鈥檛 sure how long that would last.

鈥淔inancially, I鈥檓 freaking out,鈥 Kresena said. 鈥淐an we pay rent this month and if so, can we do it the month after that?鈥

Then the couple got an email from the company that manages their one-bedroom apartment in South Austin. RELATED |

鈥淭hank you for being a resident of Ely Properties. We hope that you and your family are doing well in these unprecedented times,鈥 began the note, a copy of which was shared with KUT.

鈥淭hank you for understanding the coronavirus pandemic in no way changes your legal obligations to pay your rent. These trying times will be hard on all of us, but we see this ending soon and look forward to life returning to normal.鈥

Kresena said the letter felt 鈥渉eartless.鈥

A representative for Ely Properties said in an email that the company didn't intend for the letter to sound insensitive. He said the company wasn't aware of Kresena鈥檚 financial hardship and that it would be working with each tenant on a 鈥渃ase-by-case basis.鈥

Kresena, who said he had never missed a rent payment, was expecting something else in that original email: a little more empathy.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not like we鈥檙e looking to skate by here. But some kind of a payment plan or a deferral of some kind [would have been nice],鈥 he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e happy to contribute, obviously, because we live here.鈥

Just over half of Austin residents rent their homes and, compared with homeowners in the city,  . They work in service jobs, pay for which has dried up as restaurants have closed, and in low-wage jobs without paid time off.

To put it lightly, renters have been hit hard by the economic impacts of the spread of COVID-19. RELATED |

There has been some relief in the Austin area.   by Travis County courts, although landlords can still file them. And on Thursday, City Council members will vote to stall even eviction filings, essentially giving residential and commercial renters 60 days before landlords can take legal action for unpaid rent.

Landlords and property managers have been offering tenants rent deferrals and payment plans, according to emails shared with KUT. Others, like the manager of Kresena鈥檚 apartment, are asking for rent to be paid in full. Others have said little.

Emily Blair, the executive vice president of the Austin Apartment Association, said her group's message to landlords has been to say something: 鈥淐ommunication, communication, communication.鈥

鈥淐ommunicate expectations, whether it鈥檚 about amenity closures and those sorts of things,鈥 Blair said. 鈥淸Make] sure that residents are in the know about what is happening on their property.鈥

While the federal government has ordered mortgage lenders   financially affected by the pandemic, relief for renters is uncertain. Plus, landlords likely won鈥檛 benefit from the breaks afforded to traditional mortgage borrowers, making it harder to pass on relief to their tenants.

For small-time landlords, with less potential revenue, this is worrying.

Liza Wimberley and her sister rent out three homes and a fourplex to families in Austin. Wimberley said she has tenants, including a fitness instructor and a teacher, who likely have lost wages because of the coronavirus.

鈥淲e鈥檙e bracing ourselves for the emails to start: 鈥榃e can鈥檛 make rent,'鈥 she said. 鈥淲e have a tentative plan that we鈥檙e going to let people not pay for a month and then reevaluate where we are after that.鈥

Blair says the Texas Apartment Association last week recommended that their landlord members offer tenants payment plans and temporarily waive late fees. But the association hasn鈥檛 prescribed what a payment plan should look like.

A renter in North Austin shared with KUT a copy of the plan offered by his management company. (The renter asked to stay anonymous out of fear of retaliation by the property manager.)

A renter would first need to qualify for the payment plan by providing proof that they had applied for 鈥渁ll governmental benefits or subsidies.鈥 If the tenant is then approved, they will be expected to pay 30% of their April rent, with the remainder divided between May and June and due 鈥 along with their regular rent 鈥 on the first of the month.

Advocates recommend that if tenants accept a rental-deferment plan, they should make sure the agreement is in writing. Above all, though, they recommend tenants pay rent in full, if they're able.

鈥淩ent will eventually need to be paid,鈥 said Shoshana Krieger, project director of Building and Strengthening Tenant Action, or BASTA. 鈥淲e have heard from tenants a lot of rumors circulating that they don鈥檛 need to pay April rent, that there鈥檚 a moratorium on rents. That is not the case and that could put families at more risk if they are not paying their rent.鈥

James Donnelly is one of those people who is not sure they鈥檒l be able to pay April rent.  

鈥淚 don't know what my next checks are going to look like,鈥 they said.

Donnelly's monthly pay has been cut by more than half; while they normally works 32 hours a week at Radio Coffee and Beer, they鈥檙e now working no more than 12.

When Donnelly wrote to Roscoe Properties, the company that manages their apartment building, they hoped to hear about a payment plan option or that late fees would be waived. So, they were surprised to get a response with a reminder that rent was still due.

鈥淲ith concern towards rent payments, this is still under evaluation and if there is any decision made we will reach out and notify our residents," the message read. "Rent is expected at this time to be paid as normal. Again, thank you for your understanding and please take every action to keep yourself healthy as possible during this time!"

Roscoe Properties told KUT on Wednesday that the company sent out new information to tenants asking them to inform the company whether they鈥檇 lost wages and that they could work out a payment plan.

But Donnelly still worries about the long-term economic impact on tenants in the building, many of whom have reportedly lost jobs because of the effects of the coronavirus.

鈥淪ome of these places aren鈥檛 going to re-open up,鈥 Donnelly said. 鈥淢aintaining that consistent income is a threat for a lot of us.鈥

And it's a hell of a time to try and find a job, they said. Got a tip? Email Audrey McGlinchy at amcglinchy@kut.org. Follow her 

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Copyright 2020 KUT 90.5. To see more, visit .

Audrey McGlinchy is the City Hall reporter at KUT, covering the Austin City Council and the policies they discuss. She comes to Texas from Brooklyn, where she tried her hand at publishing, public relations and nannying. Audrey holds English and journalism degrees from Wesleyan University and the City University of New York. She got her start in journalism as an intern at KUT Radio during a summer break from graduate school. While completing her master's degree in New York City, she interned at the New York Times Magazine and Guernica Magazine.