Rent Due On The 1st? – Covid 19, Tenants, and Landlords

What Is The Current Situation?

• Landlord and Tenant Board has suspended all hearings
• Evictions have been halted in Ontario
• Property taxes & some other housing costs deferred (Still need to be paid eventually)
• Landlord can defer mortgage payments (This will cost them interest and also may impact credit ratings)
• Canada Emergency Response Benefit Announced

First Step For Renters & Landlords
Communicate.

Do not bury your head and hope this will all magically go away. It isn’t going to.

Let’s be clear. This is not meant to be a free ride for tenants. Pay what you can pay.

If you are financial stretched then give your landlord time to prepare.

The same goes for Landlords, reach out to your tenants, do not wait to be surprised.

Open lines of communication could make all the difference. If you are concerned about how such a phone call would go, consider having someone else listening in to the call as a witness. No need to be sneaky about it. Just explain that a third party is listening to the call as a courtesy.

Renters
What can you do to prepare?

• Speak to your employer – get a clear picture of our employment situation. Not just for the next week but for the upcoming months.
• Reduce bills and expenses
• Consider building a budget.
• Are you parents or family in a position to help you in the short term?
• Stay up to date on the CERB & other Government assistance programs

This is an ever changing picture and you should be prepared to apply for whatever benefits you need as soon as possible.

DO NOT accept overly aggressive behaviour from a landlord. If you truly can not pay then do not allow yourself to be abuse, bullied, or embarrassed.

Landlords – The #1 Myth
Here is the number one myth we hear about landlords:

“They own more than one property, they can afford to not charge us rent”

This is just not true. Sure, some landlords are wealthy. The vast majority of them are not. They are hardworking, conscientious people who work hard to save up for an investment property.

Often they see it as a way of supplementing retirement. These same folks are now facing an uncertain financial landscape. They now not only have to worry about their own home, family, and loved ones but also an extra property and all that comes with it.

It is understandable that rent may be a stretch for some in the coming months. The financial impacts on landlords could last years.

We should all try and have a little understanding of both sides.