2020-11-14 Help Your Residents Get Rent Assistance
| By:
Jeff Taylor
HELP YOUR RESIDENTS GET RENT ASSISTANCE
By Jeffery Taylor, Mr. LandlordA MrLandlord contributor and notary public shared how he witnesses signatures on 30 or 40 real estate loans a month in the state of Washington. In his words, "I’m finding more and more lenders are offering counseling to those who fall behind on their mortgage payments. These counselors work on finding the kind of assistance that would be available to these delinquent borrowers, based on their eligibility and circumstances.
Now, if the Real Estate lending institutions are willing to invest in counseling for their borrowers, why aren’t landlords willing to do the same for their residents? In this day and age, with the threat of eviction being removed (temporarily or otherwise), this could be an alternative solution to the problem of delinquent rent."
One landlord responded: "I'm not spending 1 red cent hiring counselors for my residents."
My response was: "Actually, for some landlords who are about to throw in the towel or sell because they have no (or not enough) money coming in, the landlord's suggestion of working harder at helping residents figure out how to get financial assistance that may be available, is not a bad idea. It's really just an extension of the idea that I've shared with landlords for years regarding helping your residents get connected to agencies who may be able to offer them help in paying the rent." Another landlord responded back: "Jeffrey, I provide phone numbers to charities and would consider adding a financial counselor # to that, but I'm not paying for it." My follow-up response was: "Hmmmm. Let me think this through...The resident owes me $7,000 or $10,000 or more from several months of non-payment. With the moratorium in place, this may go on for several more months. Hmmmmm. Enter a sharp entrepreneur/counselor who may cost me a few hundred bucks. However, money is paid out only if the counselor is actually able to help the resident get financial assistance that will be paid directly to the landlord. Hmmmmmmm. Is such a scenario possible? If it is, should I continue to sit around and merely hope the resident will all of a sudden on their own figure out how to pay me? Because there's no way I am paying to help this resident out...Hmmmmmmmm." This is something to think about. And for those who still say it's up to the resident to figure out a way to solve "their" problem: All I know is that I got a check yesterday for $5,445 (covering several months of past due rent for one renter), because I was willing to work closely with a local agency to help my resident get needed rental assistance to solve their problem and mine. :)
OTHER SUCCESS STORIES SHARED OF RENTAL ASSISTANCEWe have continually been encouraging landlords to play a more active role in helping residents get or find rental assistance if they are behind on their rent payments. Several landlords have shared their success stories with us in how they had helped residents who were far behind in rent to get money. I want to share just a few of those stories to encourage you (if you have not done so already) to also consider helping your residents get rental assistance. Please do not simply sit back (as renters get thousands of dollars farther behind) and you hope they somehow come up with the money.
The tips in this column are shared by regular contributors to the popular MrLandlord.com Q&A forum, by real estate authors and by Jeffrey Taylor, Founder@Mrlandlord.com. To receive a free sample of Mr. Landlord newsletter, call 1-800-950-2250 or visit their informative Q&A Forum at LandlordingAdvice.com, where you can ask landlording questions and seek advice of other landlords 24 hours a day.