But a tenant that owes thousands of dollars of back rent might be too overwhelmed to see it as such.
Another concession landlords have been making is by not
increasing rent. Typical rent increases we see are 3-5% per year but rent prices in our system went down to 1% from February 2020 to February 2021. Again, this concession may be invisible to tenants, especially if they signed a lease within the last year. The discrepancy in perception highlights the importance of communication. Renters may not see all the
between landlords and tenants as to what this financial strain actually looks like. For example, our survey reports that 39.9% of landlords are receiving late payments more frequently, while only 23.4% of tenants report submitting late payments more frequently. On top of that, although 40.5% of landlords surveyed have reported
granting rent concessions, only 16.4% of renters reported having received rent concessions. Ultimately, landlords had to make tough decisions to survive, employing tactics rarely used otherwise, such as accepting partial payments or moving due dates. These concessions may not be apparent to a tenant for a number of reasons. To begin with, most tenants don’t read their lease thoroughly. If your tenant is used to being current on rent, they may not know what kind of late fees you charge and so may not realize you’ve waived them. If your rent is usually due on the first of the month and you move the due date to the fifth, that is a concession.
What is a Rent Concession?
A rent concession is any allowance you make for your tenant that deviates from the agreed upon terms of their lease. This of course includes forgiving rent, but also waiving late fees, pushing back due dates, and allowing tenants to dip into their security deposit.
THERE HAS BEEN A 20% I NCREASE I N WA IVED LATE
FEES S I NCE THE START OFTHE PANDEMI C .
P A G E 2 8 |
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