Coronavirus rent payment, eviction suspensions create economic domino effect

After states hit hard by coronavirus moved to help homeowners by suspending mortgage payments and halting foreclosures and evictions, renters across the country began asking if they could forego paying their April rent — an idea that has landlords warning they have bills to pay, too.

It is part of the cascading effect of the economic shutdown to combat the virus.

Governors are urging landlords not to evict renters during the crisis — some even going as far as officially prohibiting evictions, as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo did in March.

He suspended evictions for both residential and commercial property for 90 days in New York, which has emerged as the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S.

“On that basis, my daughters have stopped paying me rent,” Mr. Cuomo quipped. “I’m not even sure that their finances have dropped significantly, but I think they’re just taking advantage of the non-eviction order that I myself posted. And I resent it, but there’s nothing I can do about it legally.”

Delaware Gov. John Carney halted evictions in his declaration of a state of emergency, citing the public health threat and the need for people to shelter in their homes.

That doesn’t help landlords who still have mortgage payments to make and rely on rent payments.

It creates a domino effect.

Still, landlords contacted by The Washington Times said they remained hopeful they would get by with aid in the $2 trillion coronavirus economic rescue bill signed by President Trump last week, which included government checks and unemployment benefits that could help tenants pay rent for next few months.

Local governments also are stepping up to give guidance to cash-strapped tenants and worried landlords.

The San Diego Housing Commission created a website that gives tenants information on how to qualify for rent relief and what proof they must provide their landlords.

The rent is not entirely forgiven. Tenants get six months to catch up on their payments.

San Diego’s moratorium on evictions expires May 31.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has been pressured to issue a moratorium on evictions but has not formally done so.

Sen. Rick Scott, Florida Republican, said the coronavirus relief package that Congress has passed does not go far enough.

The legislation put into place a nation-wide moratorium on evictions, but Mr. Scott wants a 30-day halt on taxes, utility payments, credit card payments, mortgages, and financial payments including rent.

“Today is April 1, and so many across our nation are struggling to pay their rent, mortgage and other financial obligations,” he said in a press release.

“I thank the many governors that have taken action to prevent evictions and foreclosures in their states. But we have to go even further to provide much-needed relief for Americans – and we have to do it today,” he added.

Where lawmakers, though, fail to meet all needs, big companies are hoping to fill in the gaps.

One of Florida’s major grocery store chains, Publix, announced last month it would pay the rent in shopping centers it owns where the other businesses have been forced to close because of social distancing orders.

“As a company that started as a small business 90 years ago, Publix wants to help businesses renting from us survive the economic impact of these unexpected closures,” said Maria Brous, communications director for Publix.

Publix operates more than 1,200 stores in seven states, according to WSFA, an NBC-affiliate station in Alabama.

• David Sherfinski contributed to this report.