First Covid-19 rent reduction request received

[Merlot Mike]

Are rent subsidies included in this big government payout?

[Dens]

If banks come through with the mortgage holidays or payments freeze, I think landlords should pass that on as rental discounts or deferred payments.

No one is getting out of this unscathed, but some are going to be much more affected than others - due to no fault of their own.
Those in more fortunate positions can try to at least share the burden. I've let my property manager know I'm happy to consider reductions for genuine cases.


edit: looks like 6 month mortgage holiday if your income is affected - does a tenant not being able to pay rent count as affected income?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12319507

[Merlot Mike]

Any commercial landlords giving their tenant a rent holiday during lockdown??

Mine has requested that - he's had a severe drop in business since Feb.

[PC]

It is under handed sneaky how the Guvmnt has tacked on no 90 day notice "without reason".
Rent freeze maybe - but the 90 day nonsense is despicable.
Trying to set the precedent I suspect.
Law & democracy - dies of Wuhan flu.

[Perry]

Reality Check

Perhaps it's time to take a breath, step back, and assess certain seemingly-less-than-obvious aspects to all this.

The government is doing something that only a government can do and needs to do. No complaint about that.

The government has no money that it first does not take from citizens - or borrows. Borrowing costs will be borne by those same citizens, anyway.

Banks may give concessions like interest-only periods, deferred re-payment plans and so on. The banks will not be trimming anything off loan principal amounts or giving some sort of cashback-for-nothing to borrowers. The banks want their due, in full, even if if it will come to them later than planned.

The IRD may give concessions, like waiving late payment / filing fees and interest accruals. Possibly even deferring provisional tax payments and so on. But the IRD wants its due taxes, in full, even if they come later than usual.

Councils may - just may - give concessions, like waiving late Rates payment penalty fees and curbing non-essential expenditure. But Councils want their full Rates income, even if it does come to them later than usual.

As I've observed before, sharing the pain / burden (of the Corona Virus crisis) needs to be borne equally, across all sections of NZ society. Those at the 'top of the heap,' especially. (MPs, please take note.)

If not, the consequences could be, ahhhh, unfortunate.

Do show some sympathy for your tenants, as appropriate. But document it as a personal loan. Perhaps even with some security? (You can always write it off, later.)

Why should PIs (vilified-by-FarGonBoy-and-his-socio-commie-colleagues) be the ones disproportionately carrying the crisis costs?

I don't plan to.

[Beano]

If banks come through with the mortgage holidays or payments freeze, I think landlords should pass that on as rental discounts or deferred payments.

No one is getting out of this unscathed, but some are going to be much more affected than others - due to no fault of their own.
Those in more fortunate positions can try to at least share the burden. I've let my property manager know I'm happy to consider reductions for genuine cases.


edit: looks like 6 month mortgage holiday if your income is affected - does a tenant not being able to pay rent count as affected income?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12319507

A mortgage holiday is not a true holiday .
It is an additional loan that accrues interest from day one .
Hence if the landlord passed this on the tenant would have to pay rent plus interest.

[Beano]

That's interesting. Anyhow I do believe that he is having a rough time - I was thinking about giving him 50% off for the four week duration. Any feedback is appreciated.

Tell them the rent is still due but I would, at no cost to the tenant, assist them to receive the recently announced government assistance.
Any payments that we make is taken from our savings that we carefully put away for a "rainy day" .
If you run a business that fails in the first bad month (with government assistance) then perhaps you should not be in business.
At the moment the landlords are disproportionately carrying the burden as no assistance has been given to them.

[Dens]

A mortgage holiday is not a true holiday .
It is an additional loan that accrues interest from day one .
Hence if the landlord passed this on the tenant would have to pay rent plus interest.

Full details not released yet so we don’t know exactly how it will be implemented.
Currently principal and interest pause. Whether that’s deferred or a complete freeze, not sure. Extraordinary times.

[learner]

Hello Merlot Mike

He operates a commercial kitchen for hire.... Is there a possibility that food preparation may be considered an essential service and that he could still operate?

It appears from tonight's announcement that cooked food will not be allowed, so the kitchen operation will not be permitted.

Link: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/hea...uring-lockdown

Therefore the tenant cannot access the premises, so that Clauses 27.5 and 27.6 come into effect (if it is a later ADSL Lease), and the tenant does not have to pay for the period during which he has no access - currently 4 weeks, according to the Government.

At present, I am calculating how much I have to refund to my tenants, as they pay at the beginning of the month, and I have to refund 6 days of this month's rent and outgoings to each of them (from 26 to 31 March). I don't expect many will pay next month's rent, but if they do, then I will have to refund 22 days of rent to them, until the end of the Alert Level 4 period (if it's not extended).

[Merlot Mike]

That's interesting, I wonder how to interpret this: "a fair proportion of rent and outgoings shall cease to be payable"? How would one calculate that?

[learner]

Hello Merlot Mike

The way I approached this "fair proportion" is:

1. The tenant can't access the premises, so full rent for the qualifying period is refunded (in my case above, 6 days rent)
2. The insurance still covers the premises despite the lack of access, so no refund on this part of the outgoings, but I'll probably end up going 50/50 with the tenant
3. Full rates are still charged by the council. This is the bit I'm still working on.....I'm waiting to see if the council will give any rates rebate. If they do, I'll pass it on, otherwise I'll split it 50/50 with the tenant.

This is a new situation, so I'm making it up as I go along...........

[McDuck]

The sentiment is ideal, but it needs to be across the board. I.e.
..
If everyone takes a hit on a pro rata basis, we'll get through it.

The problem is, the math.

This virus is not taking lives across the board.
It's going for a very specific group.
If you were in that group, then in some ways, the rest of the population is taking a heavy hit for you.
If you catch my meaning.

[hawkeye]

Could you get anyone to replace him now? What’s the alternative?

[Merlot Mike]

This is a new situation, so I'm making it up as I go along...........

For sure. My lawyer has just advised that a 50% reduction in rent and outgoings is appropriate for the duration of the lockdown. One thing to consider is that all of his equipment is still securely stored in the premises. I can't use the place to store my stuff in the interim. So he's still getting the use of the space in that sense.

[Perry]

For sure. My lawyer has just advised that a 50% reduction in rent and outgoings is appropriate for the duration of the lockdown.

Will your lawyer be discounting fees by 50%?