How did people handle the COVID Eviction Moratorium?

Question

Since I am just getting started I have a question about how you all handled the COVID eviction moratorium? It is kind of scary that the government can just allow people to stop paying rent and landlords have no recourse.

Chad McMahan · Answer

I'm also in AZ. I experienced 3 evictions through my clients' properties. It was case-by-case with the judges. 1 of the 3 was allowed to stay and not pay. The other 2 got the boot from the judge.

Ryan Fox · Answer

@Michael Wachel- In California, where I do evictions, it was more about making sure that you provided the tenants notice that they could apply to the government for financial assistance to pay rent.  If you failed to do that, and then filed to evict for failure to pay rent, you couldn't get an eviction.  It was further complicated because the rules / forms you had to use kept changing every six months.

Jayson Ewert · Answer

I have a few properties in Washington state, a VERY tenant friendly state. I had zero issues during COVID. I can attribute this to a little luck but mostly the importance of finding the right tenants that respect you and the property. Responding to maintenance issues and being a reasonable owner seems to go a long way. But WHEN things go south, you have to be firm and consistent.

Colleen F. · Answer

@Michael Wachel  For tenants I didn't know even though I do a thorough check I did not want to commit to longer.    I placed three month to month tenants and they are all still with me so it turned out well. 30 day or 60 days notice you can non-renew depending on where you are and what is written in your lease. At the time I explained that I intended to rent the property year round and planned on annual increases but would not hesitate to give notice if there was payment or another issue. I lost some people because they were hesitant without a year lease and it is not usual in our area to do it this way. There are alot of 9 month rentals in the area and some may have feared I was going to stop renting to them in the summer.

On my side though I often get calls from people who want only the summer or who are here short term. To avoid turnover related to that I screen on why they are moving, and I basically screened for people with employment in the area or ties to the community. I am in a smaller area though so if you were in a city it might not work the same.

Michael Wachel · Answer

@Colleen F. That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for taking the time to explain.

Colleen F. · Answer

@Michael Wachel while my tenants paid through covid I decides to gp to month to month leases for all new tenants.

How did people handle the COVID Eviction Moratorium?

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