Rent collection resiliency in May

[Jerid Meagan]

According to the latest data collected by NMHC (https://www.nmhc.org/research-insight/nmhc-rent-payment-tracker/), May's rent collection came in at 80.2%, which is better than April (78%), and not far behind May of 2019 (81.7%).  Rent's are the lifeblood of our industry and impact everything from lending availability, asset valuation, default/solvency risk, and more.

It's surprising to me we haven't seen more deterioration in that number given the rate and level of unemployment. It's likely the stimulus payments and enhanced unemployment benefits helped support collections, but it's unknown how things track in coming months.  Uneven reopening, reduced unemployment benefits, and lack of a second stimulus payment will not generate the same tailwinds in coming months. It will be critical to see how much of that unemployment is temporary vs how many jobs have been structurally impacted over the longer term.