Portland Eviction Moratorium Experiences?

Question

Since the start of COVID-19 has anyone had a difficult time understanding the eviction moratorium? For me personally, this moratorium has not impacted me too hard and I am curious how other investors/landlords are holding up during the pandemic. My biggest questions are:

Are you utilizing mortgage forbearance if your tenants are not paying rent? Maybe your tenants are paying rent and you are still utilizing forbearance?

Are you making your mortgage payments even though your tenants are not paying rent?

Were you able to get possession of your property back during the moratorium?

I am generally curious and would love to hear other peoples' stories.

Kate Williams · Answer

My tenants stopped paying rent in March entirely, and started paying 1/2 rent in September. Just recently got a couple checks from Pdx-based non-profit groups that are assisting renters with back rent, but they still owe about 7k in back rent at this point.  I’ve been paying the full mortgage out of savings and my own pocket. The moratorium is written so I can’t do anything to get them out, even after all these months... c’est la vie.  It’s been a good rental property for years so I consider it all part of the game.

Seth Phillips · Answer

@Trent Werner

I had several properties where the tenants stopped paying rent.  Maine has a rental assistance program however the tenant has to fill it out and sign it.  So if the tenant wants to be difficult they have all the power to do so.

That being said I bought these properties in low income areas so the properties themselves weren’t terribly expensive.  So I was able to pay the mortgages out of savings and partial rent.  Additionally I have most of these tenants on month to month rental agreements.  So although you can not evict for non payment of rent you can evict with a no cause eviction.  Take your time and do it right.  Hire a lawyer give the tenant a non renewal of lease notice.  Then give them the proper notice to quit for a no cause eviction which is 45 days in Maine.  The whole process takes right around three months and then I regained my property.  There is high demand for housing right now in Maine so I was able to fill it quickly with tenants who pay and aren’t trouble makers.

I also don’t want people to think I’m an awful person, they all had jobs and bragged about how they were making more money then me and there was nothing I could do to get rid of them.  Don’t let the bad ones keep you down.  It’s a tunnel not a hole.  It’s your property at the end of the day and you have rights too!

So that was my experience, very stressful.  Oh and to be clear I tried everything before the eviction, asking them to leave, offering them money to leave, offering them a lot of money to leave, then I got the lawyer involved haha.