# This is going to bankrupt every major Landlord in the Country.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-going-to-bankrupt-every-major-landlord-in-the-country/849845>\
**Category:** The Quarantine Zone\
**Tags:** covid-quarantine\
**Created:** [March 19, 2020, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-going-to-bankrupt-every-major-landlord-in-the-country/849845 "2020-03-19T22:06:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 12\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-going-to-bankrupt-every-major-landlord-in-the-country/849845/81 "2020-03-24T08:39:22Z")

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> [@Broomstick](#):
>
> As someone who was born and raised here but is not a Christian I’m stick and tired of hearing how “Christian” the US is, especially with how our society criminalizes the poor, sick, disabled, and downtrodden. The US is, at best, only Christian in name because if this country was _really_ acting according to the New Testament we wouldn’t have thousands sleeping in the streets every night. That line about the camel and the needle? It’s forgotten - it’s [prosperity gospel for the win!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosperity_theology) But beyond that - saying that “America is a Christian country” sure sounds to me like I’m relegated to second-class or non-citizen status because I don’t believe in your god. I used to believe that we were all equal here but over the last few years I’ve come to realize that even if that used to be true it’s not anymore.

My very Jewish family, on my father’s mother’s side has been here since before the Mayflower. We fought in the Revolution. But when my grandmother’s mother applied for the DAR around 1920, she was rejected, because it was a “Christian” organization.

To be fair, my grandmother reapplied in the 1960s, and was accepted, but seriously, is it the DAR, or not?

Wish we had an upvote button.

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**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-going-to-bankrupt-every-major-landlord-in-the-country/849845/82 "2020-03-24T09:48:40Z")

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> [@Broomstick](#):
>
> You’re not serious, are you?

Do you actually think a person using the word “verily” in a sentence is being serious?

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**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-going-to-bankrupt-every-major-landlord-in-the-country/849845/83 "2020-03-24T09:56:00Z")

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> [@echoreply](#):
>
> And talk of cancelling cable to pay rent. First, it’s 2020, we’re not talking about cable, we’re talking about a \<$20 month Netflix subscription. Cancelling that will barely make a dent in the $1500 rent payment. A big screen TV is $300, sure, unemployed is no time to buy one, but simply having one isn’t undeserved luxury. Drop the smart phone and internet, for what? To save another $100/month but now be completely disconnected from the modern world, with no ability to apply for new jobs, take gig work, or stay connected with their former employer. If I were poor or homeless, the first thing I’d get and last thing I’d give up would be a smartphone.

Exactly. I have neither cable nor the internet - until recently it has not been in my budget. Now is not exactly the time to get it. No landline. My smartphone is a $25 for 3 months plan. My car is a 2009 Accent and is paid off. The only luxury I could slash is my kindle unlimited which is $10 a month. It’s called being poor or close to it. Luckily I have some savings and currently still have a job.

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**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-going-to-bankrupt-every-major-landlord-in-the-country/849845/84 "2020-03-24T10:57:26Z")

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> [@Alessan](#):
>
> Do you actually think a person using the word “verily” in a sentence is being serious?

Forsooth, ye speaketh with yon wisdom beyond thine age.

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**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-going-to-bankrupt-every-major-landlord-in-the-country/849845/85 "2020-03-24T11:40:51Z")

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> [@Wesley\_Clark](#):
>
> Its going to cause massive economic ripples. It took a decade to recover from the great recession and this will be worse.

It may or may not be worse - it all depends on the response. If the republicans insist on setting aside hundreds of billions of dollars for major corporations and not doing shit for small enterprise, the self-employed, and the employees themselves…yep, we’re fucked.

It’s not looking good right now but there’s still a chance some good can come of it. If we can keep this from turning into a commercial real estate crisis, if we can keep the lines of credit open -not for right now but for the immediate recovery once it’s past us - then there’s a chance we could go right back to where we were before the nosedive.

But if this drags on for weeks without political compromise, or worst of all, if Trump foolishly tries to rush back the economic recovery before the pandemic has run its course, then this will turn into a disaster for the ages.

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**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-going-to-bankrupt-every-major-landlord-in-the-country/849845/86 "2020-03-24T11:42:16Z")

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> [@RivkahChaya](#):
>
> My very Jewish family, on my father’s mother’s side has been here since before the Mayflower.

Was she part of the original Jamestown Colony?

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**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-going-to-bankrupt-every-major-landlord-in-the-country/849845/87 "2020-03-24T11:44:17Z")

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> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> It’s not a free ride for tenants either. When the suspension of evictions is over, they will still be out on the street and with a big black mark on their credit report. (I think there are also agencies that specifically track bad tenants, and being on such lists will make it hard to get another rental.)

I’m guessing - okay hoping - that congress will intervene with some regulation to this effect. And if congress won’t, perhaps state governors in California and New York will, which would probably have the same effect.

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**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-going-to-bankrupt-every-major-landlord-in-the-country/849845/88 "2020-03-24T14:25:44Z")

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> [@Ravenman](#):
>
> Bailing out a bank in a major recession is just something I cannot ever seeing this country doing. With millions of people in financial distress, the idea of putting a profit-making institution before regular people who may be struggling to put bread on the table is just a incomprehensible.

Absolutely agreed. So I was proposing a rent&mortgage moratorium, with financial institutions holding the bag. They still owe us for 2008. If they need money, they can borrow it at 0%.

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**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-going-to-bankrupt-every-major-landlord-in-the-country/849845/89 "2020-03-24T14:37:15Z")

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I live in a large high rise and the communication I’ve gotten from the management company over the last month seems to have been written by a lawyer with a stick jammed up his ass and hasn’t been laid since Reagan was in office.

So much of it is written like ‘it sucks to be you that you don’t get the building amenities you moved here for but no rent adjustments will be considered.’

‘Rent is still due on the 1st of the month. I’ve attached the late fee schedule in your lease’

I’ve got the savings to pay rent. But this isn’t the way to win friends and influence people.

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**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-going-to-bankrupt-every-major-landlord-in-the-country/849845/90 "2020-03-24T14:41:02Z")

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> [@jsc1953](#):
>
> So if a tenant gets to live rent-free for a few months that’s great for the tenant, but not for the landlord who still needs to make his mortgage payment.
> 
> But what if he didn’t? What if mortgages were also placed on hold?
> 
> Basically, what would go wrong if we jut hit “Pause” on the whole real estate market? Basically, mortgage holders (ie, banks) would be without income. But … so what? Are they living paycheck to paycheck?

But if we did that, how would the big banks make $$$? This crisis is an opportunity for the banks to make even more money! /s

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**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-going-to-bankrupt-every-major-landlord-in-the-country/849845/91 "2020-03-24T15:43:32Z")

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> [@Alessan](#):
>
> Do you actually think a person using the word “verily” in a sentence is being serious?

I read a freshman college essay that did just that.

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**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-going-to-bankrupt-every-major-landlord-in-the-country/849845/92 "2020-03-24T18:01:16Z")

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I own a four-plex and live in one of the units. My tenants are also my neighbors. My wife and I decided to not evict or anything shortly before Governor Inslee put the moratorium on evictions in Washington state.

None of them have told us they’ve been laid off or otherwise losing income. I hope they are all fine through this. One is a single mother of two young girls and is a nursing aid of some sort; I worry for her, not her income.

We have enough of a cushion to have SOME flexibility. Partial payments, deferred payments, no late fees, that I can handle. Straight up no rent coming in I can’t handle.

If my mortgage payments can be suspended without penalty for the duration of this, then I have much more ability to help my tenants if necessary.

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