Recent Headlines

Freddie Mac Multifamily offers new forbearance options and tenant protections

Freddie Mac Multifamily announced Monday that it has created three additional forbearance options to assist multifamily borrowers who have been impacted by COVID-19. Those options also extend tenant protections. The options include delaying the start of the repayment period following forbearance; an extension of the repayment period; and, an extension of the forbearance period with…

Fannie Mae Announces Updated Protections for Renters Impacted by COVID-19

“Fannie Mae is pleased to announce the latest tenant protections offered to multifamily renters impacted by COVID-19, including the ability for an impacted renter to repay owed rent over time and not all at once,” said Jeff Hayward, Executive Vice President, Multifamily. “Further, by offering our multifamily borrowers a forbearance extension up to six months,…

The Flight to the Suburbs Is Real and Growing, as Coronavirus Changes the Way People Live

What to Know As the real estate market began to recover in May, home searches in suburban zip codes jumped 13%, according to realtor.com, one of the largest real estate listing websites That doubled the pace of growth in urban areas More than half of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas are seeing increased interest…

Nearly 90% of Apartment Households Made Rent Payments by June 13

In an effort to gauge the payment of rents nationally during the COVID-19 crisis, the National Multifamily Housing Council launched a tool—the NMHC Rent Payment Tracker—to provide insight into the housing market during these times. The NMHC reported this week that 89% of apartment households in the country made a full or partial payment by…

Moody's: 'No Market Will Be Spared,' but Apartment Vacancies Highs Not Expected

A recent report by Moody’s Analytics forecasting the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on apartment vacancies found that, even under a “worst case scenario” model, apartment vacancies are not expected to reach or exceed the historic 8.1% high set in 2009. In the “Protracted Slump” scenario, according to the “Q1 2020: Apartment First Glance” report,  Moody’s forecast model assumes the…

As Young Renters Move Back Home, Lost Rent Could Have Ripple Effect

Millions of young adults who moved back with their parents this year could lead to an estimated $726 million in lost rent, according to a Zillow analysis, which noted that the ripple effects “could have far-reaching consequences for the housing market.” Amid high U.S. unemployment in the coronavirus pandemic, the number of adults living in…

Here’s how much unemployed service-sector employees owe in housing payments, despite benefits

Service-sector employees in the U.S. who are currently receiving unemployment benefits due to COVID-19, owe more than $1.7 billion in rent and mortgage payments each month, according to a report from Zillow. The latest unemployment data, released last week, shows the U.S. unemployment rate at 13.3% in May, down from a record 14.7% in April,…

Assurant survey: 38% of renters will need relief in the next 90 days

Renters continue to feel the economic effects of the COIVD-19 pandemic and resulting job losses. Thirty-eight percent of renters in Assurant‘s MultiFamily Housing Renters Perspective Study said that they will need rent relief help during the next 90 days, and 42% said they are unsure about their rental stability going forward. It looks like many…

Most apartment renters keeping up with payments

data from the National Multifamily Housing Council, which represents major apartment landlords. Almost 90% of…

What to expect as apartments reopen shared spaces

Amenity spaces will look different In many apartment communities, spaces such as fitness centers, lounges, co-working spaces and bar areas have been closed for weeks based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health authorities. Now, property managers are considering how they can reopen these spaces in a way that…

Op-Ed: COVID-19 Pandemic Highlights the Importance of Tenant/Landlord Communication

Open communication between tenants and landlords is always crucial- and typically property managers work closely with tenants to establish trust and guidance when applicable. This has been a standard practice for many Property Managers, especially at low-income housing since available income and funds are many times unpredictable. For many, COVID- 19 has exacerbated this for…

Six Feet Of Separation: Apartment Communities Prepare For A Safe Reopening

Millions Of Americans Skipping Payments As Tidal Wave Of Defaults And Evictions Looms

Enlarge this image Jonathan Baird and his wife, Nichole, say they’ve had to decide between making their car payment and buying food since she lost her job in the pandemic. His mortgage and auto lenders told him he didn’t qualify for help. Nichole Baird hide caption toggle caption Nichole Baird Americans are skipping payments on…

What Happens When You Don’t Pay Rent?

(CBSNewYork) — Rent is due once again. So are mortgage payments. As the calendar turns from May to June, people around the country owe what for most is their biggest single monthly expense — housing. Experts generally recommend that households cap their housing expenditures at about 30 percent of before-tax income. Many renters, especially in…

Apartment market suffers coronavirus setback as eviction concerns mount

As an apartment locator, Tirey Counts is usually fielding calls and juggling multiple clients this time of year as an influx of students attending area universities and medical programs look to secure housing for the upcoming semester. This year has been different. Instead of calls from students, he’s hearing from Houstonians who are looking to…

Analysis: Rising property values — and taxes — during an economic slump

Editor’s note: If you’d like an email notice whenever we publish Ross Ramsey’s column, click here. If you’d like to listen to the column, just click on the play button below. Texans can now eat in shopping mall food courts, go bowling, drink in bars, eat in restaurants, watch rodeos, get their hair fixed —…

‘The anxiety is definitely setting in:’ Renters, landlords brace for bills

Weeks of lost wages are threatening some South Texas residents’ ability to pay rent, and they’re worried about aid programs running out. Stimulus payments, unemployment checks and local resources are providing temporary cushions. But there’s a cutoff date ahead for a portion of unemployment payments, and it’s unclear how long the economic crisis caused by…

Help available for renters, homeowners struggling to pay for housing during pandemic

Many homeowners and renters are still struggling to make their monthly housing payments. In fact, according to a survey done by Apartment List, 31% of them were unable to make their full housing payment this month. “The percentage of people struggling to pay their housing cost is definitely going up,” said Rob Warnock with Apartment…

Housing starts plummet to a five-year low

Housing starts plummeted to a five-year low in April as builders paused activity amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Starts on both multifamily and single-family units dropped 30%, the biggest monthly decline in six decades of records, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 891,000 in April, the lowest level since February 2015, the Commerce Department said…

Almost 88% of renters nationwide have made their May payments

Apartment renters are continuing to make their monthly payments in the face of the pandemic. Almost 88% of renters nationwide had made their May rents as of this week, according to the latest report from the National Multifamily Housing Council. The apartment industry trade group has been closely tracking rent payments since the coronavirus shut…

National Multifamily Housing Council finds 80.2% of apartment households paid partial or full May rent by May 6

AUSTIN, Texas — Just over 80% of apartment households across the country made a full or partial rent payment by May 6, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council‘s Rent Payment Tracker. The NMHC data consists of a survey of 11.4 million units of professionally managed apartment complexes across the country. The numbers are compiled…

The long-term impact of unpaid rent

Robert Pinnegar, The Washington Post Published 10:46 am CDT, Monday, May 11, 2020 The number of Americans who have filed unemployment claims continues to increase as many U.S. businesses remain closed to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. This has made it difficult for many people to pay even their most essential bills and expenses,…

No property tax relief as apartment valuations jump 38%, commercial 20%

Owners of apartments and commercial properties in El Paso who are already having a tough time because of the pandemic aren’t going to like the appraisal notices headed their way from the El Paso Central Appraisal District. The CAD’s preliminary valuations have apartments and other multifamily property valuations rising 38% to $2.96 billion this year…

What should area apartment residents should be aware of during COVID-19 outbreak?

Houston Apartment Association Published 11:00 pm CDT, Saturday, May 9, 2020 Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 What should area apartment residents should be aware of during COVID-19 outbreak? Back to Gallery The Houston Apartment Association answers general questions related to apartment living during the coronavirus oubreak. Can my landlord limit…

About 80% of renters were still able to make a rent payment this month

After a full month of repercussions, the housing market and job market have faced due to the pandemic, 80.2% of apartment households still managed to make a full or partial rent payment by May 6, according to The National Multifamily Housing Council’s latest Rent Payment Tracker. Despite the high number, this is still a 1.5…

Most D-FW apartment residents are still paying their rent

More than 80% of America’s apartment renters have made their May payments. And in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, about 87% of apartment residents so far have paid their rent for the month. That’s better than some forecasters had expected in a month with record unemployment and pay cuts caused by the pandemic. The percentage of…

Here’s What You Need to Know About Rent Relief During the Pandemic

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, renters in many states are protected by a temporary moratorium on evictions. However, the rules leave tenants across the country with a lot of unanswered questions. For example, can a landlord evict you as soon as the relief period ends? Will not paying rent trash your credit and make it close…

Fannie Mae Helps Multifamily Renters Impacted by COVID-19 With 'Renters Resource Finder'

“In times of uncertainty, it is essential to have trusted resources to help inform our decisions, and Fannie Mae is here to help bridge that information gap. Renters and homeowners should not have to navigate a barrage of confusing and sometimes misleading information,” said Jeffery Hayward, Executive Vice President, Fannie Mae Multifamily. “Our Renters Resource…

Houston council OKs $15 million rent relief program

City Council on Wednesday agreed to spend $15 million in federal relief funds to help residents affected by the economic downturn catch up on April and May rent, which council members said is imperfect but will offer critical help to some families. City leaders acknowledged the program, which will be paid for with federal CARES…

Rent assistance programs in Texas' largest cities are running dry, but advocates say statewide relief is unlikely

The public health and economic crises wrought by the coronavirus have upended the financial lives of the more than 1.5 million Texans who have filed for unemployment since mid-March, leaving an unknown number to accumulate a backlog of bills as they wait out the pandemic with smaller paychecks or no income at all. Although overlapping…

Houston to use $15M in federal relief funds to help residents make up late rent

The city plans to devote $15 million in federal pandemic relief funds to help Houston residents make up late rent payments, a contribution Mayor Sylvester Turner acknowledged will not meet demand but one he hopes will make a meaningful impact for thousands of families. City Council will consider the proposal at its meeting Wednesday. The…

Responding To The Pandemic Will Mean More Costs For Multifamily Landlords, Even After It Subsides

Most multifamily landlords were relieved after tabulating April’s overall rent collection, but experts say May, the first full month under statewide shutdown orders and mass unemployment, will be a tougher test. Property owners will need to keep rental income flowing, not merely to keep their businesses afloat but because in the months and perhaps years ahead,…

More Than 13,500 Applications for Dallas Housing Assistance

Within the first 15 minutes, there were nearly 1,000 applications for the special City of Dallas coronavirus mortgage and rent assistance program that opened Monday morning. When the program closed for the day there were more than 16,500 applications.  Officials said the $13.7 million assembled for the program from several sources might only serve about…

Austin launches $1.2 million rent assistance lottery

More than $1 million in rental assistance will be up for grabs beginning this week through a lottery program launched by Austin’s Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department. City officials said the Relief of Emergency Needs for Tenants program, or RENT, will divvy up $1.2 million among 1,000 families in the form of one-time rental…

How COVID-19 has Impacted Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have both reported decreased net income, citing economic troubles caused by the COVID-19 crisis according to the GSEs’ Q1 2020 reports. Freddie Mac’s net income was down $1.8 billion from the prior quarter, citing higher credit-related expense of $1.1 billion, or $0.9 billion, after-tax, primarily due to higher expected credit…

Texas halted evictions, giving renters some relief. But what happens when the moratorium ends?

*correction appended DALLAS — Shanice Al Khlifat’s day-to-day life has become a series of efforts to hang on. The 28-year-old is trying to find a stable job after losing two since the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the economy: one as a dispatcher at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and another at a call center. As another month…

D-FW apartment demand bounces back

So far, North Texas’ apartment market has shrugged off the worst impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Leasing activity in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is up from a year ago, according to a survey last week by Richardson-based RealPage. “Apartment leasing activity is suddenly back in a big way, at least for the moment,” RealPage chief…

Texas Apartment Association Issues Spanish Renter Resource Guide

AUSTIN, Texas –(BUSINESS WIRE) The Texas Apartment Association today issued a Renter Resource Guide for Spanish-speaking apartment residents in Texas. “So many apartment residents will be better able to understand the many new rules on eviction delays and rental assistance programs available to them if they are able to read about them in their native…

Rental Market Slowdown Could Hit Class A Hardest

Image via Pixabay After a decade of growth in the number of high-earning renter households, the impact of the coronavirus outbreak could cause that number to stall, leaving owners of luxury rental properties struggling to lease apartments. According to research from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, while the length of the…

Houston’s Affordable Housing Problem Is Going To Intensify

The need for affordable housing in Houston is about to become more acute, as hundreds of thousands of people across the state find themselves out of work as a result of the economic disruption caused by the coronavirus. Even before the pandemic, Houston ranked fifth in the nation and first in Texas for having the…

Rent Payments Are Now Stronger Than Expected. But May Could Change That

San Antonio Apartment Association Supports COVID-19 Emergency Housing Assistance Program

Thursday, 23 April 2020 (1 day ago)SAN ANTONIO, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In response to the growing needs of renters during the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Antonio Apartment Association (SAAA) urges City Council members to approve the $15.8 million COVID-19 Emergency Housing Assistance Program, yet cautions that additional funding is needed. SAAA supports adding $10 million to the Program,…

COVID-19 continues to impact people's ability to pay rent as May approaches

AUSTIN, Texas — By now, the coronavirus pandemic seems to have impacted everyone in some way. But for those who may have lost their jobs, paying rent has been a struggle. There’s a little more than a week until the next round of many rent payments could be due.  According to the National Multifamily Housing Council…

Only 8% of D-FW apartment residents have missed their rent

Only 11% of renters nationwide have skipped their April payments, but apartment industry analysts expect May’s rent delinquency rate to be much higher. As of April 19, 89% of apartment renters around the country had made a full or partial payment, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council. The rent payment rate is even higher…

Churchill: Will cities recover when the pandemic ends?

Street scene looking down Broadway on Monday, April 20, 2020 in Troy, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union) Street scene looking down Broadway on Monday, April 20, 2020 in Troy, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union) Photo: Lori Van Buren, Albany Times Union Photo: Lori Van Buren, Albany Times Union Image 1 of / 26 Caption Close…

More Apartment Operators Move to Flex Payment Models

(First Seen on NMHC’s Website) As the COVID-19 outbreak continues, requiring tens of millions of people to shelter in place, having safe and secure housing is more important than ever. More than 40 million Americans are doing so in apartment homes. In addition to the health threats posed by the virus, residents are finding their…

April Rent Payments Hit 84 Percent

Image via Pixabay Nearly 85 percent of renters in the U.S. have paid full or partial rent, according to just-released data from the National Multifamily Housing Council. The figure reflects a 15 percent increase from data released April 5. The report, which pulled data from 11.5 million apartments units across the country, found that by…

NMHC Research Foundation Study Examines Apartment Filtering

Filtering graphic. Data and chart courtesy of NMHC A new study by the NMHC Research Foundation has found the nation’s acute housing crisis is driving up rents, worsening affordability problems, spurring a rise in homelessness and limiting the impacts apartment filtering had previously had in providing homes for low-income renters. Apartment filtering, the process in…

Resident Relief Foundation Leads Nationwide Fundraising Initiative To Keep Renters In Their Homes When Eviction Moratoriums Are Lifted

LOS ANGELES (PRWEB) April 15, 2020 The Resident Relief Foundation (RRF), a nonprofit organization that provides rental assistance grants to help responsible residents pay rent during a temporary emergency, today announced the launch of the “Resident Relief Initiative” (#residentrelief), a multifamily industry fundraising effort to combat the national housing crisis that will result from the…

Dallas needs to help renters and protect landlord rights. Here’s the way to do that

It doesn’t take a genius to understand that many people are going to have trouble making their rent this coming month. It does take some smarts to understand how best to help people who have lost their jobs while also preserving landlord rights and ensuring that the problem of forced evictions for residential tenants doesn’t…

Landlords, City Help Tenants with Rent Payments

SAN ANTONIO — In light of the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of people in San Antonio are struggling to pay rent. SAAA working with city to help people pay rent Full details of the plan are still coming together For more info go here The city’s emergency rental assistance program is financially tight, and now it…

How COVID-19 Is Changing the Housing Landscape for Renters

It’s fair to say that most Americans who rent have become intimately acquainted with their apartments over the past month. Widespread shelter-in-place orders have forced us to work, eat, and even socialize from home, while a turbulent economy has left a mind-blowing 17 million people unemployed and unsure of how they’ll pay their rent. Now…