Realtors are calling the government’s recently announced rental assistance policy nothing more than a Band-Aid.
President of the Bahamas Real Estate Association (BREA) Christine Wallace-Whitefield said initial feedback from agents on the policy indicated that many seem to be very concerned about the terminology used — “rental assistance” and “relief” — as it’s misleading.
“The program really and truly is only providing a temporary Band-Aid to allow tenants to remain in their homes who may be facing eviction. We are already finding that some tenants are misunderstanding the intent and interpreting it as if they don’t have to pay any rent for 90 days,” she said.
“But, many realistically can’t pay a dime at the moment as they live week by week and are unable to come up with even 60 percent at this time. We are finding that landlords are therefore extremely concerned as they feel they will never be paid back. This is still fresh, but this has been the initial consensus so far.”
Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis announced in the House of Assembly on Monday that landlords of residential tenants in good standing up to March, who were affected by the COVID-19 crisis, must defer 40 percent of their rent for the next three months.
The policy applies only to Bahamians or legal residents with a monthly rent of $2,000 or below, and allows for them to repay the deferred amount over 12 months.
Wallace-Whitefield said this discount is of no actual benefit to renters, and although commercial banks have indicated they are open to deferring the mortgage payments on rental properties for affected landlords, it doesn’t help all.
“In my opinion, they will be in worse shape when they have to pay their rent back at a higher rate in 90 days when they still may not be employed and have other bills to catch up on,” she said.
“Landlords are extremely concerned, not all have mortgages, so the mortgage relief won’t help everyone. Many landlords rely solely on their rent as their only source of income.
“Many landlords are facing no rental income as their tenants can’t even come up with the 60 percent, yet they are now obligated to keep them in their properties, and in many cases, to keep the utility payments current for their tenants as well as themselves, and keep their own family fed with no income coming in.”
While the announcement provided guidelines for help to residential tenants impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown measures – which have resulted in thousands of Bahamians being laid off because of shuttered hotels and other businesses – it made no mention of commercial rental assistance.
Wallace-Whitefield said there are many who also need commercial rental assistance.
“Yes, we are seeing a large number of commercial rental waiver requests. Businesses are asking landlords to either waive the rent or to reduce the rent, and again, the landlords have their own bills to pay,” she said.
Real estate companies, just like all other entities considered non-essential, were forced to close their doors last month after the governor general declared a public state of emergency.
Wallace-Whitefield said this left many transactions that had reached a critical stage hanging in the balance.
“We have reached out to the government seeking permission to have real estate deemed essential, but have not received a reply other than a few weeks ago to reiterate that we are not allowed to operate. Many of our tenants, for instance, need to move urgently and appraisals need to be done in order to complete transactions,” she said.
“We have some guests stuck in very costly Airbnb rentals who need longer- term solutions, domestic matters where one member of the household needs to move, properties that are in need of urgent repair that tenants are stuck in and so on. The revenue through VAT (value-added tax) from our transactions are a huge source of income for the government and it’s possible for us to operate under strict guidelines.
“We understand it won’t be a normal day in the life of a real estate agent and that very strict protocols will need to be implemented, but we can at least be of some assistance to our clients and generate some much needed income for the government purse.”
Nevertheless, Wallace-Whitfield said realtors are thankful, appreciate everything that the government is doing and understand the measures being put in place.
The post ‘No actual help for renters’ appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/04/29/no-actual-help-for-renters/
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