We're all in this together. Suspend rents and mortgages for 90 days.

In four days rent will be due for renters and mortgages will be due for homeowners. With the majority of us unable to earn money and the economy shut down, we must suspend rents and mortgages. As a REALTOR? my work is not essential and my income has stopped. Just like most of my clients.

This week I have spoken to the owners of small businesses in the community who have now been shut down for weeks. They cannot pay their commercial rent. I have talked to friends who are servers, bartenders, retail workers, and more. They cannot pay rent or mortgages. Landlords are sending out emails to tenants telling them they must pay rent, but with folks not being paid and out of a job for an indefinite period of time, are they to choose rent or mortgages over food and prescriptions?

It’s been widely reported that commercial tenants across the world see this crisis for what it is and have been alerting their landlords that they will not pay rent. Famously, in the United States, Cheesecake Factory implored their landlords in a letter that was made public, “I am asking for your patience and, frankly, your help.”

If the commercial tenants of the world are not ashamed to ask for rent suspension in these unprecedented times, then renters, homeowners, and small businesses should not be either. 

One of the phrases that has been most comforting for me as this crisis has evolved is: “We’re all in this together.” We are interconnected as humans and, it seems, as participants in the American economy. 

While in some places communities have taken the very first steps of passing eviction moratoriums- it is simply not enough to prevent landlords from evicting tenants who are barred from earning money for a period of 90 days; since this will result in a period of mass evictions due to owed rent. We must work together to ensure that all rents and mortgages are suspended for 90 days so that no one gets behind and no one is punished for doing the right thing for our country and staying home. 

We must use our voices, leverage our connections, professional associations, unions, and social networks to call for a 90-day suspension of rents and mortgages. 

Action Steps:

• Post on social media. Lend your voice. This is a radical idea for many, but we are in unprecedented times. A 90-day suspension of rents and mortgages is not a radical solution, it is the bare minimum. Tag your elected representatives and local leaders who can help amplify your message.
• Ask your friends and connections one-on-one if they are having trouble paying rent or mortgages. Many folks are in serious financial trouble being unable to work. Ask them to call and email their representatives.
• Do you belong to a trade union, organization, or professional association? If so, leverage the power of your group’s voice to lobby your representatives.
• Does your organization already have paid lobbyists? For example, The National, State, and Local Associations of REALTORS all have paid lobbyists on staff. Make sure your associations know you want a suspension of rents and mortgages for 90 days during the pandemic shutdown.

Here is the email I sent to my local, state, and national association today:

Dear ,

As of this writing we are four days from the day rent and mortgage payments are due in the US. REALTORS? and our clients across the country are unable to work. The need for our advocacy on behalf of renters, homeowners, and landlords is greater than ever before. 

Our REALTORS?, clients, community members who rent, and landlords need more than what is being done for them. We need a 90-day suspension of rents and mortgages so that people are housed during this crisis and not going into inescapable debt.

Some communities have taken the very first steps of passing eviction moratoriums. It is simply not enough to prevent landlords from evicting tenants who are barred from earning money. We must work together to ensure that all rents and mortgages are suspended for 90 days so that no one gets behind and no one is punished for doing the right thing for our country and staying home.

Please use our influence as an association to call on our political leaders to suspend mortgage and rents for 90 days.

Sincerely,

Marguerite Martin

Windermere Professional Partners

REALTOR? since 2005

Marguerite Martin, Founder of MoveToTacoma.com is a real estate agent in Tacoma, WA . As a real estate "Matchmaker," she specializes in connecting real estate clients to the perfect agent in Tacoma and across the country. Learn more at Meet Your Guide.