Landlord Decides Not To Collect Payment From Tenants For A Month Amid The Coronavirus Crisis

• Nathan Nichols owns a duplex apartment in Portland, Maine.
• With the current crisis due to the virus, he decided to pause collecting payments for the month of April from his tenants.
• His post on Facebook went viral and many are inspired by his kindness.

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A 46-year-old landlord from Maine has decided to stop collecting rent from his tenants for the month of April and it is inspiring a lot of people to follow his lead. 

As the coronavirus outbreak has become pandemic worldwide, Nathan Nichols has put to mind the welfare of the two groups of tenants renting in his duplex apartment in Portland. They will be surely affected by the closure of stores, restaurants and events since they are working hourly jobs in the service industry.

“I have two units and one of the units there is a young family who have a one or two-year-old child. They’re on a single income and I know that they’re really living on the edge,” Nathan told PEOPLE. “My other tenants are millennials who work at some venues and I knew they would also be impacted.”

“My thinking was, they might not be able to pay rent,” he continues. “If they’re not making any money, they can’t pay me. It’s not like they’re going to somehow magically get money if they’re not working.”

That’s why he decided to pause the collection of rent for the said month which will save his tenants hundreds of dollars they can otherwise spend for food and necessary items during their non-working days.

Nathan posted this good news on Facebook and it understandably went viral quickly.

In his post, he emphasized that COVID-19 will greatly affect those working in the service industry and as being on the privileged side—he also has a full-time job and emergency savings he can use in case—he does not hesitate to help. He also urged other owners like him to spare their tenants of the rent as financial assistance to their tenants.

Many people were moved by Nathan’s kindness and he was surprised by the amount of positive response he was getting on the internet.

“I’m really grateful to have good tenants who I can trust and are reliable,” he said. “I don’t want to lose them and I’m grateful to them.”

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According to the New York Times, 203,000 people and counting are now infected by the virus around the world. In the U.S. 7,048 cases were documented and 116 died due to the virus.

Nathan is glad to be of assistance in the time his tenants needed it the most. The key is always good communication between both parties.

“I really think that the more you communicate with people, the more you are able to humanize other people, the more they will humanize you,” he said. “Once you bring it out of the financial and into the human, then problems are easier to solve.”

Source: PEOPLE