Almost 25% Of NYC's Stabilized Renters Didn’t Pay Rent In June, Survey Finds

Nearly a quarter of renters in rent-stabilized units in the city skipped rent this month, a survey from landlord group Community Housing Improvement Program showed.

It is the third month in a row residential rent collections have been at the depressed level, according to the group, which represents the owners and operators of more than 400,000 rent-stabilized units. Retail collections are still lagging far behind: CHIP members said 66% of commercial tenants didn't meet their obligations this month, after just 61% didn't pay in May.

“It is clear that the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are nowhere near an end. There are thousands of tenants and building owners who need help now,” CHIP Executive Director Jay Martin said in a statement. “Renters need a massive, federally-funded bailout or we will see families across our city suffer in unimaginable ways. State and city officials must also work with small building owners to relieve their crushing tax burden so they can have more flexibility to work with tenants that can’t make rent payments.”

About one-fifth of all the members surveyed, encompassing owners of about 100,000 rent-stabilized units, collected less than 60% of their residential rent collections, and nearly 40% of the respondents said they will struggle to meet their property tax bills due July 1. Almost 6% said they will not be able to pay any of their property taxes at all.

New York City is considering new laws that would allow property owners to put off paying taxes if they have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, but none have yet passed.

Across the country, 89% of market-rate apartment renters met all or some of their rent as of June 13, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council, which surveyed 11.4 million professionally managed apartments in the United States, an increase from the same point in May.

Meanwhile, retail, office, multifamily and industrial landlords across the nation told Bisnow earlier this month that June rent collections were largely on pace with the two preceding months, despite concerns rent collections would take a major hit as a result of the economic crisis.

The safety nets passed by Congress in the spring — such as bigger unemployment payouts, the Paycheck Protection Program and a ban on evictions in housing with federally backed loans — are set to expire at the end of July.