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Insurance costs for multifamily property owners increased significantly last year and have continued to escalate in 2020, making a difficult time even tougher for landlords. “In 2019, [property insurance] rates went up 10% to 40% in multifamily,” says Garrett Maloney, vice president at TBM Multifamily, a national insurance brokerage. “Many in the industry thought that…

Illinois is starting to award grants to renters to help them catch up on late payments. But the need far outpaces the funding available and more than 50,000 applicants won’t get help. State lawmakers set aside $150 million in federal funding to help 30,000 renters behind on payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More than…

Texas renters will now be given more information to help fight off evictions, thanks to a new order issued by the Texas Supreme Court. The court on Thursday evening put forward new statewide rules for enforcing a national eviction moratorium ordered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC order has been in…

Earthquakes are a constant threat in California. “The Big One” can hit anytime, and bring severe damage to vulnerable apartment buildings, along with death and injuries. Apartment buildings with a “soft-story” are particularly at-risk of earthquake damage. Soft-story buildings usually have a large, open ground floor space like a parking area, with one or more…

Investor interest in Tucson’s upper-end apartment complexes has been high for several years and, while there was some breath-holding at the start of the pandemic, millions of dollars worth of transactions have transpired in the past few months. Investors are focused on the high-wage jobs the city has gained in recent years, the low rate…

Some landlords and city councilors have expressed concerns about unintended consequences. Duluth Fire Chief Shawn Krizaj points to a small boarded-up brownstone apartment building at 631 E. Third St. as evidence that the city would be wise to consider that landlords should be required to insure their buildings. He notes that the vast majority of…

Apartment tenants with pending renewals are beginning to opting for short-term or month-to-month leases rather than long-term leases, according to the latest survey from the National Apartment Association, which found that nearly 35% of landlords said that some portion of tenants renewing leases signing short-term lease structures. The previous monthly report—this latest survey was conducted…

Under a broad claim of authority, on September 4, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) issued an Order (85 FR 55292) to temporarily halt certain residential evictions effective immediately until December 31, 2020. The Order provides in part that “a landlord, owner of a residential property, or other person with a legal…

While the recent CDC moratorium on evictions requires that tenants sign a declaration under penalty of perjury, detailing why they can’t keep up with rent payments and their efforts to seek assistance, the reality is that many tenants will still falsify their declarations. Even without tenant declarations, or with lawful reasons under the CDC mandate,…

The word “landlord” typically houses a negative connotation, particularly now as millions of financially strapped renters struggle to remain sheltered. However, I’ve been hearing from landlords who claim that tenants have been taking advantage of state and federal eviction bans while neglecting or trashing their rental unit. “My business partner and I are not able…