With the moratorium on evictions and foreclosures in Florida was once again extended to October 1, Rob Stern authored the September 11, 2020 guest column for the Tampa Bay Business Journal offering practical solutions for lenders, bankers, landlords and tenants to avoid evictions, loan defaults and foreclosures as economic struggles continue to afflict their tenants due to COVID-19.
Data suggests widespread delinquency for rent or mortgage payments in recent months due to the pandemic – both nationally and at the state-level in Florida – and all signs point to continued missed payments for millions of tenants. “Several national studies have predicted a large wave of defaults and bankruptcies in the fourth quarter of 2020,” Stern said. “This wave will be fueled by governmental assistance running out and a delay in reopening the national economy. As a result, banking and creditor attorneys are predicting a tsunami of collection, eviction and enforcement actions upon the expiration of the moratorium.”
Because these missed payments can be detrimental to landlords’ business and, in turn, their lenders, it is important for all parties to use the moratorium to find solutions before it is too late. Some recommendations Stern outlines in the article include:
- Tenants and borrowers should contact landlords and lenders well before missing a payment to explain the circumstances and maintaining a pleasant, civil relationship;
- Commercial lenders and landlords can offer sound business advice to increase profitability based on their insight from other tenants and businesses dealing with similar problems; and,
- Consider options to make things easier for forthright debtors, such as payment arrangements, deferred or reduced payments, waived late fees, alternative payment plans, pushing payments to the back end at maturity or modifying lease or loan documents.
Subscribers may read the full article here.
