Wall Street Journal: Who's Paying May Rent
MEDIA COVERAGE | ARTICLE |
The Wall Street Journal asked us to create a special Pulse Poll on how small businesses were able to handle paying April rent, given the challenges of quarantines and the Coronavirus. Please read this very well-researched story.
(Published by The Wall Street Journal on April 3, 2020)
By Will Parker
About half of U.S. small businesses haven’t paid their full rent or mortgage yet this month as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a new survey suggests.
In the poll, conducted on Thursday and Friday by Alignable, a small business social networking company, about 30% of the more than 1,000 respondents reported making no rent or mortgage payment in April, while 20% said they had made only a partial payment.
The remaining half reported paying their entire rent on time. Only a quarter of respondents said their landlord or bank offered a reduction or deferral on what they owed. The survey was of companies with up to 50 employees, including retail, restaurant, auto-repair and other small businesses.
To see the rest of the article, go to the wsj.com site.
Please share your comments on the article below, as this is a very important issue we should tackle together.
Comments (11-20)
I have not paid my office rent for the month of April, my landlord isn't angry, she knows I applied for the EIDL Loan and I am waiting for a response! I applied for the loan the first day the SBA started accepting applications online.
I paid in full and in person. My landlord got tears in her eyes (and she’ s tough as nails) and thanked me because others didn’t pay.
We have not paid rent for April 2020. We talked to them and they reduced it for us but we have no money coming in so when we get the sba loan we can start paying again. We also applied for the ppp loan also no word yet. We have been open since 1962 and don’t want to close but this is really hurting us.
Our office is in the Penthouse of a major hotel in our city. The hotel is closed to the public and only open to first responders. They have requested all 6 businesses within the hotel to close their locations to the public. They still charged us rent for March and April.
Our landlord-asana partners- first didn't allow me to leave early nor allowed me a reduction or postponement on my very expensive lease. And by law my business is not allowed to be open.
My landlord of the run down shopping center in which I lease space has not been responsive at all to any deferment or reduction of rent in the face of most businesses being closed and mine a veterinary hospital down 75% in biz in end of March and now April. I am hanging on, not furrowing employees and not paying myself waiting for EIDL and PPP decisions.
We paid our April rent, however the may rent is in question. We have not heard from the landlord concerning this. But with no business and the type of business we are, no business means no money to pay rent.
I have had tenants pay only the common area costs for April if they required help
Like you said were all in this together!
Everyone will have to make some kind of compromise, some happy ,some sad.
Stay strong ,focused ,and safe.👍
Being a business owner for 50 years has taught me many things through experience, not always good experience I might add. One of those things is not having a plan is a poor plan. Most small businesses are very sensitive to positive, or negative cash flow. Often times the money that we have sitting in our own accounts is already spoken for. I decided the best plan for us was to take advantage of SBA lending, and any PPP grants, or relief loans that might be available. I have a responsibility to our customers and our employees to still be in business at the end of this pandemic. Some people have already trusted me with deposits. We have jobs in progress that have come to a standstill. Employees have trusted my business philosophy with their loyalty. Some peoples only source of income is working for me. So for those of you that are struggling on whether to apply for this assistance, I hope what I have done and spoken to you about helps you in making the right decision for you. The PPP grants, if used correctly, may not need to be paid back.
Happy Easter!