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 (41-50)
I contacted my landlord and asked him if he would waive or reduce the rent until this crisis is over, he said he has bills also. the best he offered was to pay half for April but in May pay the full amount along with April’s missing half. that’s not much help at all. I have applied for the EIDL loan. have not heard anything back yet. I hope the government digs deeper to help out small businesses in a big way.
I have three tenants in the commercial property that I own, and the two major tenants are businesses that I own and operate. 2 of these businesses, A Yoga Studio and a luxury women's apparel store, are closed. So while I can forgoe rent without evicting myself - negotiating with yourself can be just as hard......no one to blame and nowhere to turn....
We are paying April, but just mailed our check after letting our landlord know it would be late, but paid in full
Doesn’t seem right to share a story that is subscription only. WSJ is losing my respect over this.
We paid half rent on April 1st. We have not paid April’s other bills yet.
We paid our full rent for April and plan to keep paying full rent for a while. We have had no contact at all from the landlord and expect no concessions from him. All I have heard of is deferrals, so we'd have to pay it later anyway.
Our business is based our of our home. Still with very little coming in we too took the bank up on it's offer to defer our mortgage payment. We are currently working harder than ever. Our clients are important to us and so for those that need it we have deferred their payments to us for the month of April. This is a difficult time for many so we want to do our part. Together we can get through this time and come out stronger.
I hear it everywhere, "...we're in this together..." and trust me we are. I look around and ask myself, are we really? I hear, more often than I'd like, that landlords and banks are still asking for full payment each month and banks that deny "survival" loans to small businesses. My challenge and my question too the financial institutions is this, If we are really in this together let's ALL be in it together, it really is the only way our entire economy can come back.
I office within a medical clinic and am unable to see clients. I paid 1/2 of April rent. I am attempting to take my practice online. Referrals have dried up. People are not spending money for self care. I weathered 9/11. This is worse. I will not be able to pay May's rent unless things radically change.
I have been unable to pay rent due to lack of income. There are misconceptions by landlords that businesses are funded by the government now and holding on to the money. I have applied for 5 loan and support programs and have yet to hear back regarding any funding.