Update: The Impact of COVID-19
#25 — July 1, 2020
Dominium has been focused on our business and operations during this pandemic crisis. These updates provide a summary of both rent collections and information that we have found useful in the work we are doing. We hope that our friends and partners in affordable housing find it helpful as well and will send other information our way as well. A collection of all previous updates can be found at   COVID-19 Impact Update .
New ALL IN Initiative
As part of our work to support residents and the economic recovery, Dominium is adding to its ALL IN campaign around the COVID-19 pandemic by pledging to increase employment by 10%. Dominium is ALL IN for hiring talent.  Learn more and please watch for additional information on this initiative to add new talent to the Dominium team.
Rent Collections—A Glimpse at July
Prepayments of July rent are trending below the previous 3 months tracked in these updates. As uncertainty regarding the future of unemployment payments and the pandemic in general increases, we are concerned that rent payments in July may deviate from previous months.
Rent Collections—June 28 Report
Dominium Rent Collection Report: Through June 28, 2020 we have collected 93% of charges for the month.

  • Cumulative receipts are up 1% compared to May through the 28th.
  • Cumulative receipts are up 1% compared to July 28th, 2019, the most recent month with the 1st falling on a Monday.

In terms of types of properties or receipts:

  • Resident receipts are at 92%, which is up 1% compared to May through the 28th and also flat compared to July 28, 2019.
  • Subsidy receipts are at 97%, which is flat compared to May through the 28th and up 1% compared to July 28, 2019.
  • Senior total receipts are 96%, which is up 1% compared to May through the 28th and up 1% compared to July 28, 2019.
  • Family total receipts are 93%, which is up 1% compared to May through the 28th and up 1% compared to July 28, 2019.
The chart below shows the distribution of properties on their collection performance in June through the 28th. Out of the 210 properties, 27 have collected less than 76% of June charges representing $0.3M remaining to collect while 65 properties have collected over 97% representing $0.1M remaining to collect.
The lowest collection category is primarily made up of Section 8 properties which are impacted by timing with changes between resident and subsidy owed charges. The below distribution excludes these properties and follows the expected trends.
Previous Dominium Rent Reports can be found here.

Dominium’s Brendt Rusten was featured on NMHC’s Rent Payment Tracker Weekly Update webinar on June 16th. He discussed our collections status of our affordable portfolio, our concerns about what the future will hold as the pandemic continues, and he highlights the success of Dominium’s management company helping our residents find resources to help them through this time among other topics.

NMHC found that 92.2% of apartment households paid rent (either full or partial) as of June 20th. This is unchanged from the same month last year and only 0.6% lower than May 2020. NMHC President, Doug Bibby, credits the government stimulus funds and unemployment benefits for keeping people housed during this time.
Housing &
Employment News
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development partnered with Coursera Inc. to provide training and certification programs for out of work Minnesotans and those looking for new jobs. The program is a relief effort in response to the pandemic, according to Hamse Warfa, DEED’s deputy commissioner of workforce development. Any resident of Minnesota, including undocumented workers, can sign up for the over 3,800 courses available by September 30th at CareerForceMN.com/Coursera.

Millennials are not building wealth at the same rate as previous generations and are unable to afford homes. A recent study showed that millennials have 34% less wealth than what would have been recorded for previous generations at this stage. They also only own 5% of the US housing stock, compared to 15% for Gen X at this point.

Metrostudy held two webinars about Today’s Buyers and What Has Changed? this past week. Today’s Buyers states statistics about what buyers are looking for today related to internet connectivity, solar power, air and water filtration, etc. What Has Changed? provides graphs and statistics on unemployment, jobless claims, but also how steady sales have been throughout the pandemic.
Economic News
Reuters reports that US consumer spending rebounded by 8.2%, the most on record, in May, but these gains are likely unsustainable as income fell 4.2%, the most since January 2013. With the Federal Government set to cease making additional $600 per week payments in unemployment benefits, and an estimated 26 million Americans to subsequently be left without income, many economists are calling for additional Federal Stimulus.

The International Monetary Fund is projecting a deeper recession and slower recovery than initially reported. They now anticipate global gross domestic product to shrink 4.9% in 2020, compared to the 3% that was predicted in April. The US gross domestic product will shrink 8% this year. Longer lockdowns in areas most effected by the virus could make recovery even slower.

Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Chairman, said, “Until the public is confident that the disease is contained, a full recovery is unlikely.” He testified before the Senate Banking Committee last week and laid out a framework for recovery, but since the coronavirus cases are increasing, confidence in an early recovery is fading.
SunTrust sent their Weekly Interest Rate Commentary noting that retail sales in May were above estimates at 17.7% compared to the 8.4% estimate. China and the US have seen a resurgence in cases, which has “spurred a risk-off trade.”
Pandemic News
This week’s episode of the Osterholm Update: COVID-19 discusses the epidemiology of the virus, measuring antibodies and possible immunity, highlighted racial disparities during COVID-19, and how best to communicate the changing science of COVID-19 to the general public.

A new Chinese study shows that antibodies in COVID-19 patients disappear after a couple months in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. The study focused on a control group of 72 patients, showed that over 90% of them had major declines in the antibodies within 2 to 3 months. The authors warn that it is “risky to assume that recovered patients are immune to reinfection, which may have implications for how long to maintain physical distancing restrictions.”

The US recorded the highest single-day total of coronavirus cases on June 24th with a total of 36,880 new cases. Prior to that Wednesday, the number of cases was declining with an increase mostly in the South and West. Four states saw their highest daily totals this past week (Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas), while cases are rising in over 20 states.

Reuters reports that scientists are beginning to uncover many new health problems caused by COVID-19, in addition to the acute respiratory symptoms that were originally associated with the disease. These problems include the virus attacking other organs, including the heart, brain, pancreas and liver, sometimes causing catastrophic damage. Additionally, COVID-19 patients have experienced strokes, extreme inflammation, and neurological symptoms ranging from headache and dizziness to seizures and confusion. While symptoms of COVID-19 typically resolve within 2 or 3 weeks, for about 10% of patients they have persisted for much longer, and it is unclear how long it can take to fully recover.

A new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the Black Lives Matter Protests did not lead to a spike in coronavirus cases. They found that the protests increased social distancing as some tried to avoid the protests, but they note that the spread could have increased among those who attended the protests.

Erika Lautenbach, Director of Whatcom County Health Department in Washington State, was interviewed by NPR last week and commented on her department’s findings. She said, "we're finding that the social events and gatherings, these parties where people aren't wearing masks, are our primary source of infection, and then the secondary source of infection is workplace settings." Her department has not been able to link a single case to the recent protest in Bellingham, their county seat, which they credit in large part due to the use of masks.
The CDC’s tracker of confirmed cases of and deaths from COVID-19 across the US provides the most up to date information on the spread of the virus.

IHME’s COVID-19 Projections page shows trends and projections of deaths and hospital resource usage. The graph to the right shows their projection for daily infections and testing:
Other Interesting & Helpful Resources
Major League Baseball hopes to start a 60-game season starting on July 24th. Months of failed negotiations have plagued baseball’s return. The players union is pushing back due to pay discrepancies and waiting to play 70 games. Players also must accept the league’s safety and health protocols in order to return to play. Due baseball’s slow return, the peanut industry is left on the bench with many peanuts grown for the stands sitting in cold storage.
State-by-State Actions
Schools:  Education Week

Reopening Status:

Construction Limits:
The European Union may bar Americans from traveling across its borders citing rising cases in the US and little control over the spread of the virus. This puts Americans in the same excluded group as Russians and Brazilians.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation note that more than 102 historic hotels in the US are reopening by July 4th after closing in March due to the pandemic. Each hotel has implemented their own sanitation guidelines.

BisNow reports that travelling by car is going to see a resurgence and help reopen more car-centric city economies compared to cities that rely heavily on mass transportation due to the nature of the pandemic. Transit systems around the world are seeing severe drops in ridership, upwards of 70%. A recent survey found that 34% of workers who used public transportation on their commute are now looking for other forms of transportation.

Following the demand for change related to the death of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter, cities around the country are working to reform their police departments, as reported by USA Today. Many major cities are either completely or partially banning chokeholds, including Minneapolis, New York City, Dallas, Austin, Houston, Seattle, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, Miami, and Washington DC, among numerous other cities. New York and Los Angeles are also cutting funding to their respective police departments to reallocate these funds for youth development, social services, health care, jobs, and “peace centers.” Greater visibility into disciplinary records and police actions is occurring in several major cities. Louisville Metro Council has banned no-knock warrants following the death of Breonna Taylor.

The New Yorker explores what defunding the police could look like focusing on a Brooklyn neighborhood’s antiviolence organization and their crisis management system (C.M.S.) teams. The work of “C.M.S. has contributed to a fifteen-per-cent decline in shootings in the seventeen precincts with the highest levels of violence” in New York City since 2017, according to the Mayor’s Office to Prevent Gun Violence. There are more than fifty nonprofits doing C.M.S work in the city of New York with a total budget of $37.4 million. This budget was just increased by $10 million by the Mayor to hire additional workers to their 150 full-time and 200 seasonal workforces.

Police chiefs around the country are now cracking down on racism and misconduct within their departments, following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Additionally, Police Chiefs in Atlanta, Richmond, Nashville, Louisville and other cities have lost their jobs or said they would step down as a result of incidents of police misconduct in their cities.
Resident Resources

Freddie Mac offers a Renter Helpline, which provides counseling for renters on budgeting, credit improvement and debt management. The attached flyer is available in multiple languages.

HUD has put together a guide and FAQ for Renters during the pandemic.
IRS Information on COVID-19 Checks 
Information on filing for unemployment
In an attempt to share what we know and are doing during this crisis, we are publishing a set of periodic updates for our partners and friends in affordable housing. We likely will do this twice a week or as interesting events dictate. Please let us know if you would like to be removed from this list.

Thank you,
Paul Sween & Mark Moorhouse