Keeping landlords, property managers and real estate professionals ahead of the curve.
In this edition:

  • Message from Daniel Bornstein.
  • Zumper offers a first-of-its-kind insurance policy to insulate landlords from instances of unpaid rent, and Daniel chimes in on the new product in this television interview.
  • Governor Newsom allows localities to extend eviction moratoriums. Discussed here, with an emphasis on San Francisco. 
  • Any rent debt accrued during the pandemic can be concealed from public view, making other aspects of tenant screening more important, we submit in this article.
  • Employees will soon be required to complete sexual harassment training. We stressed the importance of this in an earlier blog.

From the desk of Daniel Bornstein
Following Zumper’s launch of a pioneering rent guarantee program, I told a local news outlet that landlords should read the fine print and I offered a bit of perspective for property owners.
 
However novel the idea of an insurance policy for unpaid rent, it is no substitute for heart-to-heart conversations with tenants.

This spirit of compromise and concessions should also apply to commercial leases after Governor Newsom has allowed local governments to extend safeguards for commercial tenancies until the end of March 2021. You can get context in our latest article.
 
After hosting a webinar on the COVID-19 Tenant Protection Act of 2020, we expound on an obscure provision of the bill that will mask unlawful detainer judgments in nonpayment of rent cases regardless of the outcome. We discuss what the larger takeaways are here. 
 
In a new regulatory requirement we can live with, Senate Bill 1343 mandates sexual harassment training for employees by January 1st. Better to get it done now, and we highlighted the importance of this in an earlier blog. 
 
We hope this finds you in the best of health and spirits, and we renew our commitment to helping your real estate business weather these challenging times.
Rental platform Zumper says small landlords who rely on monthly rent payments to stay afloat do not have to lose out just because tenants are struggling.

Should landlords take the bait of an insurance policy? That was the provocative question Daniel fielded in this interview.
Commercial tenants gasping for air get another breath

The numbers are dismal for many Bay Area businesses that remain closed for the time being or shuttered for good. Governor Newsom allows counties and cities to extend eviction moratoriums, giving them a fighting chance to rebound.
Concealment of rental risks increasingly likely

Lawmakers rightfully reasoned that tenants who have been financially impacted by the pandemic should not be punished twice by being denied housing when we return to a state of normalcy. As a result of a provision in the legislation, landlords and property managers may not be privy to a rental applicant’s whole payment history. 
Sexual harassment training mandated

This should not be some added rule to comply with, but important education that will foster a productive and healthy workplace, while reducing costly lawsuits that have rocked every industry.
If you found this to be informative, please share with our fraternity of like-minded landlords, property managers, and the professionals who serve them.