in a Pandemic

by Rob Chiang

Maintenance issues are all urgent now. Landlords’ cannot wait for the COVID vaccine to replace a burnt-out light bulb in the laundry room. A broken toilet can no longer be fixed when someone gets back from work at 5 p.m. It needs to be fixed NOW. Everyone is home. We rarely need to make an appointment since everyone is home all day every day. On the other hand, tenants are more willing to perform maintenance items themselves if we proved the materials. Some tenants would prefer that no third party enters their unit unless it is extremely urgent. Smoke detectors via Amazon.com have become a common item sent to a tenant’s front door. Carbon monoxide detector batteries, pest spray, and heater filters are just a few examples of items that tenants are willing to install/apply if we supple them with the essential materials. Maintenance is an essential business. Everyone needs a place to live. All tenants expect their included amenities to be fully functional. The main components of habitability include but are not limited to: heat/AC, hot water, cold water, power, water, sewer, flooring, watertight roofing, sealed doors/windows and openings. For example: If one of these critical components fails; a landlord should have the issue resolved or in progress within 24 hours.

Take Precautions

Every tenant and vendor should wear a face mask, gloves and use hand sanitizer before entry. Wearing foot booties is also recommended. This process has become quite standardized but is worth mentioning as a reminder. It is also a good idea to remind tenants to have an extra PPE supply for vendors entering the unit. We have also had some tenant s request that their unit be “sanitized” at our expense after a work order has been completed. When is a tenant being reasonable vs. paranoid? Hard to say, but just try and make the best decision for all parties involved. Ask tenants to keep a distance while the vendor is onsite. When tenants send a management company a work order they are usually pretty accommodating for the vendors. It is best if the maintenance situation is described to the vendor and then they are given adequate air space to work. We also prefer if the tenant is home to open the door due to the sensitive nature of people nowadays. Tenants are ultra-sensitive in this pandemic. People are home now more than ever. Your 40 unit apartment complex, (which previously did not allow business to be conducted on), now has 40 businesses running on multiple time zones. More cars are home, more utilities are being used. More garbage piles up. Mountains and mountains of Amazon boxes fill your garbage enclosure. You might have ordered an extra pickup and that is still not enough. Remind your tenants to chip in and break down the boxes. On the flip side, we have even fielded requests to stop cleaning the parking lot because dust was blown around the carts and nearby windows left open. Normally, the parking lot would be empty, and tenants would come home to a clean parking lot. Normally, windows would be closed because people are at work in a physical office. Now they are complaining about their cleanup job. It is an unusual situation. Best way to deal with this? Sympathize with the tenants and talk a solution through with the tenant and vendor. We also started remodeling a vacant apartment during normal business hours and our tenant next door asked us to stop. Of course, we do not want to interrupt our tenant‘s important Zoom calls, but we must find a reasonable compromise. We asked our contractor to work as quickly as possible and then we discontinued with the apartment turnover work.

Case Studies

Case Study Example 1.) Early on in the pandemic, at one of our complexes, we noticed the water bill doubled from the previous month. We immediately took a survey and exterior physical inspection and there were no reported leaks. We heard a rumor that perhaps the City did an estimate and would correct the mistake the following month. A couple of weeks later, we were contacted by a tenant who stated she had a toilet constantly running. Leaking toilets can be a horrible water waster. She reported the leak but would not let us enter until one month later. She had a terrible fear from COVID-19 due to a senior citizen resident in the unit. This put us in a difficult situation. Should we use the keys fro entry with proper notice? Will the tenant pay for the utility overuse? Is secondary damage being caused by the leak? After repeated requests to cooperate with us, the tenant finally committed to a firm entry date and the repairs wer completed. Luckily, there was no secondary water damage. Case Study Example 2.) California is burning again for how many years in a row now? Tenants cannot leave the house because of COVID and can’t open the windows because of wildfires. Are we now forced to provide AC as a habitability issue? Well, the apartment didn’t come with AC so you don’t have to provide it. However it is good to keep tenants happy. There are reasonably priced, through-the-wall units that run off 115-volt outlets. Some landlords have even purchased portable AC units that they loan out to tenants on extreme heat days. Some older properties combine multiple rooms on one 15amp circuit. One solution available to landlords is to first check your subpanel. If your unit is occupied and if there is space (empty breaker slots) on your subpanel, run a dedicated circuit directly below the subpanel. The tenant will then be responsible to run their portable AC to the desired location. In a show of good faith, the landlord has provided a plug that they were not required to. With an occupied unit, it is best not to create any potential lead-based paint/asbestos dust in the apartment. In other words, if the subpanel is in the back bedroom closet and the tenant wants their portable AC in the living room, don’t agree to cut, patch and paint 40 feet of drywall

Where: Zoom Meeting When: Wednesday May 19, 2021 at 6pm

FREE

Topic is Maintenance/Landlord Panel discussion Covid-19 Drives our Current Regional and National Economy

By: Cliff Hockley, President of Bluestone and Hockley Real Estate Services Executive Director, SVN | Bluestone and Hockley

Lest anyone be confused, COVID 19 is driving our current regional and national economy. The national election is over, and we have a new president and new legislators filling both national and statewide positions. Without overwhelming majorities in the House or Senate, President Biden will be trying to thread the political needle to save lives and the economy, at the same time. This is a critical time for all politicians and government agencies to cooperate with each other and deliver critical services to the American people.

General Overview

Economic risks are driven by the pandemic: •The Pandemic is still raging. •New virus strain adds more stress to an already challenged economic picture. •Most vaccines will not be available until mid to late 2021. •Many businesses are stalled or in a go-slow mode. •Economy will slow noticeably this winter. •As vaccines are distributed, the Oregon Governor is trying to get teachers immunized so students can go back to school. Unfortunately, the return to in person learning may not occur until the fall of 2021. •Once schools are in session, growth will accelerate resulting in a faster overall recovery. Parents need to get back to work. •The key is minimizing permanent economic damage and dislocation. •Air travel and leisure will come back once the majority

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of Americans and travelers from outside of the United States are immunized. Vaccination and negative test results as part of travel documents may become common.

Portland Has Not Recovered

•Lack of business and holiday travel is one of many reasons that Portland is struggling to recover. •In the Portland Metro area, most people are working from home that lessens foot traffic downtown, crippling retailers. •Downtown protests, civil unrest and the resulting national publicity have made Portland a less desirable destination for businesses. •Increased city taxes and additional rental regulations/ restrictions have not helped. •Rural employment is down 5.5% while Portland MSA employment is down 1.1 % from the same time frame last year. •The state expects labor and productivity to grow over the long run. •Job losses are predominantly focused in lower wage jobs, food, hospitality, etc. •Workers do not face good job prospects until the pandemic is over. •State and federal funding for unemployment benefits is critical. •Federal pandemic related (such as CARES Act and PPP) funding are positive for the state. Cares Act Is Doing Its Job. •Individual incomes are growing. •We are spending as much as we can. •Spending less on health, dentist and travel. •Excess savings in accounts exceed $2 trillion across the United States. •People are ready to spend when it is safe for us to do so. •People are chomping at the bit; cabin fever is real. •Asset growth and home equity growth is growing. •Further stimulus will help Oregon (continued on page 8)