Working with tenants and offering rent payment plans during the current COVID-19 pandemic helped Virginia-based Capital Square collect 99% of multifamily rent in May, according to its top executives.
"We worked with our tenants who had issues with their jobs during these times," Louis Rogers, founder and CEO of Capital Square, tells GlobeSt.com.
Chris Hirth, the vice president of asset management for the eight-year-old company that has a multifamily portfolio consisting of 6,595 units in 33 Class A and Class B apartments primarily in the southeast, said Capital Square has made living conditions for its tenants in the current health crisis a top priority.
To that end, Hirth said Tuesday, the company has stressed "to all on-site managers that they need to maintain open and compassionate communications with all residents and they need to put in payment plans for those that need them because of the COVID crisis."
Those payment plans will be offered throughout the duration of the pandemic, both Rogers and Hirth said.
"The payment plans are pretty flexible and are tailored to each individual," Hirth said. "In some cases, they will pay half the rent on the first of the month and the other half on the 15th of the month. In other cases, some might do weekly installments." Hirth said about 10% of the tenants took advantage of the payments plans.
Rogers said the tenants are "grateful" to the company's offer of payment plans.
"They are not only grateful, but will remember that someone worked with them when they were in distress," Rogers said. "This is a different situation from a tenant trying to skip out on rent or on getting an angle on a landlord. We've all been hit by this pandemic and, in the grand scheme of things, we need to work with people to keep a roof over their head whenever possible,"
The main distinction. Rogers said, between Class A and Class B apartments are the age of a property.
"With Class A, we are talking basically about new construction, new apartments, and the newest style of building," Rogers said. He said about 90% of the company's multifamily portfolio consists of Class B apartments.
On average, Rogers said, tenants in a Class A apartment will pay $1,600 to $1,800 a month for a one bedroom apartment. They would pay about $1,000 to $1,100 a month for a one bedroom apartment in Class B.
The company has properties in 19 states, primarily in the southeast. The state's with the most multifamily units are Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina, Rogers said.
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Robert Storace
Robert Storace covers legal trends, lawsuits and analysis for the Connecticut Law Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @RobertSCTLaw or reach him at 203-437-5950.
