Last edited Sat Mar 28, 2020, 06:50 PM - Edit history (2)
I don't see how you get around it. Evictions? How do you search for a place to live in an era of social distancing?
Landlords, property owners, capitalist REITs took risk when they bought their assets. It's very unfortunate, coronavirus is not something they could have imagined, but rent shortfalls for whatever reason kind of go with the territory. It can happen, it does happen. Often. And it's probably a tax deduction (lost rent), certainly temporary, and therefore an exercise of government's power of taxation. Governments tax real estate, in some states government taxes the value of assets (stocks and bonds), just as the theory of negative interest rates charges a fee on standing assets. Proposals are being floated to also tax cash: make it illegal to spend it, you can only deposit it in a bank, and when you do they charge a percent for the privilege of depositing it. So pretty much if there is a policy the government wants to implement, they can find a way to pay for it, and since tax revenue comes from the people, they levy a tax or fee. This has long been an established power of government.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fries%27s_Rebellion
The state of NJ has already delayed mortgage payments in NJ for 3 months, dozens of lenders have signed onto the program.
Few seek a new place to live in the coronavirus era, so if non-paying tenants were evicted they'd be out in the streets and the units would remain empty.