Government Shutdown Persists As Landlords Defer Rents

Ever since the shutdown in the United States which begun on the 21st of December 2018, it is obvious that every aspect of  the country’s real estate industry have all been affected including federal housing, mortgage and related programs.

The National Rental Home Council, NRHC reported that a good number of the United States’ largest handlers of single-family rental homes are collaborating with residents who are affected by the government shutdown to cater for their needs which includes waiving late fees and deferring rent payment by landlords.

The NRHC president, Kevin Baldridge, stated in an interview that the present state of returning from work without paychecks is indeed a very tempting experience for the country’s working families.

“We are indeed very committed to helping all of our residents affected by the government shutdown because from the look of things, this could be the longest shutdown in the history of America.” Baldridge added.

Many of the operators which includes FirstKey Homes, American Homes 4 Rent, Front Yard Residential among some others have all offered deferred rent payment options with no late fees to all renters who have been furloughed and several of the companies’ residents have begun to capitalize on the option presented to them. Furthermore, any resident can rightly apply for the deferral by presenting a valid document of being furloughed.

Given the current trend of fluctuating mortgage interest rates, it is believed by some sections of the real estate market that renting a house in the U.S. is more beneficial than owning one. The shutdown however, can make rent and mortgage payments hard to meet, says Alexander Romanov and Viktor Rybachuk who are both real estate investors in Seattle and cofounders of iwillbuyhouse.com

The president’s inability to bring the unprecedented government shutdown to an end makes Donald Trump’s administration that with the longest government shutdown in the country’s history. The shutdown has lasted nearly three weeks and has affected millions of American working families and this includes more than 800,000 federal workers. It is estimated that about 380,000 federal employees in the country have been furloughed, while about another 420,000 are currently working without getting paid.

NRHC’s  executive director, Diane Tomb couldn’t hide the unreserved gratitude when she stated that the federal workers in their hundreds of thousands who are furloughed or working without pay are those who serve our country everyday since the shutdown in our VA hospitals, national parks airports, just to name a few.

“All of us at NRHC are exceedingly grateful for all of their efforts, and I’m proud that our members are putting their residents first during this bizarre shutdown.”

The current government shutdown has lasted for 20 days. If it continues past Friday the 11th of January, it will become the longest shutdown in history of America.