In mid-September, we sent a survey to over 22,000 active TurboTenant landlords to gain insights into how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their rental process, specifically regarding marketing, tenant screening, rent payments, and evictions. We conducted the survey between September 10th – September 14th.
Key Takeaways:
- 77% of landlords received full rent payments in August
- 73% of landlords received full rent payments in September
- Just 47% of landlords with 21+ units received full payments in August, that number went to 38% in September
- 31% of landlords reported implementing more stringent pre-screening criteria to limit the number of showing to pre-qualified tenants
- 19% of landlords have increased the minimum credit score required for a new tenant
- 7% of landlords reported they would like to evict their tenants for non-payment, but can’t due to an eviction moratorium
Rent Payment Data
Full Payments
Our first questions centered around rent payments for August and September. In our previous surveys, rent payments for April, May, and June were reported at 65%, 61%, and 63% respectively. The data reported for August and September is encouraging with 77% and 74% of landlords receiving the full rent amount from their tenants. See below for further analysis.
No Payment
Eleven percent of landlords did not receive rent in August, and 14% of landlords did not receive rent in September. This is an improvement from data reported in April, May, and June with 20%, 21%, and 19% of landlords reporting they did not receive rent payments from tenants.
Partial Payment
Nine percent of landlords received partial payments in August, and 10% of landlords received partial payments in September. Partial payments reported for April, May, and June were similar to August and September, with 11%, 12%, and 12% respectively.
Payment Plans
Only 2% of landlords set up payment plans for their tenants in both August and September. These amounts remain consistent with April, May, and June at 2%, 3%, and 3%.
Rent Cancellation
Rent cancellations were down two points across the board, with 1% of landlords reporting they canceled rent for August and September.
Rent Payments by Number of Units
We distilled the data further to see how landlords in various unit categories were affected. First, we will break down the respondents per unit size. Seventy percent of respondents own 1-4 units, 17% own 5-10 units, 8% own 11-20 units, and 5% of respondents own 21 or more units.
August
Here is a breakdown of who fared best in each payment category for August.
Full Payment – Landlords with 1-4 units
Partial Payments – Landlords with 21+ units
Set-up Payment Plans – Landlords with 11-20 units
No Rent Received – Landlords with 1-4 units as well as the 5-10 unit landlord
September
Here is a breakdown of who fared best in each payment category for September.
Full Payment – Landlords with 1-4 and 5-10 units
Partial Payments – Landlords with 21+ units
Set-up Payment Plans – Landlords with 21+ units
No Rent Received – Landlords with 21+ units
Rent Payments by State
The top five states our survey respondents own rental property in are: California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, and Washington. We’ve broken down the data by categories below.
August
Full Payment – Colorado reported the most rent payments received in full at 85%
Partial Payments – Florida had the most partial payments received at 23%
Set-up Payment Plans – Illinois landlords set up the most payment plans at 23%
No Rent Received – Florida landlords were hit the hardest in this category, with 23% reporting they received no rent payments
September
Full Payment – Colorado reported the most rent payments received in full at 85%
Partial Payments – Florida had the most partial payments received at 23%
Set-up Payment Plans – Illinois landlords set up the most payment plans at 23%
No Rent Received – Florida landlords were hit the hardest in this category, with 23% reporting they received no rent payments
Rental Trends During COVID-19
We also asked landlords how their processes have changed at various stages of the rental process, specifically around marketing, tenant screening and evictions.
New Technology – What will landlords need most in the future?
Our final question centered around new technologies landlords might want in the future to meet the changing needs of the market and potential tenants. They overwhelmingly reported that virtual tours and having the ability to market, show, and rent their properties in an entirely virtual environment was their top priority. This would enable them to avoid any downtime in filling vacancies and more easily navigate variances in the comfort levels of in-person transactions and showings.
