{"id":57873,"date":"2020-03-25T10:49:47","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T14:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mileniostadium.com\/?p=57873"},"modified":"2020-03-25T10:49:47","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T14:49:47","slug":"landlords-fear-they-wont-be-helped-if-tenants-dont-pay-rent-amid-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mileniostadium.com\/local\/gta\/landlords-fear-they-wont-be-helped-if-tenants-dont-pay-rent-amid-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Landlords fear they won’t be helped if tenants don’t pay rent amid COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
When Margret Curlew found out that Canada’s big banks were offering mortgage deferrals of up to six months, she reached out to her lenders, knowing that some of her tenants were going to have trouble making April’s rent amid the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
But, she says, the banks denied her.<\/p>\n “They all said, ‘Oh no no’ this is only for your principal residence,” said Curlew, who owns several homes around the Golden Horseshoe.<\/p>\n Last week the federal government announced that it worked with Canada’s largest banks to give homeowners the option to postpone their mortgages for up to six months if they’re affected by the COVID-19 crisis.<\/p>\n The problem for Curlew and many others: The deferrals aren’t as easy to get as they seem.\u00a0They’re being given out on a case-by-case basis, and sometimes those who need the most help say they aren’t getting it.<\/p>\n CIBC, RBC, TD, BMO and Scotiabank all said that landlords have the option to defer their payments regardless if they carry\u00a0insured or uninsured mortgages.\u00a0A\u00a0few banks, including Scotiabank, give the option to postpone mortgage payments for up to three non-principal residences.<\/p>\n Curlew\u00a0says the only reason for refusal she was given was that she was trying to insure her rental properties, not the home she lives in.\u00a0But now that banks have stated rental units are included, she’s going to call her lenders again.<\/p>\n As it stands now, Curlew says she’s beginning to worry, because many of her properties are rented by low-income families. And though she has emergency funds, no one knows how long the COVID-19 crisis is going to last or what impact it will have on the economy.<\/p>\n “Now I’m starting to panic,” said Curlew.<\/p>\n “I don’t want to evict anybody, but if you’re not protecting [landlords], then by the end of this we might lose some of our properties,” she said. “Where will that leave tenants?”<\/p>\nLandlords could lose properties<\/h2>\n