The response measures taken in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic began to be felt in earnest in March for much of the US multifamily industry. ALN is conducting an ongoing survey of more than 60,000 conventional properties around the United States in effort to understand to what extent on-time full rent payments are being made and what measures properties are taking to work with their residence during this challenging and unprecedented period.

Our first look at this data will focus on Texas and all numbers are derived from the responses of about 500 conventional properties of at least 50 units.

April Rent Collection Percentage

An average of 81% of residents paid their rent on time in April across the Texas properties surveyed by ALN. There was a fair bit of difference between the major Texas markets. An average of 78% of residents in responding San Antonio properties paid April rent on time, with the Houston market being less than 1% above that. In Greater Dallas – Fort Worth that percentage was about 82% and Austin led the way at 88%.

Change from March Rent Collection

ALN asked properties to indicate whether on-time April rent collections were equal, somewhat lower or significantly lower than in March. 29% of respondents answered that April rent collections were equal to March, 48% answered that payments were somewhat lower and 23% said payments were significantly lower.

For properties that indicated on-time April rent payments were equal to those in March, 90% of residents paid April rent. In properties that indicated rent collections were somewhat lower in April than in March, an average of 83% of residents paid rent on time in April. For properties that saw a significant reduction in April payments, an average of 66% of residents paid rent on time.

Common Options Being Offered by Properties

The most common measure taken by properties of those options included in the survey was to waive late fees. 89% of responding properties waived late fees for residents in April. Another common response by operators was to develop and offer payment plans to residents in need. 78% of surveyed properties indicated this is something being offered.

There were also some less common steps taken by properties across Texas. 13% of respondents indicated they were offering rent deferments of some kind and 9% of properties extended the term of some leases. Less than 1% of properties offered a rent forgiveness option to residents. Lastly, 4% of properties did not offer any of the above special arrangements to residents.

While a small minority of properties offered special arrangement of some kind to all residents, most respondents indicated arrangements were offered more selectively.

Takeaways

At about 78% each, the Houston and San Antonio markets were harder hit than Austin and Dallas – Fort Worth in terms of the overall percentage of residents that paid rent on time in April.

Almost one-quarter of surveyed conventional Texas properties reported a significant decrease in on-time rent payments in April compared to March. On average, only 66% of residents in those properties paid full rent on time in April.

The most commonly reported measures being undertaken by properties to assist residents are the waiving of late fees and the development of payment plans. Overall, 96% of responding properties indicated they were offering some sort of special arrangement to residents.