In response to “MaineHousing director: No one should lose their home because of COVID-19” (March 27):
I am an attorney in Sanford frequently representing landlords in eviction matters. Most of my clients own only one or two rental properties and rely on the rental income to pay the mortgage on that property. Very few of them make any profit whatsoever – most break even.
Although I do not advocate for evicting tenants during a time of international crisis, one of my current clients has a tenant who has not paid rent since January. A notice to quit was served on the tenants in mid-February, and then the courts closed for all non-emergent matters.
My client is working five jobs just to keep up with the mortgages on the property where she resides and the single rental property she owns, and there is nothing she can do to remove the delinquent tenants for at least another five weeks. That’s a $5,200 hit to this landlord just in lost rent alone. This has created an untenable situation for her.
Left out of the analysis in this column is the impact that the court’s closure to eviction matters has on those who can little better bear the cost of tenants who cannot pay or choose not to pay rent for several months at a time.
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