Several retail clients and other business owners have reached out to us looking for guidance given the recent mandated shut-down or restrictions imposed upon “non-essential” businesses.
We have contacted many of our real estate industry connections to gauge what actions commercial landlords are taking with tenants who can’t pay rent.
Here are some quick tips based on the feedback we received:
- Maintain the lines of communication with your commercial landlord. Be proactive and reach out to your landlord to find out what options you have if you are unable to pay rent;
- Try to negotiate a reasonable solution that gives you time/breathing room until we can all get back to business as usual. Some landlords in the Philadelphia and surrounding markets are proposing a few options, such as:
- Option 1- allowing a tenant to forgo paying rent for 2-3 months, and extending the lease term on the back-end to make up for it;
- Option 2- allowing a tenant to pay greatly reduced rent for a few months, and making up the difference toward the end of the lease
- Consider obtaining a micro or small business loan to address rent or other monetary obligations of your business.
