Residents in buildings owned by the Kelson Group are eligible for rent discounts, deferrals and maybe even forgiveness.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK / Kelson Group
March 31, 2020 - 5:05 PM
One Kamloops-based property management business is offering rent discounts and flexibility of payments due to the current global pandemic.
Kelson Property Management, which is the largest residential rental property management company in Kamloops and has locations in Kelowna and across western Canada, is putting rent incentives, deferrals and perhaps even forgiveness in place for those who are financially affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
Jason Fawcett, vice president of operations with the company, says they have introduced a five per cent discount for those who can pay their rent on April 1, and are encouraging other residents to make the company aware of their financial situation.
“The (five per cent) incentive is for those residents who are able to pay their rent on April 1. For those that aren't able because of the current crisis that we’re in, we’re offering payment plans and want to have discussions with them about what they can do until they are able to access any other assistance that the government is offering,” Fawcett says.
Fawcett says they expect over half of their residents across B.C. and Alberta to pay their rent in full tomorrow, but says there needs to be other options in place for those with financial stressors.
“We’re not wanting to make anyone homeless. We want to give people options to see how we can get through the next few months together,” Fawcett says.
Although the federal and provincial governments are offering assistance through unemployment insurance and other systems, Fawcett recognizes that not everyone may be eligible.
“That’s what we sincerely want to do for our residents who have no other sources of income, and we know that there's a handful that may not be able to access services from the government,” Fawcett says. “We do expect that we're going to have some rent that we're going to have to forgive. Whether that's a small portion or a large portion, we’re willing to talk to people about their situation.”
Fawcett says they haven’t yet determined if there will be any cap on how much of one’s rent may be deferred or forgiven, and says they will figure that out as the situation unfolds.
“We’re not certain the extent of how many people are going to be seriously affected by what happened and how the government benefits are really going to work out… we’ll consider some rent forgiveness for April, and then we'll see what it looks like in May.”
If you rent a property owned by Kelson Group, you’re able to access an application for rent deferrals or decreases by going online or speaking with the building manager.
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