84% of DC-Area Renters Paid On-Time in May

• May 11th 2020

by Nena Perry-Brown

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Despite Depression-level unemployment, new data from the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) Rent Payment Tracker shows that renter households had an easier time paying rent on time in May than in April.

NMHC finds that 80% of renter households in the country paid rent on time this month, just a 1.5% drop compared to the households that paid on time in May 2019. 

Property management software firm RealPage found that 84% of renter households in the DC region paid rent on time in May compared to 71% last month and 88% in May 2019.

For DC proper, 81.5% of renter households paid on time this month compared to 85% last May. Because the tracker includes households that made partial payments, the higher rate could be the result of more renters securing payment plans with their landlords.

Payment habits aside, there continues to be a push for federal rent relief from tenants, tenant organizers, and the multifamily industry.

"We are in uncharted waters and will be watching this closely over the course of the month as millions of households will not be able to access unemployment benefits, and those who have may find that they are not enough to cover rent plus all the other financial pressures caused by this crisis,” NMHC president Doug Bibby said in a statement. “Those benefits will also likely fall short in high-cost areas. That’s why we are calling on Congress to include $100 billion in direct renter assistance in the next pandemic relief package.”

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/more-dc-area-renters-paid-on-time-in-may/16818.