WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) has reported that 79.3 percent of apartment households have paid August rent as of Aug. 6. NMHC surveyed its network of 11.4 million professionally managed units as part of its Rent Payment Tracker metric. The latest figure is a decrease of 233,000 households, or 1.9 percent, from August 2019. However, the total number of those paying rent is an increase from July 6, 2020, in which 77.4 percent paid rent.
President Donald Trump over the weekend signed an extension of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that provides unemployment benefits for citizens who have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 outbreak. David Schwartz, NMHC chairman and CEO and chairman of Chicago-based Waterton, says that the CARES Act has been instrumental in helping millions of renters pay their rent.
“Over the past few months apartment residents have largely been able to meet their housing obligations,” says Schwartz.