A property management company has told tenants they have to "go into survival mode" and foreign renters who have lost their jobs to "go back home immediately".

Key points: Sweet Potato Living sent a mass email to tenants warning the eviction moratorium did not mean a "free ride" for renters

Sweet Potato Living sent a mass email to tenants warning the eviction moratorium did not mean a "free ride" for renters The company has since deleted its online presence

The company has since deleted its online presence The Tenants' Union of NSW says the email is not unusual and they have heard renters are receiving similar emails from property managers and landlords

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday night there would be a six-month moratorium on evictions, with most states set to bring legislation soon to make it law.

Days after the announcement, Sydney-based property management business Sweet Potato Living, sent an email to tenants at properties it manages warning them the moratorium was no excuse to stop paying rent.

"Anyone thinking this is an opportunity for a FREE RIDE, please think again," said the email.

The company instructed tenants on steps they should take to ensure they could keep paying rent if they had lost their jobs.

"Immediately seeking casual work in whatever capacity you can for the moment (go into survival mode)," the email read.

The e-mail also urged anyone who wanted to access the JobSeeker payment to start queuing at Centrelink immediately.

Centrelink offices around the country have had queues out the door after job losses related to coronavirus. ( AAP: Stefan Postles )

The company, which the ABC has been told manages several properties tenanted by foreign nationals living in Australia, also had a specific message for people from overseas.

"If you are from another country and have lost your job and have waited this long, YOU ARE BEING IRRESPONSIBLE FOR DOING SO!!!! Go back home to your friends and family and live through this crisis with their support as many non-Australians have already done," it said.

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'Can't get funds to live'

Hugh Scott, a tenant at a property managed by Sweet Potato Living, was relieved when he first heard about the Federal Government's six-month moratorium on rental evictions after being stood down from his hospitality job.

Hugh Scott said he felt the email was unfair and contradicted some public health advice. ( Supplied )

"Right now, I can't get the funds that I need to live," he said.

Mr Scott, 29, was shocked by the e-mail and said he thought it went against public health advice on social distancing.

"I don't know how I can find work, I worked in hospitality for years, I don't know what other positions are available to me and we're being discouraged from even going outside," he said.

"I think the way that they worded it was pretty out of line and insensitive to what everyone else is going through right now.

"Why do you want us to queue at Centrelink? Like, that's going against the whole idea of social distancing."

Another tenant, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was worried about how it will be received by many tenants from overseas residing in Australia.

"These people have no access to benefits," he explained.

"Essentially telling them to get stuffed and that they're lazy and should have gone home already, then mix that in with the fear of having no income and losing their home, my biggest concern is that the people who are reading this email feel betrayed and scared for their welfare."

Email not unusual, according to tenants' union

The ABC tried to contact Sweet Potato Living. Three employees declined to comment and a fourth — the company's operations manager — has not responded.

The company's website has since been taken down.

A slide from a website with a statement for people searching for a property to rent, it says "we have a professional and friendly team". ( Supplied )

Leo Patterson Ross, senior policy officer at the Tenants' Union of NSW, said this was not an isolated case and already he had received dozens of complaints from tenants about landlords demanding rent even when the tenants are unemployed.

"We have seen many, many emails that have a similar attitude," he said.

"Pay your rent, we're not willing to negotiate and pay your rent and everything about this problem is an individual problem that you're supposed to go and deal with as a tenant rather than a collective community trying to work out the best way to deal with it."

Landlords urged to sit down with tenants

Mr Patterson Ross said all levels of government would need to roll out wide-ranging protections in the coming weeks and months and urged landlords to comply with the spirit of the new laws.

"It is now up to each state and territory to implement a moratorium through their own legislative processes," he said.

"The important thing is that it needs to be a full moratorium because we want to make sure that there aren't loopholes, that there aren't ways for landlords to try and get around what the Prime Minister's announcement really was."

The Real Estate Institute of Australia said there was no place for rogue operators during the crisis. ( Pixabay: Sephelonor )

Adrian Kelly, president of the Real Estate Institute of Australia, urged landlords to sit down with tenants and discuss their financial situation.

"There is no place in our industry for rogue operators who don't look after their tenants at this point in time," he said.

"I have to say, I've been delighted with some of the behaviour of our property managers because we're all in the same boat at the moment."

As governments consider more measures to ease the pressure on households, Mr Kelly said landlords will also need some government assistance to cover their immediate costs.

"The property owner is still going to have some large debts that are going to need to be paid," he said.

"Land tax, water in most cases, municipal rates and all of that sort of thing."