For many Coloradans, Wednesday marked the first day their rent or mortgage payments have come due since the life-altering effects of the COVID-19 outbreak upended daily life in the state and cost tens of thousands of people their jobs or shuttered their business.

Like much surrounding the pandemic, a clear picture of the fallout may not emerge for some time, but in real-time, a contrast has emerged in the way some commercial landlords are navigating the hardships their tenants are experiencing compared to the reported behavior of some residential landlords

Denver shared office company Shift Workspaces is providing free rent and waiving all other fees for its more than 200 member businesses for April.

“We’re not charging anyone who is renting a private office or coworking or is a mailbox tenant,” company founder Grant Barnhill said Wednesday. “It’s 100% waived for this month.”

Over on Denver’s historic Welton Street corridor, real estate company Five Points Development Corp. is working case-by-case with its eight commercial tenants on how best each can get through what likely to be several months of disruption.

“We’ve been proactive in engaging with our tenants,” Haroun Cowans, the company’s managing director, said. “We reached out to them just to let them know that we’re here to talk and work with them just because we know the epidemic is outside anyone and everyone’s control.”

Cowans did not offer specifics on arrangements with any tenants, but he said that Five Points Development Corp. is dedicated to a long-term vision for the Welton corridor.

“Many of our tenants, they create unique opportunities for their clients and their customers and so our thinking is we want to see stability for these tenants,” he said.

Meanwhile, on the page for recently launched Facebook group Colorado Rent Strike and Eviction Defense, many renters shared details about their landlords’ hardline approach to rent and late fees.

“My wife and I are employees in the restaurant industry. We graciously contacted our apartment and was told that they are not waving late fees. All of our amenities are closed,” Westminster resident Clayton Rusich wrote. “We are tired of being bullied by the people that get most of our money just for a roof.”

Gov. Jared Polis has stopped short of issuing any orders halting evictions or foreclosures in Colorado during the crisis. Desiree Kane, one of the administrators of the Colorado Rent Strike Facebook group, told a Denver Post reporter last week she doesn’t see a path forward that doesn’t involve a wide-scale rent freeze or rent strike with so many unable to pay their bills.

Communication and negotiation are key things Don Eby is recommending amid the financial quagmire. Eby is a partner with Colorado law firm Robinson & Henry P.C., which handles residential and commercial tenant-landlord disputes. There is nothing preventing landlords from launching evictions but with many courts closed because of virus precautions and sheriff’s departments including Denver’s not enforcing evictions, Eby said working with tenants on payment plans or extended leases is the better option and may keep otherwise good tenants in place instead of creating vacancies.

For renters who are served with eviction paperwork, Eby recommends follow the legal process.

“People don’t like to get sued but just because a suit is filed doesn’t mean that they are automatically put out on the street tomorrow,” he said. “Tenants need to exercise their legal right to answer the complaint and demand a trial. That’s going to buy them time.”

In the cases of Shift Workspaces, this month’s rent waiver was made possible by preparation and a strong working relationship with a bank. About 18 months ago, Barnhill said he started saving cash sensing a recession might be near. He also secured some critical lines of credit. Last month, Alpine Bank reached out to him to offer to freeze his mortgage on one of his locations for three months, giving him the flexibility to support his clients.

Colorado Apartment Association spokeswoman Michelle Lyng has described rental housing as an ecosystem with landlords as just one part. Barnhill and Shift may have received a break from the bank, but many property owners have mortgage payments due this month. While the association has recommended landlords offer payment plans, waive late fees, avoid rent increases and take other steps to support residents who have lost income during the pandemic, Lyng on Wednesday also emphasized those who have not been severely impacted should pay their rent on time.

“If you can pay your rent, you should pay your rent because there are people out there who are incredibly, horribly impacted by this situation,” she said. “We need to preserve the resources we have to help those people.”

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