A San Diego landlord has sent an email to his tenants criticizing the idea of a rent strike and putting in blunt terms that federal and state aid mean they shouldn’t be having problems.

He wrote the email in response to letters circulating at an apartment complex about a rent strike. There is a strike already happening in San Diego, but there are other planned strikes throughout the state and nation.

Renters and tenants groups argue many of them are out of work because of COVID-19 and that landlords are afforded more protection than them, with mortgage deferments and other options.

“Nobody really has a legitimate reason not to pay rent,” wrote Jeff Miller, CEO of Pacific Living Properties, to tenants.


A renter forwarded the email to the Union-Tribune calling it “tone deaf.” Efforts to reach Pacific Living Properties for comment were unsuccessful.

In the letter, Miller says many renters have a mistaken belief that mortgages are forgiven for landlords during the crisis — not that they eventually have to pay it back.

He said the company is sympathetic to job losses because of coronavirus but that federal aid programs should mean they should not be financially burdened.

“For those that did lose jobs the CARES Act was put in place by the Federal Government to enhance unemployment, to minimize the impact, and help you pay your obligations and necessities,” he wrote.


The San Diego Tenants Union, which is organizing the local rent strike, said the letter was insulting and an example of greed.

“What is it with landlords that fail to account for the fact that if tenants don’t pay rent they end up homeless?” said Rafael Bautista of the Tenants Union. “If landlords don’t pay the mortgage, they can defer. It’s not the same outcome.”

The union argues that many have yet to receive benefits and some renters simply have no choice but to not pay rent.

Pacific Living Properties, based in San Diego, owns or manages apartment complexes in Montana, Washington, and throughout California.


The letter seemed to have struck a nerve outside of just San Diego, with renters in Los Angeles and Washington complaining about it on Twitter and Facebook.

Pacific Living’s complexes in San Diego include Aztec Lofts, Aztec Pacific, Catalina Pacific, Elivia, Golden Pacific, Mission Pacific, Pacific Sands, Pelican Point, Talmadge Point and The Pacific at Mission Bay.

The average rent at the complexes exceeds the $1,200 check that will eventually be sent to most Americans as part of the CARES Act. At Aztec Lofts, where the tenant who sent the Union-Tribune the email lives, the average rent is $1,620 a month, said real estate tracker CoStar.

Other landlords have taken a more sympathetic approach, offering payment programs or, in a small number of cases, forgiving rent for a month.


The San Diego-based Southern California Rental Housing Association did not comment directly on the Pacific Living Properties email but has advised landlords to reach out to tenants and work with them to make payments.

It even sent out a sample letter it could send to residents that doesn’t say anything about forgiving rent but talks about working in good faith together.

Miller’s letter did say it would work with residents on a deferment plan, but the letter went beyond that. He wrote that Pacific Living Properties and renters must stick together as a community.

Miller included a quote from what he said came from President John F. Kennedy (although it is a contested quote usually attributed to his brother or other politicians): “If not us, who? If not now, when?”


On Thursday, Invitation Homes CEO Dallas Tanner spoke with CNBC about how it is working with deferment plans with tenants. He said it was prepared because it has done similar programs throughout the years during natural disasters, such as California wildfires.

Invitation Homes has around 80,000 rental homes, mainly single-family, and Tanner said landlords have to strike the right balance in coming weeks and months.

“We have to help folks and we need to make sure we are helping residents in a time of need,” he said. “At the same time, we need to be careful. If we put too much pressure on landlords — we have obligations as well, such as credit facilities, property taxes, Mello-Roos, that we pay back into the system.”

He said his company has submitted a proposal to the federal government to help tenants with various options, such as a short-term, interest-free loan for rent.


Rent strike movements are continuing across the nation and many are planning to begin in May. Some of the organizations gathering signatures are Rent Strike 2020 and the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, or ACCE.

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Read the full letter from Pacific Living Properties:

It has come to our attention that one or more organizations has been contacting our residents in an effort to promote a rent strike as a result of the COVID‐19 situation. They are operating under the incorrect assumption that an apartment owner can have his mortgage forgiven during the COVID‐19 crisis and that this justifies a rent strike. Nothing could be further from the TRUTH.

While it is true if you have a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac Lender, an owner can request a deferral for several months. However, that money has to be paid back before the end of the year. We think this would be even more difficult to do and we will take every step possible to ensure we pay our mortgage on time and current.


As a property owner, besides our mortgage, we have many other obligations each month. To name a few: utilities, payroll, landscaping and maintenance costs. Also in this state we have very high property taxes and of course the state is going to require those to be paid. We could not meet all our obligations if our renters did not pay rent just like you could not meet your obligations if you had no income coming in.

Ownership is sympathetic to the challenges COVID‐19 has created and we recognize some have lost jobs. For those that have not lost jobs there should not really be any economic impact. For those that did lose jobs the CARES Act was put in place by the Federal Government to enhance unemployment, to minimize the impact, and help you pay your obligations and necessities. For those who are unfamiliar with the CARES Act here is what it provides.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th‐congress/senate‐bill/3548

With the CARES Act in place this should allow most to get bi‐weekly checks, with the enhancement once it kicks in, of close to or even above their salaries from jobs that were lost, reduced or deferred.


While some renters may need rent deferment due to timing of receiving unemployment checks, nobody really has a legitimate reason not to pay rent, or to meet their other necessities, for lack of either wages from an existing job or cash from government assistance. This is why the CARES Act was put in place.

We recognize that some residents will need some deferment of rent so they can manage cash coming in and take care of food, gas and other expenses while they wait for checks to come in. We are sympathetic to that and will work with any resident who needs a deferment plan by contacting your leasing office.

We all need to try and come together during this crisis and we all need to meet our obligations the best we can. If we do not do that it will tear at the very fabric of our society and while it may appear to feel better in the short term it will create much bigger problems for all of us in the future.

This crisis, while it might not seem like it now, will end. Let us all work together to do what we are supposed to do even though it is not easy. Our government has asked us to do a very hard thing – “Stay Home except for essential businesses.” This has put many hardships on us in so many areas of our life.


I want to say, even though I do not know you personally, I look at our communities as neighborhoods and care about providing a good home for you to live your lives. Let’s stick together to get through a very tough time in our country’s history.

In the words of John F Kennedy:

“If not us, who? If not now, when?”

We can make it as a community, we can make it as a state we can make it as a country if we all do our part. Please stay safe.


Sincerely,

Jeff Miller

CEO, Pacific Living Properties.