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Hello everyone and Welcome once again to
another episode of the Selling
Greenville podcast I am your host as
always Stan McCune realtor here in
Greenville South Carolina and as always
you can find all of my contact
information in the show notes reach out
to me at anytime if you have any real
estate needs or any questions or just
want to shoot the I'm always available
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with doing things like subscribing
rating reviewing the more opportunity we
have to do those types of things today I
want to talk to you guys about what's
going on with covid-19 with the Corona
virus and the rental
markets there is a lot of concern right
now among landlords
about what is going to happen here
moving forward are they going to be put
in in a position where their tenants
don't have to make rent payments now if
you remember we didn't really discuss
this very much I think I alluded to it
in a previous podcast but early on in
the
covid-19 period the South Carolina put a
ban on evictions for people that had
financial hardship that were renting
that had financial hardship due to
covid-19 now that ban ended several
months ago and then in the meantime the
CDC has issued their own ban
basically on evictions for certain
groups of people that that meet certain
criteria the the way I understand the
criteria and I'm not a an expert in law
but basically the way I understand
them is that you have to have put forth
your best efforts to try to get
financial assistance financial
assistance you can't earn more than
$999,000 or not expect to earn more
than 999,000 in 2020 or
$198,000 if you're filing jointly with a
spouse you can't pay your full rent
amount because of lost income or
significant or extraordinary medical
expenses youve tried Tred to pay as much
of your rent in a timely a manner as
you can and lastly if evicted you would
likely become homeless and have to live
in a shelter or some other crowded space
so that's the CDC guidelines that go
through the end of the year and so
there's a lot of concern right now among
landlords that they're going to lose
rents and and perhaps some of them have
as a result of tenants that are
trying to G the system as much as
possible and so we're starting to see
some landlords start to sell off some
properties here and there I I think
there's also maybe some angst about the
possibility for a new Administration
what would a Biden Harris Administration
do would they really double down on
this and make it even more difficult for
landlords so I want to talk about
that for just a few minutes we're not
going to make this a long episode but I
have some thoughts on this right now I
have several rental properties myself
and so I can share some insight I've
got a lot of clients that have rental
properties as well and let me start
by saying this in South Carolina we are
one of the most landlord friendly states
in the US if you're looking to buy
rental properties South Carolina is a is
a really great place to purchase them
because of just the way it's structured
legally it really gives a lot of
rights to landlords now some people
might feel like there's not enough
rights given to tenants I think that
there are some some Fair points to be
made on that front but the reality of
the situation is from a landlord
perspective it's it's a great place
to own rental properties I always
recommend to landlords to be fair to not
take advantage of your of your tenants
but the reality of the situation is that
a lot of them don't and quite frankly
they have a lot more legal protection
than you would expect and there are a
lot of kind of Unwritten rules down here
because of how loose it is where there
will be situations where landlords
will kind of have an Unwritten rule with
the tenant that if the tenant doesn't
ask for repairs and doesn't ask for
things to be done they kind of tend to
themselves that the landlord won't
increase rent and so we see this a lot a
lot of times the properties that come on
the market that are rental properties
they have oftentimes two things that are
frequently in common among all these
rental properties that come on the
market one of them is that the tenants
are not paying Market rent probably
because they haven't had their rent
increased in 10 or 15 years and they've
been in the property that entire time
and the second thing is that the
property needs a ton of work done it has
a ton of deferred maintenance and the
Deferred maintenance these these two
things are related because there's this
Unwritten handshake agreement that if
the tenant doesn't bug the landlord with
a with a bunch of you know requests
for maintenance that the landlord isn't
going to do the maintenance but they're
also not going to increase the rent and
so I always tell my clients that are
looking for
rentals just so that you know the
properties that come on the market that
seem like a really good deal there's
something wrong with them they probably
have deferred maintenance they probably
have tenants that are paying way below
Market rent there's something wrong with
them you have to project what what
this property needs in terms of repairs
you have to project what type of rent
this property can bring in you have to
do all of those different things now as
I mentioned before I'm starting to hear
some chatter among and and we've heard
this for a while but I I feel I'm
hearing it more now than before that
landlords are really starting to get
nervous I think a lot of people thought
you know Co would be over by now and
that we wouldn't still be talking about
this I I think that the CDC dropping
their guidelines like they did and
and and putting forth this moratorium
on evictions is something that is
concerning people it does the federal
government have this type of authority
I'm involved in local politics around
here and I'll tell you this I do not
believe that the federal government has
that type of authority not not at the
moment and I and I really do not believe
personally that Biden Harris
Administration that they're going to
come in and supersede the states and
give an eviction
moratorito landlords it's very
possible that they do I'm not saying
that they won't do that assuming that
they are elected in it just to me
seems unlikely given that that would
really ultimately be determined by
States and and this is what it comes
down to right if there is an eviction
that happens that happens on a state
level that doesn't happen on a state
and local level that doesn't happen on a
federal level you don't go to a federal
court in order to appeal an
eviction or to make an eviction this all
happens on a local and state level so
ultimately the enforcement for all of
this happens on a local and state level
and guess what I've already mentioned
that in South Carolina and in Greenville
it tends to be very landlord friendly
now I have never personally run into
this situation but my understanding is
that if a landlord evicts a tenant and
claims that the tenant hasn't paid you
know say 3 months of rent or whatever
the case may be that there are frequent
instances of the tenants in order to
appeal that eviction they have to front
that money to the courts so they would
have to front the three months of rent
which could be thousands of dollars in
order to appeal the eviction well guess
what most tenants they don't have
that money what if the landlord made
that up what if they were paying their
rent and the landlord you know evicted
them wrongly and said they hadn't paid
for months what's the tenant going to do
in that instance the tenant probably
doesn't have that money to be able to
front in order to appeal the eviction
most likely the tenant is just going to
move on to another property and just
find a hopefully a better landlord
hopefully one that is actually honest
but that is at the end of the day what's
what's going to happen let's say that
you have a situation where a tenant just
stops paying their rent and they don't
have good reason they don't fit this the
covid-19 requirements or whatever the
case may be they're just trying to
you know use a system trying to skirt
skirt the laws trying to get free
housing most often the landlord is going
to be able to evict them and not have
any issues with my rental properties I
have not had any issues with anyone not
paying their rent and if I did I I would
just try to get them on a payment plan
this is the thing none of these laws
South Carolina
CDC statement or guidelines whatever
you want to call what the CDC did
none of these require the landlord
to forgive the rent and that's a really
important distinction so if the tenant
can prove that they've been they've had
their financial situation disrupted by
19 they fit these other qualifications
that the CDC put forward that doesn't
mean that their rent just gets forgiven
at that point that just means that they
can't be evicted or at least again
according to the CDC but we know in
South Carolina they probably can still
be evicted but let's just tease it out
let's just say that the landlord says
you know what I don't want to mess with
the CDC I won't evict them I want to you
know go ahead and keep them here and
work with them what what can the
landlord do now I'm not a lawyer so I
don't know
exactly you know from a law
standpoint but my understanding as a
real estate person as a realtor as a
landlord myself is that you can at that
point start imposing penalties for late
payments or for incomplete payments you
can at that point set up that person on
a payment plan so maybe
maybe they had to miss a month but
they're willing to make that up in
future months or maybe you say listen
I'll let you go three months rent free
but after that you need to your your
rent has to make up for that in the
three months subsequent to that or the
six month subsequent to that or whatever
the case may be get them on some type of
a payment plan CDC doesn't
apparently forbid that in the guidelines
that they put forward I know that South
Carolina when we had the the eviction
moratoriSouth Carolina did not forbid
that either and so the landlord even in
the worst case scenario here and and
again I don't think if if Biden
Harris come into office I don't think
that they will be any stricter than what
the CDC has put forward ultimately
landlords still have a lot of of power
to to do what needs to be done in
order to get paid it just might take a
little bit longer and there might be a
little bit more working with the tenants
trying to work out an arrangement with
the tenants trying to make sure that the
tenants are okay that their situation
is okay that there is a a plan forward
for how they will get caught up on their
rents but at the end of the day we're
in in a market here where there's a lot
of demand for renting on on all
spectrums I mean there's there's demand
for lowend rentals there's demand for
you know middle class rentals there's
demand for short-term rentals there's
demand for long-term rentals at the end
of the day that gives that puts the
landlord in the seat of power at the end
of the day there's a reason why the
word Lord is in landlord I know some
people don't like that I'm not woke
enough to to stop using the term
landlord I'm sorry I'm sorry if that's
offensive to anyone but the landlord
is that he is the Lord over that land
that he or she owns the property
on and at the end of the day South
Carolina really does tend to side with
landlords over tenants regardless of
whether that's right regardless whether
that's wrong that's just the way it is
and so I'm encouraging my clients hey
if you have rental properties don't I
don't think that we need to freak out
not yet at least nothing that has
been passed has really been a major
disruptor I know that some people have
had tenants that tried to game the
system I think that that's a a a
scenario where you need to screen your
tenants a little bit better try to try
to weed out tenants that have that
seem you know that have something in
their history indications that they
do try to game the system that those
are not the types of tenants that you
want to have to begin with and and
make sure that you get good tenants on
the front end that have good job
security that have good income
history and all of that those are things
that you can help yourself on the
front end avoid a potential disaster
like this when it when it strikes but
even with me I have renters all across
the
Spectrin terms of income in term some
on on government housing and and all
kinds of things I have not personally
run into any issues now I have a
property manager and she you know
obviously it's her job to collect rents
I'm I'm not good I'm probably too
compassionate I'd probably be giving
everyone you know months off of rent
so that's why I have a a property
manager so that she can be the bulldog
and she can take care of these things I
don't want to take care of but
there's also plenty of assistance out
there as well if you Google South
Carolina rental assistance there are
options for tenants out there make sure
that if you have a tenant that comes to
you that says that they're having issues
make sure that you Avail them of of
those resources and that you let them
know hey there are options out there and
and understand your rights as well again
it's not very clear these CDC guidelines
and whatnot as far as what
constitutes a false eviction during
covid or not are pretty vague and and
this is part of the problem is that
ultimately South Carolina courts are
going to have to interpret what what
the CDC put forward my understanding
is that mag rates in South Carolina
don't have to have formal legal training
now that might sound crazy but that's my
understanding I'm not exactly sure how
that works that's probably why we have
issues with our magistrates from time to
time but my understanding is that
they they don't have to have formal
legal training at least not in the
way that that is in other states so
you're having these people
potentially having to interpret the
law and that's not what the Magistrate
are set up to
do they're having to interpret the law
and they don't have training to do that
so I don't think that that is a
scenario that ultimately at the end
of the day is going to benefit tenants
I think that this is still a
situation where rental properties are
still going to do quite quite well and
landlords don't have don't have much
to fear particularly if they did their
job screening their tenants on the front
end that said there are going to be some
landlords that are freaking out and that
are putting their properties on the
market there are some rental properties
that are just sitting right now and
there might be some opportunities for
them as well you know particularly if
you're someone that is a cash buyer can
move quickly can maybe we can you know
potentially negotiate the price down
there are some opportun ities that are
out there and that are becoming
available as people decide you know what
I don't really want to do this anymore
I'm I'm worried that this could get
worse I just want to go ahead and recoup
My Equity move on and and take that
money and do something else with it
we're seeing that happening and so if
you're in a position to buy even though
it is a sellers market for sure I
anticipate that
increasingly some more landlords are
going to start getting nervous we're
we're starting to get notified about
property taxes as well people are are
going to be thinking about that not
wanting to pay their property taxes
and so here we go we have an opportunity
now that some properties might be
coming on the market there are some
off-market deals I just bought a c
couple of duplexes off Market there
are some opportunities that are coming
up
on and off Market with people that are
looking to to sell properties rental
properties that they have and if you're
in that market don't don't wait don't
wait to enter be aggressive be
aggressive right now this is the time to
be aggressive because people are
uncertain and uncertain times
opportunities arise and and I believe
at the end of the day that South
Carolina will stay the way it has been
it will be a con continual landlord
friendly State until things dramatically
shift and I don't see them dramatically
shifting anytime soon if you have any
questions about that let me know but
that is it we have a short one today
just wanted to share that little bit
with you guys to keep you apprised of
what's going on in the market reach
out to me all my contact information is
in the show notes as always go ahead
and subscribe review rate the podcast as
I always ask you guys to do and until
next time stay safe and enjoy the nice
weather outside
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