Landlord Cancels Rent For Hundreds Of Tenants So They Can Remain Home And Afford Food—He Has Earned Our Recognition

Apr 08, 2020 by apost team

Due the ongoing pandemic and unemployment crisis, Brooklyn landlord Mario Salerno said that he would waive all rent fees for the month of April for his more than 200 residents across New York City’s Williamsburg and Greenpoint area. The 59-year-old made the decision after hearing that his tenants were having trouble paying rent due to the global health crisis that has affected businesses everywhere.

Salerno announced the rent freeze on March 30 by posting notices at all his New York City buildings, according to NBC New York. The note read: “Due to the recent pandemic of Coronavirus COVID-19 affecting all of us, please note I am waiving rent for the month for April.” Salerno, who owns around 80 apartments, said that he wanted to put people’s health above all else.

“For me, it was more important for people’s health and worrying about who could put food on whose table,” Salerno told NBC New York. “I say don’t worry about paying me, worry about your neighbor and worry about your family.”

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Salerno is a native New Yorker who was born in the heart of Williamsburg on Metropolitan Avenue, and he became a figure in the Brooklyn borough after inheriting his father’s local gas station. Ever since then, he continues to be important community member given how many apartments he owns.

After the rent freeze announcement, Kaitlyn Guteski, one of Salerno’s tenants who has been out of work since she had to shut down her hair salon, described the Brooklyn landlord as “Superman” and “a wonderful man” after hearing about his decision, according to NBC New York. Because of her precarious financial situation in the wake of the government-mandated shutdown, she wasn’t sure she could pay rent on time — though at least now she doesn’t have to for the month of April.

According to Curbed New York, the city also put in place an eviction moratorium to protect tenants who are out of work and cannot pay their rent. That means that even if a New York City tenant does not pay their rent, your landlord cannot evict you for the next 90 days. However, in the event that a tenant doesn’t pay rent, they still owe their landlord the money eventually — regardless of the eviction moratorium.

The Curbed New York article also emphasized that communication between tenants and landlords is key. It was only after tenants contacted Salerno and told him that they couldn’t afford rent that he froze the payments. In other words, if you’ve lost your job or a source of income, it’s always worth giving your landlord a call to see if you can negotiate the terms of your rent. As Jason Wu, a housing attorney and a trustee for the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, says in the article, some landlords may even offer repayment plans to ease the burden.

In any case, the current circumstances require everyone to offer an extra hand in their communities and to be more understanding — and Mario Salerno did just that.

How have folks in your community helped in the midst of this global crisis? Have landlords in your area forgiven rent this month? Let us know and pass this uplifting story on to friends and family members.