Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • November 2, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal 7 be needed, perhaps ten times more. That's likely going to require ad- ditional federal assistance, the pros- pects of which remain uncertain given the upcoming presidential election and gridlock in Congress. "There's a lot speculation obviously as to how to close the federal govern- ment is to an additional stimulus," said Cecil Thomas, a housing attor- ney with Greater Hartford Legal Aid who represents low-income tenants in eviction proceedings. "Assistance right now is really important and I'm not sure allowing the eviction system to go forward again is the best way to deal with the issues we're trying to deal with in the midst of a pandemic." Landlords in Connecticut and else- where have sued to overturn state- level and federal eviction bans, alleging they are unconstitu- tional, but those challenges so far have not found much success. Several lawsuits challenging an eviction moratorium issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in September remain ongoing in federal court. Tighter standards Mouta says some of his tenants stopped paying rent as early as March, when COVID-19 reached Connecticut. With no avenue for evicting them, he's tightened his standards for any new prospective tenants — doubling security deposits and increasing the minimum acceptable credit score. "There are a lot of people who would be qualified, but now they're out of housing because we can't take a chance," Mouta said. "Everyone is doing that because it's all we've got." Those actions are meant to blunt the impact of falling rent collections, but they have other consequences. "It's slowed down rentals, so there's higher vacancy," Mouta said. He said most of his tenants had jobs when they moved into their units, so if they became unemployed due to the pandemic, they've still not paid him despite likely collecting un- employment benefits, which between late March and late July were $600 a week higher than normal due to federal stimulus funds. For Mouta, a big issue with those not paying rent is they haven't communicated with him. "No one has come to us and said 'hey I was making $800, now I'm only making $600," he said. "There's a sense of law- lessness. There are no conse- quences." Mouta said he's cut back on cleaning his buildings and is delaying some planned repairs or im- provements. Erin Kemple, executive direc- tor of the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, said she is sympathetic to landlords who are hurting financial- ly because of the pandemic, but she urged caution about any narrative suggesting that tenants are choos- We help guide your business like it is our business. Meet our team at bankatpeoples.com/businessteam Big-time business solutions. That's huge Member FDIC/Member DIF Hartford apartment market to take a breather in 2021 By Matt Pilon mpilon@hartford- business.com H artford's usually active apartment devel- opment market is set to take a pause in 2021. For the first time in several years, the quasi- public Capital Re- gion Development Authority (CRDA) has no new multi- family projects coming online. Several projects began leasing over the summer and fall, and the next batch of new rental units — including in Downtown North near Dunkin' Donuts Park and on and around Pratt Street — are expected to debut in 2022. "We're not really putting anything on the market next year," said CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth. That's mostly a good thing, Fre- imuth said, because it will provide time for the city's apartment market to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic and absorb vacancies that persist at several recently completed projects. CRDA's multifamily portfolio, which has 24 apartment buildings contain- ing nearly 2,000 units, experienced challenges over the spring and sum- mer due to some projects running into pandemic-related construction delays. Also, leasing activity slowed and va- cancies increased at some properties. As a result, three CRDA-backed apartment developments last month were granted loan modifications or payment deferrals, while another recently completed project — the $21-million, 66-unit Hartford Car- riage House apartments on Allyn Street — was granted a deferral on interest payments. Increased vacancy rates in CRDA's mostly downtown multifamily portfolio have come down in recent months, Freimuth said, and for the most part, CRDA-backed properties are holding up fairly well. "Most of our rental levels are hold- ing steady and most of the buildings are coming out of whatever funk they were coming into," Freimuth said. "What we saw on Oct. 1, when we did a quick inventory and survey of our stock, many buildings have come back above 90% [occupancy] again." He attributes that to a mix of pent- up demand, people adjusting their behavior after living through more than seven months of a still-ongoing pandemic, and the fact that leasing activity tends to pick up in the fall. Landlords have trimmed their rates for building amenities and parking, in some instances, but Freimuth said few have reduced asking rents. CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth says there are no new apartment projects backed by his agency set to come online in 2021. Continued on page 8 >> PHOTO | HBJ FILE Hartford developer Carlos Mouta says some of his tenants are choosing not to pay rent amid the pandemic. PHOTO | HBJ FILE

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