No rent money? No problem. Property management firm gives furloughed federal workers a break

Rachel Lopez of La Puente spent up a storm on Christmas gifts before the bad news came: She’d be furloughed. A month later, with no end in sight to the federal government’s partial shutdown, she was afraid she could be evicted. Then she got a letter from her landlord.

Don’t sweat the rent, it said. You can pay us back after it’s over. And by the way, would you like a loan?

Beach Front Property Management, a company based in Long Beach handling single-family house and apartment rentals in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, is offering to let tenants affected by the work stoppage forgo their February rent until 14 days after the shutdown ends, with all late fees waived. The company is also offering up to $500 in interest-free loans to those residents, to help them pay for food and utilities. The loans will be due with the back rent.

“It’s a tremendous relief,” said Lopez, 68, who lives at The Fountains Apartments and works in investigations support for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “It’s like I had a giant burden taken off my shoulders.”

As the shutdown hit its 34th day on Thursday, Jan. 24 – the longest-ever closure of federal agencies – it wasn’t immediately clear how unusual the company’s actions are. The California Apartment Association is urging landlords to “work with their tenants to find an amicable solution to unpaid rent” during the shutdown, as the association says on its website.

The CAA noted that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management has tweeted out sample letters for federal employees to send to landlords, mortgage companies, creditors and others, asking to pay a reduced amount or create a payment plan because they not getting paid during the shutdown.

Beach Front didn’t wait to be asked.

“We wanted to do something for these workers who are facing hardships through no fault of their own,” Kyle Kazan, Beach Front founder and CEO said in a statement on Thursday. “We know there are at least a dozen affected employees among our units, and maybe many others, who will benefit from our offer.  It seems small enough given the many services our federal employees provide all of us every day.”

Like Lopez, Ronnie Fitch appreciated the gesture.

“As soon as my check comes in, they get paid,” said the furloughed Department of Transportation secretary. Fitch, 65, has lived at her Beachwood Plaza apartment in the Hollywood area for more than two decades, she said, and has never been late with the rent.

But Fitch, who inhabits the one-bedroom apartment with her retiree husband, two cockatiels and a parrot, said she could see why every business out there can’t give people a break.

“I appreciate them doing it, but at the same time I do understand companies that might run on a very tight profit margin may not be able to,” she said. “I know there are some companies that are hurting very badly because of this shutdown.”