Ok ... I'll bite on it... I'm not sure what you are thinking but the "only reason" one should not have paid during that time was because they couldn't... then the govt had funds for them to apply for (with the landlords assistance) and if/when approved... the landlord was paid.

In NY it was up to a full year and could go another 3 months if they met certain criteria.

Many of the Ts heard "you don't have to pay your rent or utilities" during this time because no one could evict you or shut off your utilities.

It sounds as though you also were under the impression that no one had to pay you either.

That was the long answer.

Tomorrow seems like a great day to start filing evictions for non-payment. Following your state's laws of course.

Some got lucky and didn't have deadbeat tenants that cheated the system.

I think what he is saying that there is a federal LAW that says it must be escrowed. To say they don't have it means they pulled out the funds to buy other things.

If they are employed, why can't their funds be garnisheed until its paid?

mark,

Wishful thinking. In their absolute stupidity the officials who created the moratorium on evictions somehow thought people would catch up what they owe. Silly billies.

I don't know of any law or escrows.

Washington did give billions to states for emergency rent relief. I was able to get a lot of rent paid before they ran out of money. Find out if your state and local funds are still available.

You MIGHT take a stab at it it before you evict.

I have to agree with NE. While perhaps it wasn't done with MALEVOLENT purpose, everyone knew there wasn't a snow ball's chance in La Jolla of the tenants ever catching up. These are the same folks that in GOOD times the Lefty politicians moan about the fact that they live "paycheck to paycheck" and "can't cover a $400 emergency."

They knew they'd never catch up, but their philosophy was/is, "We gotta screw someone; screw the LLs." This is why I'm seriously considering getting out of residential landlording: the Lefty politicians use it as a weapon. In commercial, we had NO eviction moratoriums. No RAFT. No Govt interference. Once courts reopened (May 2020) it was back to business as usual.

I think now is a great time to at least diversity your portfolio if not completely swap it over. Commercial prices in my area are still reasonable (stay away from Retail, too much vacancy) and Residential prices are still up. Great time to sell, lock in those profits, and 1031-exchange tax free into larger, properties with fewer hassles and higher quality tenants and far, FAR less Govt intrusion.

Would it matter for you if the rent money was escrowed? The tenant you have TODAY is not paying rent. What do you do if a tenant is not paying rent? If it is escrowed - great. But the tenant will have to disclose that to the judge. Then you can try and collect.