Thread by @jonrshell

I am a landlord in Toronto with three apartments. I will be waiving rent for the month of April. I know that most landlords can't afford to do this but, for those that can, please do. #waiveaprilrent

If you can’t afford to waive rent entirely, any reduction will matter. Please consider lowering rent as much as you can afford for the month of April. We are all in this together. #waiveaprilrent

Even more importantly, if you’re a landlord of a commercial property, please, please, please find a way to help your business tenants survive these next few months. It’s unfair that this falls to you, but it falls to you. Local business is getting decimated.

Not all of my tenants will need immediate help, but as businesses shut down and people get laid off, many of them will. Many businesses and non-full-time workers just saw all their income completely disappear. #waiveaprilrent

I sent a note to my tenants asking them, if they have secure employment, to spend the money on local food delivery or buying gift cards to local stores. We need to keep local business alive. #waiveaprilrent

I want to be clear: I am very lucky to be able to do this. Some landlords need their income to pay their bills and won’t be able to. The government and banks need to step up and work with us to help everyone get through this crisis.

I am calling on @CanadianPM and the Government of Canada, as well as @TD_Canada, @BMO, @scotiabank, @RBC and @cibc to work together to defer property debt costs for the month of April, allowing more landlords to do this. It should be part of #economicresponse to #COVID19

To be clear, the mortgage relief currently offered by the big five banks is NOT ENOUGH! It will help some owners of property, but it will not help renters, who are most in danger in this crisis. We need to target temporary reduction or elimination of all rent. #waiveaprilrent

While we wait for an appropriate government response, if you are lucky enough to have rental property income that you can either partially or completely survive without for a month, please, #waiveaprilrent.