Rent is due tomorrow in Windsor-Essex and here is what to do

April 1 is rent day for many and that means uncertainty for landlords and tenants facing financial pressures in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many people are out of work, and some are unsure whether they will be able to scrape together the money.

Premier Doug Ford has reiterated several times in the past week: "No one should be kicked out of their home or rental apartments based on not being able to pay their rent."

Evictions have been halted in Ontario as the Landlord and Tenant Board has suspended all hearings for the duration of the outbreak.

However, Ford has been quick to say anyone who is able to pay their rent should, adding "this doesn't give a free pass to people."

Chris Hall, a paralegal in Windsor who represents both landlords and tenants, said tenants should do their best.

"The attempt to try and make payment, to try and make negotiations with your landlord, to figure out, 'How can I make this so we're both in the same boat?' because what's going to happen three or four months from now, we're all going to be standing at the landlord tenant board where these people are owing three and four months' rent," said Hall.

The province's website is unclear on how to handle this, saying only: "We encourage landlords and tenants to work together during this difficult time to establish fair arrangements to keep tenants in their homes."

The province has the most control over rent. But it's unclear if its relief plans will help.

Hall said landlords still have to make mortgage payments and cover the cost of maintenance. He's concerned that if many tenants aren't paying up, it could lead to problems down the road.

Hall suggests landlords should also reach out to tenants and offer a deferral payment system or weekly payments.

"We all know everyone has been hit with the same problem," said Hall. "Let them know where you sit and see if there's some sort of payment plan you can work out."

Transparency is key, says one landlord

Natasha Feghali, a landlord in Windsor who co-owns multiple properties, said she has set up different plans for her tenants who may be temporarily laid off and can't meet normal demands and would work with them on a case by case basis.

"I have created an excel sheet for all the homes and for all the tenants and we just plug in the numbers into there. Say, perhaps, their rent is 1200 this month, if they can only pay 500, that 700 will be deferred to the next month," she said, adding that she would consider forgiving some of the accrued rent due.

"If the tenant is getting further and further behind ... that's so difficult to catch up on," she said. "We want to keep our great tenants. We don't want to see them homeless. We don't want to cause even more issues for anyone who's renting who might even lose their job."

Feghali said it's key for landlords and tenants to be transparent with one another.

"We just want to ensure people are being clear, open and honest with us," she said. "The real basis is to have these conversations with us and to allow these tenants to be vulnerable with you because they also need to eat. And especially if they have children, they need to feed their children."

'We don't want to see them homeless,' says Feghali

Hall said if mitigation doesn't happen now, the already over-burdened Landlord and Tenant Board will be flooded with more claims this fall.

"It's a bogged down system right now and it's only going to make it worse if we don't figure this out right now," he said.

If you're out of work, the federal government has made changes to Employment Insurance. Here's how you apply for that.