A landlord in New Jersey has cancelled rent for his all 12 properties so that the tenants can have some financial relief amid the coronavirus lockdown.
David Placek first cancelled the rent for just two months April and May but he recently told his renters that they don’t have to worry about June too.
In this way, the generous man will be giving away nearly $50,000 (£40,000) of his rental income.
Speaking to WABC-TV, Placek said that he was happy to be “fortunate” enough to make such a sacrifice. He added that other landlords who are not doing a similar deed might not be in a strong financial state.
He said: “By and large we’ve gotten a good reception from our tenants, they’re happy that we were able to do this early on and really able to show them some compassion and feelings for what they might be going through.
“We didn’t ask them what financial position they’re in.”
Placek told Fox News that he asked his renters to try to spend more on the local businesses from the saved money because they are the ones whose survival has been severely affected by the lockdown.
He said: “It was more a question of why not do this for our tenants.
“We ask them to pay it forward so if they can go out and buy take out from the restaurants or gift cards from the other small businesses or pay it forward to the local food bank we had in Montclair, N.J. called Tony’s Kitchen.”
While people all around the world were commending Placek for his kind act, Phil Murphy, the governor of New Jersey, also praised him in a statement on Twitter.
The governor said: “David Placek is a landlord with a dozen tenants.
“He stepped forward to give every one of them a rent holiday through June. He exemplifies the spirit we need to see right now of people stepping up to make sure others can come out of this emergency stronger.”
Another property owner in Brooklyn sacrificed thousands of dollars as he canceled rental payment for April for his 18 properties.
Mario Salerno put up a signboard saying: “STAY SAFE, HELP YOUR NEIGHBORS & WASH YOUR HANDS!!!”
Replaced!