Is Your Landlord Using the Coronavirus Outbreak to Be Particularly Evil?

Test Ticker

Monika Bauerlein,
CEO

Dear Reader,

December is make-or-break for Mother Jones’ fundraising. We have a $350,000 goal that we simply cannot afford to miss. And in "No Cute Headlines or Manipulative BS," we explain, as matter-of-fact as we can, how being a nonprofit means everything to us. Bottom line: Donations big and small make up 74 percent of our budget this year and are urgently needed this month, and all online gifts will be matched and go twice as far until we hit our goal. Please pitch in if you can right now.

December is make-or-break for Mother Jones’ fundraising, and in "No Cute Headlines or Manipulative BS," we hope that giving it to you as matter-of-fact as we can will work to raise the $350,000 we need to raise this month. Donations make up 74 percent of our budget this year, and all online gifts will be matched and go twice as far until we hit our goal.

Wikimedia Commons

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

The coronavirus has ground society as we knew it to a halt. One in five Americans has been laid off or had their work hours reduced. Some states are ordering eviction moratoriums so people can count on a place to shelter during the outbreak. Federal mortgage regulators are ordering lenders to offer payment flexibility to homeowners and owners of apartment buildings.

Meanwhile, of course, more and more people are getting very, very sick. But for some landlords, the global economic and health catastrophe means business as usual.

my landlord is a major DC property development company

so it's raising my rents by 12% while issuing a $500 million share repurchase program during this pandemic

and you wonder why I think we shouldn't bail out the companies during this pandemic

— Leo Ji 🛌 (@theleoji) March 20, 2020

here is a landlord evicting a paramedic in the middle of a global pandemic literally because he works in the NHS pic.twitter.com/H0ojcZqIwi

— Gordon Maloney (@gordonmaloney) March 21, 2020

My landlords just sent out a mass message to everyone…this is the part that truly sent me.
These people simply cannot be serious. pic.twitter.com/NvI0gDtA6b

— shar jossell (@SharSaysSo) March 20, 2020

What about you? Is your landlord being particularly, well, landlordly during this crisis? Send us your stories and screenshots to scoop@motherjones.com, subject line “landlord.” We’ll keep you anonymous and redact any identifying details.