Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) today announced that the Company is endorsing the plan suggested by the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) to provide support to residents being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Supporting Our Residents by:
- Halting evictions for the next 90 days for those who can document that they have been adversely financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Currently offering resident renewals with no increase and providing flexible lease renewal options during the next 90 days to help residents weather the crisis.
- Creating payment plans for residents who are unable to pay their rent because of the pandemic and waiving late fees for those residents.
- Identifying governmental and community resources to help residents secure food, financial assistance and healthcare and sharing that information with residents.
Supporting our Employees by:
- Providing each employee with extended emergency leave.
- Limiting hours on site, but not reducing compensation, and limiting in-person contact while continuing essential maintenance activities such as emergency repairs and life/safety.
“At Equity Residential, we are proud to be able to provide a secure place to live for 150,000 residents in these uncertain times and especially proud of our 2,700 employees who are continuing to work at our properties and remotely to keep our business operating. For our residents who have been economically impacted, we have put in place expanded payment flexibility and for our employees we have expanded our benefits to support them. We are working hard to rise to the challenge and are confident that working together we will do so,” said Mark J. Parrell, Equity Residential’s President and CEO.
Financial Impact
Given the uncertain scope and evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are unable to quantify its impact on our financial performance at this time. While our same store portfolio remains very well occupied today at 96.5% and we are seeing signs of increased retention, we are currently experiencing reduced foot traffic and applications due to the various restrictions put in place by governmental authorities. We will provide a further update when we report our first quarter 2020 earnings on May 5, 2020.
About Equity Residential
Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of rental apartment properties located in urban and high-density suburban communities where today’s renters want to live, work and play. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 306 properties consisting of 79,065 apartment units, located in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Seattle, San Francisco, Southern California and Denver. For more information on Equity Residential, please visit our website at www.equityapartments.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
In addition to historical information, this press release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions made by management. While Equity Residential’s management believes the assumptions underlying its forward-looking statements are reasonable, such information is inherently subject to uncertainties and may involve certain risks, including, without limitation, changes in general market conditions, including the rate of job growth and cost of labor and construction material, the level of new multifamily construction and development, competition and local government regulation. Other risks and uncertainties are described under the heading “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and available on our website, www.equityapartments.com. Many of these uncertainties and risks are difficult to predict and beyond management’s control. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, results or events. Equity Residential assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events.
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