Camden Property Trust, an S&P 400 Company, recently launched a $5 million COVID-19 relief fund to help it’s out-of-work residents impacted by COVID-19.
Camden is is one of the largest publicly traded multifamily companies in the United States. It is ranked 21st in the National Multifamily Housing Council’s list of Top 50 Largest Apartment Managers and ranks 5th in ORA Power Rankings for online reputation.
City of Houston Mayor, Sylvester Turner, made the announcement of Camden property trusts’ relief program during a Coronavirus update press conference on April 2nd.
Unsurprisingly, the funds ran out pretty quickly quickly.
BizJournal reports the funds ran out in 16 minutes. Some residents remarked that the funds dried up even faster than that and some even expressed mixed reactions to Camden’s offer.
“This is an extremely generous offer… however..within 5 min they reached their quota. I… didn’t get anything which in turn will probably mean I will have to move out. I’m out of work [un]till further notice along with many other people in the complexes. However I do feel that they didn’t go about this the right way. There are people still working from home that got the Grant’s and people like myself who are out of work got nothing. Again, during these crazy times, it’s very generous and kind of them to even offer it. I just feel that they should have allowed every tenant to apply and then they go thru a process of eliminating those who aren’t in need of this.” Tracy Lasala commented on her experience.
The overwhelming response by Camden property trust residents speaks to the challenge property managers have as their residents struggle with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of Americans are already out of work and the federal government projects that COVID-19 related job loses could reach 47 million with unemployment rate may hitting 32%.
As reported by Mayor Turner, Camden is also supporting residents through waiving late fees on rent, suspending evictions, and working out individual rent deferment plans with residents. The mayor commended Camden CEO, Richard J Campo and his leadership team for their generosity and encouraged other property managers to do the same thing.
