Why We Offered a Hardship Application When Nobody Else Did

It seems like our country can’t agree on much these days, but one thing that we can agree on for the most part is that 2020 hasn’t been easy. Civil unrest, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economic hardships that have accompanied it have left few completely unscathed.

Our Situation

The challenges presented by this whole dumpster fire of a year have had an obvious impact on our mental health, with a CDC survey conducted in June stating that 40% of adults were struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues. Unemployment claims have soared across the country, reaching an all-time high of 14.7% in April 2020 and remaining high even today as most lockdowns have ended or become less stringent. Experts state that 30–40 million Americans are at risk of being evicted from their homes, and eviction bans have left many property owners struggling to cope with mortgage and tax payments.

At EasyKnock, we anticipated a percentage of our clients might be enduring the same struggles as people across the nation. We knew we had to do something about it.

Opportunities Through Hardship

EasyKnock decided to help our clients by offering every single one of them a hardship application. It meant that we’d work with clients on their rent payments while they got their feet back underneath them if they were enduring financial hardship as a result of the pandemic or the economic disaster that it created. 15% of EasyKnock clients took us up on our offer and reached out to us for help.

One customer found themselves a few months behind on rent payment back in September. They contacted us to request a deferment, but they’d start paying us back and be caught up by December, even if it meant skipping the holidays to do it. Instead, we reached out to offer a better solution that would allow the family to celebrate Christmas and stay in their home.

Our customers are human and so are we. They’re not numbers on a spreadsheet. They’re people, and like so many people under these circumstances, their lives might seem to be far outside the bounds of their control right now. They have families and people who count on them, and not a single one of them wanted to be in a difficult financial position.

The Importance of Home

Nobody could have anticipated this pandemic would strike when it did or how it did, and no one deserves to lose the safe haven that is their home, especially in these trying times when home seems like all we have some days. For those who have stayed home and worked at social distancing, whether due to state or local regulations, health conditions that mean the virus could be more dangerous, or simple civic duty, the security of knowing home isn’t going anywhere means so much in today’s world. Many landlords, even if they’re unable to evict their tenants due to eviction bans, are either unwilling or unable to work with their renters on rent payments. Many landlords, despite tenants losing their jobs due to lockdowns or economic depression, insisted that rent be paid on time. We’re seeing a lot of Mom and Pop landlords who are struggling just as much as their tenants due to missed payments.

We feel extremely fortunate that we’re in a position to help.