Arbor Rental Assistance Program Helps Thousands of Tenants Hit With COVID-19 Income Losses
- The program will fill rent gaps for May and June for tenants severely impacted by COVID-19.
- The $2 million nationwide program is open to tenants at Arbor-financed properties.
- Arbor Realty Trust is contributing $1 million, with participating borrowers matching Arbor's advances.
Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. is assisting tenants whose lives have been significantly disrupted by COVID-19. The $2 million Arbor Rental Assistance Program (ARAP) is an innovative collaboration, between Arbor and its borrowers. ARAP supplements government rent relief with private capital. It focuses on filling financial gaps with interest-free advances to tenants who have suffered income losses due to the coronavirus pandemic. Arbor is contributing $1 million to the program and participating borrowers will match Arbor’s advances to its tenants in need to help fill rent gaps during the hard-hit months of May and June.
“As one of the most active lenders in the industry offering workforce housing loans, we want to do our part to help ease the burden for those who’ve been severely impacted by COVID-19,” said Ivan Kaufman, Arbor’s President and CEO. “For those who have unfortunately lost income and are temporarily unable to meet their rent obligations, we are looking to provide some much-needed relief until they are able to stabilize their situations.”
One of Arbor’s borrowers, LYND, is an ARAP partner. LYND is offering the program to residents of its 444-unit property, Topaz Villas, in Jacksonville, Florida. Last year, a LYND affiliate had acquired the multifamily complex with New York City-based Topaz Capital.
David Lynd, the CEO of LYND, noted industry assistance is critical. “With this program that Ivan Kaufman came up with, I think it gives just that little extra that people are going to need because the COVID-19 situation is going to drag out a little longer than I think anybody thought it would,” said Lynd. “This is going to ease the anxiety and fear of the residents who live at Topaz Villas who are struggling to make ends meet because they cannot work.”
The ARAP advances will be offered to tenants at the properties Arbor finances across the country on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Real Deal and GlobeSt.com covered the program. National Real Estate Investor noted the news was one of the “Seven Must Reads for the CRE Industry” on April 18.
Request more information about the ARAP program here.