SAN ANTONIO — As large-scale rental properties hunger for more tenants amid the coronavirus pandemic's economic fallout, small property landlords like Deborah Lund may not have the same appetite.
The conditions evicted tenants reportedly left Lund's last rental property left her with a bitter taste.
"The house was destroyed. It's a financial responsibility and a huge burden to go through that process again," she said.
It's a process she's looking to avoid. Since the Centers for Disease Control announced an eviction moratorium through the end of the year, Lund has decided to keep two out of her three low-income rental properties vacant, fearing that she may never see a rent check while still being on the hook for repairs once the moratorium is lifted.
It's a financial hit she says she simply can't afford again.
"It's very likely we will never see that money from the tenant or from any other resources," Lund said.
That's where she finds most of her frustration. While the city is working to help tenants from being evicted, she says she hasn't seen much support for the landlords going on more than six months without a check.
Instead, the county has implemented a $1,000 fine to keep landlords honest.
"We don't want more people out on the streets. We don't want more homeless people," Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said in a COVID-19 briefing on Friday.
Which Lund agrees with. She doesn't want anyone on the street, including herself.
"There's nothing we can do except wait and see if we file bankruptcy or we lose our properties because of unpaid property taxes," she said. "We've lost our income and no one is looking at that."