Coronavirus: a landlord gives up the rent of 80 apartments to help tenants in need
The Coronavirus pandemic is forcing governments around the world to take restrictive measures to limit contagion. It is a reality with which millions of people have been living together for days and, in addition to limiting the possibility of spreading the disease, they are destined also to suffer obvious negative effects from the economy and the lack of economic activity of may people.
Many have lost their jobs, find themselves receiving reduced wages or not being able to open their own business, with significant losses. Fortunately, often there are those who realize all these difficulties, and decide to act in first person to help those who are at financial risk. Mario Salerno, a Brooklyn property owner, was the protagonist of a wonderful gesture, designed to put himself on the side of his tenants.
Salerno has about 80 apartments, inhabited by more than 200 people. Among them, of course, there are also those who are paying more than others the costs of the quarantine and the lockdown on activities. So Mario, without thinking twice, on March 30, 2020 announced to all his tenants that for the month of April they would not have to pay the rent. If in fact, for many people, in this situation of economic difficulty, even shopping can be difficult, paying the rent installment can become a real problem.
"I am giving up the rent for the month of April 2020. Stay safe, help your neighbors and wash your hands!" With these simple words printed on some signs at the entrance of the condominiums, Salerno announced his decision. When interviewed about the fact, the owner of the properties said that he has put the health and well-being of his tenants first and foremost, and that he realizes that, in these conditions, putting food on the table can be really difficult.
And gratitude from the people who live in Mario's apartments was not long in coming. Theirs are stories of daily, real difficulties, derived from the terrible health crisis we are going through. Kaitlyn, for example, had to shut down her hair salon; Paul, on the other hand, was fired after his company closed for quarantine.
Thanks to the generosity of Mario Salerno, now, they will be able to sleep a little more peacefully, confident that an additional expense will not weigh on their personal budget. There is no denying: what this landlord has done is truly exemplary: these are precisely the gestures that the world needs in the moment of unprecedented difficulties like the one it is going through.
