Like many small businesses, we’re still responsible for paying rent despite being closed in the interest of public health. Our business interruption insurance will not cover rent liability or any other costs.
Our landlords, Equity Residential, own 150 properties in California, with $2.6 billion in annual revenue and $21.2 billion in assets. They have the ability to significantly help small business tenants, but they’re not. Equity has only offered their tenants 4 months of rent deferment, which is simply debt accumulation and will not allow small businesses to thrive in the future. We need to advocate for significant financial aid or we and our industry will not survive this crisis. Help us encourage:
Gov. Newsom to enact an order that would forgive rent for all small businesses in California during the lockdown.
Congress to include a rent and mortgage moratorium for small business in the next wave of relief aid
Equity Residential to do the right thing by offering rent abatement to their small retail tenants.
We’ve drafted templates below for you to use.
Thank you for your support! By sharing our message together, we have a greater likelihood of accomplishing our goals. TAKE ACTION TOOLKIT
The bipartisan RESTAURANTS Act would establish a $120B relief fund that would award grants to struggling restaurants and bars. 214 U.S. Representatives and 50 U.S. Senators from both parties have co-sponsored this commonsense legislation because they recognize no small business should have to choose between the health and safety of their staff, guests and community, and keeping their teams employed.