Help with renting

A few days ago a lady confided to me that the tenants of the two lodgings she rents, having learned that they were out of work, had phoned saying that their commitment to pay the rent "was not a priority". Wow! An attitude motivated by a relationship of trust and respect towards the two families. A beautiful action of active citizenship that anticipates the possible actions of the Government which with the Decree provided for the blocking of evictions and the suspension of mortgage payments on the first home. However, nothing on rents: neither for the owner nor for the tenant. Of course the lady confessed to me that she has a series of questions to which she cannot answer. Will the concept of priority be understood by tenants as not due or simply as a delay in payment? How long? But if the tenants are no longer able to find work in the coming months, how can they proceed? To withdraw from the rent? To move where? Or ask for a drastic reduction in rent? There is no talk of selling: how much will these two properties be worth right now? Yet the owner relies on the income compared to its economic sustainability. There is talk of regional, national and European regulations that provide bonuses to owners or tenants: but for how long? What size? Some proposals limiting bonuses to three months seem not to take into account the unknowns we face for the future. It is said that nothing will be the same, that we will have to start over with another look. But what answers can we give to this retired, elderly lady?

The president of the EU Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen in a speech in Avvenire about a new Marshall Plan for a Solidarity Europe wrote: "We have proposed a new tool, the Sure, to ensure that people can keep jobs and income and to help businesses stay afloat during the deadlock. It will provide 100 billion euros to help governments supplement income if the company has had to reduce working hours and can also be used to help self-employed workers. It is a help for those who have to pay rent, bills or shopping and to keep other businesses alive ... ".

We can't wait to tell the lady that her attitude of guaranteeing their tenants for their home will soon be rewarded with European support. Hoping that it will soon be adopted by the government of our country without being complicated by some bureaucrat who, knowing that he is useless, complicates the life of that lady for free.

Gianfranco Cattai
NP may 2020