Pretty much everyone can agree that the past year has been particularly financially difficult.

With high rates of unemployment and a competitive job market, many people have been unable to make ends meet due to COVID-19. This puts both landlords and tenants in a tough spot.

Fortunately, many states have instituted eviction moratoriums for the time being, including in New York State. But those are set to expire in a matter of months, and still many renters do not know what they are going to do.

The eviction moratorium means that landlords cannot evict tenants for now, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t ask for rent payment.

And one landlord in Lancaster, NY, Kevin Nowak, has become particularly fed up with the lack of rent payment from his tenants. His solution for this involves some pretty creative reminders to pay rent.

He spray painted his own property! With some terms that relate to rent payment, and some, not so much. The two spray paintings he did said “Lisa and Matt owe $11,000 in rent” and also, “MAGA”.

Nowak has done this before.

He owns 50 properties around the county, and last March, he spray painted another one of his buildings. That building had been destroyed by a fire, but prior to that, one of the tenants owed $10,000 in rent and has yet to pay up. Again, Nowak spray painted the tenants name and the amount he owes, as well as the term “MAGA”.

The neighbors spoke up about this.

Many of them suggested that he was overreacting and acting out of line, especially given that the COVID situation should be bringing people closer together and inspiring people to lend more compassion. But the landlord stayed steadfast. He states:

“I’m not lying. I’m not slandering.”

One of the neighbors spoke to the press about her thoughts. She says:

“This is not helping him. It’s not gonna get him anything…I just don’t understand why it’s been allowed to get this far. And you know, he’s defacing Lancaster, not just the houses.”

She added that she has called Lancaster’s code enforcement officers many times, with minimal help.

Despite all the outcry, Nowak is not remorseful.

He continues to defend his actions. He claims that everyone judging him for his behavior just doesn’t see it from his perspective:

“I’m guessing it’s like anything else unless you’re in somebody else’s shoes you really don’t know.”

Additionally, he doesn’t see this as a personal issue with the tenants, but rather, as a form of protest against the government’s policy of eviction moratoriums.

One of his tenants spoke out, and his response is heartbreaking.

Ray Ross, one of the tenants who has his roof spray painted with the rent he owes, spoke to WKBW after they ran their initial story about Nowak’s spray painting. Ross explains his perspective by saying:

“I’m sorry that I owe this man that money. But, he shouldn’t do it this way. It’s been really stressful through this pandemic.”

Additionally, Ross was helping to take care of his sister, who is diabetic and had both legs amputated recently.

While Ross was trying his best to pay rent, it just wasn’t always possible.

Because he was taking care of himself and his sister, he had a lot of bills to be on top of, which was especially hard because of the pandemic. Ross lost his restaurant job in September, and although he has been collecting unemployment, it isn’t nearly enough to cover all of his and his sister’s expenses.

Additionally, he notes that while he has not been able to pay the full amount of rent on time, he has paid what he is able to pay. So, Nowak is still earning some income on the property, while Ross does not have enough money to pay in full. Ross has also applied to rent assistance programs, but has been denied.

Ross also says that this news story has threated his safety.

He has been receiving threats from strangers:

“They’re saying they’re going to come here and burn the house down and all that stuff. So, it’s been a little nerve-racking since he did this. I don’t feel safe in my own home anymore. And, that’s hard to deal with.”

This type of rental dispute has been happening all over the country.

This is not uncommon: while as many as 100,000 people requested rent assistance in New York, over 57,000 were denied. While the governor, Andrew Cuomo had pledged $100 million in federal funds to help tenants pay their rent, by October, only $40 million had been given.

Other states such as Mississippi, Louisiana, Kansas, and Pennsylvania have also experienced difficulties meeting their goals as far as rental assistance goes.

This convoluted situation shows how difficult things have been for everyone.

Hopefully, both landlord and tenants can come to a solution that makes everyone happy. What we all need the most right now is some compassion and generosity from those in our communities.

To learn more about this situation, watch the video below.

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Source: AP, WKBW TV – Buffalo NY, WKBW – Buffalo, New York State