Over the last few weeks, Bluestone & Hockley has shifted all our operations to our almost 100% remote based staff. We had been developing a remote-based infrastructure over the past two years as part of our emergency planning efforts, and had a fairly smooth transition from the office to our employee’s homes.
Ninety percent of our staff is working from their home offices. A portion of our accounting staff is working from our main office, in order to process mail and post and pay all our client’s bills on a timely basis. All our employees are available by phone, email, and video, and have been communicating with tenants and clients as the need arises.
Properties are still being inspected on a regular basis, but meetings with clients, tenants and vendors are being held over Ring Central, to maintain the Governor’s mandated social distancing and stay at home orders.
RENT ABATEMENT/CONCESSION REQUESTS
- Residential and commercial tenants are requesting abatement’s, are being handled on a one-off basis.
- Every situation is different, and we are being thoughtful in our analysis of each tenant’s needs.
- Late fees are being waived across the board for the month of April.
- We have shared information with all of our commercial tenants regarding the availability of government bailout funds.
- Some national tenants are being very aggressive in their rent abatement requests, this is unfortunate since they are more likely be better financed to make it through this pandemic than local businesses.
LANDLORD ASSISTANCE
- If you are an owner of a property located in the Portland metropolitan area and are unable to inspect your property due to travel restrictions, we can visit your property and give you a report on which of your tenants are open or closed. We have a nighttime security/ maintenance team available to inspect and secure your property if necessary.
- To ease the burden of day by day management, Bluestone & Hockley provides Commercial, Residential/Multi-family, and Community Association property management services. We also have accounting-only, and maintenance services fully staffed.
- Many lenders are still active in the local marketplace, but in these uncertain times loan standards and commitments have changed. We can refer you to reputable mortgage and hard money brokers that can assist you if you need to reassess your property’s underlying financial basis. Unfortunately, in the near-term cash-out loans will be difficult to arrange.
