By John Salustri
乐竞体育赛事直播 President Don Wilkerson took the high road in his latest concerning the issue of this on-again, off-again, possibly on-again partial government shutdown. As it stands now, the January shutdown has been called off, amid threats to crank it up again in a few weeks鈥� time. Wilkerson rose above the fray and went straight to the heart of what toll the shutdown took on the management industry.
Citing an , Wilkerson noted that due to the shutdown, 95 percent of HUD workers were furloughed, with only a handful of field offices remaining in operation. As a result, 鈥渞ental assistance contracts that expire wouldn鈥檛 be renewed until the agency reopened.鈥�
The 乐竞体育赛事直播 president pointed out that those expired rental assistance contracts came to a total of 1,150 with private owners. That, in turn, represented 40,000 low-income households, according to Businessweek. 鈥淚n February鈥攊f the shutdown is fired up again鈥攜ou can add a stack of 16,000 more to that pile,鈥� he wrote.
Commercial properties felt the pinch as well, and Wilkerson cited Businessweek statistics that put 鈥渢he potential monetary toll at $460 million per month in uncollected rent.
鈥淏ut there was a bright side to this madness,鈥� he continued, 鈥渁nd it comes, not surprisingly, from outside the Beltway鈥攁nd within the real estate industry. As just one example, the Hotel Association of New York City (HANY), according to Hotel News Resource, quite literally opened its doors to furloughed government workers. The move was particularly targeted at workers who needed to travel to the city for personal emergencies.鈥�
Wilkerson quoted HANY president and CEO Vijay Dandapani from the association鈥檚 : 鈥淲e don't want to see anyone who needs to be here turned away because of financial hardships created by the government shutdown. Whether it's a family situation or a health issue that requires people to travel to the city, we will do what we can to provide accommodations on a limited basis to those in dire need."
For such reasons, 鈥淚鈥檓 placing my bets on our industry,鈥� WIlkerson wrote. 鈥淚f indeed the political powers that be decide once again to activate a shutdown鈥攏ow or over some future debate鈥攚e will as an industry rise to the challenge once again.
鈥溊志禾逵轮辈� believes that compassion more than a hard line is what is called for,鈥� Wilkerson wrote, 鈥渁nd we urge our members to put themselves into the position of those in our charge who are hitting hard times.
鈥淎 鈥楥losed for Business鈥� sign hanging on our governmental institutions at this writing remains a real threat to the American people,鈥� Wilkerson said. 鈥淭his too shall pass. Given the thick-headedness evident on both sides of the Congressional aisle, the only question that remains is when.鈥�
About the author
John Salustri is editor-in-chief of Salustri Content Solutions, Inc., a consultancy focused on enhancing the web and print content of clients around the nation. He is a regular contributor to JPM Magazine and a frequent blogger for 乐竞体育赛事直播. Prior to launching SCS, John was founding editor of GlobeSt.com, the industry鈥檚 premier real estate news website, where he managed the daily output of 25 international reporters, and prior to that, he was editor of Real Estate Forum Magazine. John is a four-time winner of the National Association of Real Estate Editors鈥� Award for Excellence in Journalism.