Health officials worry that Iran could be a sign of things to come in the much of the rest of the world — a deeply alarming prospect given a member of Iran's National Committee for Influenza and specialist in infectious diseases, Dr. Masoud Mardani, has issued a stark warning for the capital city of Tehran, brimming with 9 million people and 12 million in the greater metropolitan area. By comparison, Tehran metro population is equal to the size of Los Angeles county. Dr. Mardai said he expects 30 to 40 percent of Tehran's population to be infected with coronavirus within the next two weeks.

SOURCE: ZeroHedge
SOURCE: Middle East Monitor

A 62-year-old man who became Spain’s first coronavirus patient is believed to have made a full recovery after being treated with an HIV drug, according to a report.

​Miguel Ángel Benítez was hospitalized at the Virgen del Rocio Hospital in Seville, where he received lopinavir-ritonavir, an antiretroviral drug sold under the brand name Kaletra, according to Metro UK, which cited El Pais.

State and local governments in the United States have not planned for financial assistance to landlords in the event of a pandemic. US landlords are expected to bear the burden of mass vacancies and mass defaults in rent payments. As such, maintenance and other recurring activities may be adversely affected during a US pandemic. However, in South Korea, the government announced Thursday that it will share the cost burden of landlords who voluntarily offer a rental discount to tenants amid the new coronavirus fallout, according to the top fiscal policymaker.

“For landlords who reduce the rental fees for their small business owner tenants during the first six months of this year, (the government) will reduce 50 percent of the (lease) reduction amount from (their) income tax or corporate tax, regardless of their total income or range of rent discount,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki in a meeting held at Seoul Government Complex.

Airbnb and other home share platforms have been exacerbating the already tight supply of affordable housing in many major cities (see other articles in the 323.APARTMENTS blog) by raising prices of short term rentals. However, home share platforms also increase liability exposure of  apartment landlords by introducing renters who have no written contracts with the landlord. In the event of catastrophic events, landlords are held liable even though they have no rental contracts with such renters and have never prior knowledge of their existence in the apartment complexes.

Airbnb and other home-share platforms are now banned in New York and Los Angeles apartments. In New York, under the new legislation, the fine for a first offense increases tenfold, from the current $1,000 to a whopping $10,000, with the maximum penalty jumping from $25,000 to $50,000. A companion bill mandates an annual report from City Hall of complaints, inspections, and fines connected to illegal short-term rentals.

Los Angeles passed a similar law. In Los Angeles, a tenant must have prior written permission from landlord otherwise face prosecution and eviction resulting from breach of contract (lease agreement). The stiffest opposition to Airbnb has ironically come from places like San Francisco  (its birthplace and headquarters) and New York. There, affordable housing advocates have joined forces with the hotel industry and labor unions to demand greater regulation.

SOURCE: New York Daily News
SOURCE: City of LA Ordinance 185931
SOURCE: Los Feliz Ledger

Top earners, or Americans making $150,000 or more per year, are the fastest-growing renter segment, according to apartment search website RENTCafé. After analyzing recent U.S. Census data, the research team at the company found that more than 1.35 million high-income households became renters between 2007 and 2017, a 175% increase.
As of today, there are 43.3 million renters nationwide, with 2.1 million in the high-income category. In 2007, RENTCafé reports, only 774,000 people were represented in the demographic.