June 25, 2020 updates COVID-19

This week’s new segment of From the Front Lines features Wade Conlan of the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force sharing best practices around HVAC operations including air filtration, potential supply chain issues, and best practices for reopening.

All episodes of From the Front Lines are available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts to receive the latest content from IREM®.

Free on-demand courses

The following courses are available to enroll in for free for a limited time. Take this opportunity for yourself and your teams to learn some new skills and stay on top of trending topics.

Webinar recording: COVID-19 Business Insurance Claims Strategies


COVID-19 has interrupted and disrupted businesses in many ways over the last few months but navigating a business interruption insurance claims process can seem daunting and impossible. Last week, IREM members Mindy Gronbeck, CPM®, CSM, CSX and Brian Lozell, CPM® spoke along with Neal Novak at Sill Company, on how to achieve success in business interruptions claims. Watch the webinar recording for tips on this complicated process.

Advocacy updates and resources

IREM signed onto a letter expressing our strong support for H.R. 6776, the “JOBS Credit Act of 2020. The bill would expand upon the Employee Retention Credit (ERTC), enacted as part of the CARES Act to provide businesses with a financial incentive to keep employees on the payroll where business operations were fully or partially suspended due to a COVID-19 related closing orders, through no fault of their own, or where a company’s gross receipts significantly declined compared to the same quarter last year.

If enacted, the bill would enhance the ERTC in the following ways:

  • Increase the credit to 80% from 50%
  • Increase the wage base to $15,000/quarter for up to three quarters from $10,000/year
  • Ease the qualifying rules for revenue decline
  • Include health benefits in the definition of qualified wages
  • Allow businesses that receive a Paycheck Protection Program loan to qualify for the credit

From June 11-12, the Real Estate Roundtable (RER) held its Annual Meeting online. Speakers included:

  • Secretary of the Treasury Mnuchin
  • Citigroup’s Raymond McGuire, Global Head of Corporate and Investment Banking
  • Representative French Hill (R- AR)
  • Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Group
  • Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

The annual meeting addressed both the myriad of economic and health issues impacting the real estate industry due to the coronavirus pandemic and what steps both the RER and the broader real estate industry can take to address systemic racism. View highlights from the conference.

Updated COVID-19 legislative reports are also available on the COVID-19 Advocacy page.

IREM Community Room

Don’t forget to check out the IREM Community Room to meet and connect with fellow real estate management professionals. Ask questions and share your best practices – whether specific to COVID-19 or other business challenges – with your peers from around the world. Sign up today!

You can continue to find these updates and others on our irem.org Coronavirus update page.

source: https://www.irem.org/