Caution: Zeus Living skipping rent and switching lease terms?

Caution: Zeus Living skipping rent and switching lease terms?

Seattle, WA · Member since 2018 · 5 posts · 4 votes

HI Bigger Pockets Community-

Are there other owners out there that received the mail from Zeus Living CEO Kulveer Taggar indicating they wanted to change contract terms with owners to revenue share, or cancel your (2 year lease) contract? I set up a call with one of their, associates as instructed, and found out during the call, they intended to skip April payments as well; she used the term due to 'rent abatement' (even though my unit doesn't need any repairs) and that Zeus was going to declare Force Majeure. Note Zeus currently has sublet it through August and have a paying tenant in my unit.

Note the phone call was the first time Zeus mentioned monthly rent was going to be skipped for April or that Zeus intended to invoke this part of the contract (Force Majeure). In other words, none of this was mentioned explicitly in their original mail. 

How are others responding to this (or how would you if in this situation)? Most discussions centered around tenants not paying vs large companies (such a Zeus backed by AirBnB). Have others had Zeus Living indicate they would skip out on their rent too during their phone appointments? 

Full mail is below from Kulveer (Zeus Living CEO):

As an important part of our community, I am reaching out to share the effects that COVID-19 has had on Zeus and to share options of how our partnership could evolve. The unprecedented impact of the pandemic is forcing us to review how we maintain the health of our business and our partnerships.
With corporate travel on pause, we’ve lost millions in canceled bookings. Additionally, with personal financial hardships on the rise, tenants are requesting temporary rent abatements. In response, we’re looking for new sources of demand and supporting displaced students, healthcare professionals, and early responders. We are assessing the situation on a real-time basis, but we know these will be financially trying months.
We understand this is an incredibly difficult time for everybody - including you. We want to be your partner for the long term. However, in today’s environment, we need to refine our current relationship terms. Each of our partners and properties offer unique opportunities, and we see two options that could work well:

  • Convert our lease agreement to a revenue share contract where rent earned is passed to you, with a percentage retained by us. We would continue to do all the management including renting to business travelers, vetting potential tenants, leasing, and daily tenant relations.
  • Cancel our lease agreement and return your property when the last resident checks out.

We recognize that this may be tough to hear. But historically speaking, travel is a resilient industry and business travel in particular rebounds first. Working remotely will continue to grow and more folks will live asset-light and unshackled by long-term leases. Zeus is uniquely positioned to earn that business and share the revenue with you.
Zeus prides itself on being a reliable partner. We are here to work with you and will provide information on the many federal and state resources as they become available.

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Member since 2020 · 1 post · 1 vote
6y

I've worked in the Corporate Housing industry for many years and watched Zeus Living, and other companies with  similar models, start-up and rapidly expand.  Zeus is in a number of markets and at last count, I believe had over 350 units/locations  in the Seattle market.  I know from some of the multi-family buildings they lease in, they signed 2 year leases and demanded one month free rent.  Typically the standard multi-family type leases have a lease break of a few month's rent, pay back the concession and forfeiture of the deposit.  If Zeus Living plans on staying in business, they'll need the relationships to be good with the larger property management companies as that's where they get their depth of inventory, not only in Seattle but their other markets as well.  

Their revenue share model looks bad, if anyone considers it, try to only pay furniture rent & operations costs when the unit is occupied.  If Zeus is  "renting" the furniture (I think they rent from a new company called furnish or habitat), they may already have this scheme in place (getting furniture rent credits for vacant days).  If Zeus owns the furniture, then they should be willing to not charge you any furniture/houseware cost when the unit is vacant.  If they are inflexible and you still want to work with them, you may want to just purchase furniture, as that furniture is probably only about $3,500 cost for a one bedroom space, and if it's in place and you've had guests stay, it's already used. Also, you may want to find out from them how many properties they will end up with (the ones they have to pay rent on) as they will be pushing those to be filled first.  If they only have to pay you when it's full, and they are getting "operational costs" what's their incentive to fill your unit when they have obligations to pay full rent and other costs on the units they've leased direct...  Most multi-family property management companies won't do rev shares.

 If you are following Airbnb, you'll see that they have refunded the "guests",  leaving the property owners high and dry. Not sure if Airbnb is just an investor or if they have any oversight on Zeus.  No one knows how soon business for corporate housing / vacation rentals will pick back up.  If it were my property, I'd probably try to get it leased with a long term renter, at least for the next year or two.    Hope this is helpful.

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  • Member since 2018 · 4 posts · 1 vote
    6y

    Hey Ryan, 

    I also received that email last week. I just finished my call with Zeus about an hour ago and got similar news. The person I spoke too didn't use the term "Force Majeure", but it was essentially implied and said they would just push all payments back by one month and that I would still receive all payments. They said they would be emailing me regarding the terms of the revenue share contract, but I haven't received that yet. They did say that they're waiving the yearly incentive fee, but it'll really depend on the new contract whether or not I keep working with Zeus. My property is also being rented out and I think it was poor planning on their part not to communicate this sooner, especially not paying. Currently, this will be violating the contract and incurring the late fee that we have, but who knows if they're going to pay next month too. It really will depend on the revenue share contract they email because I can't afford not to have any income from my property.

    What are your thoughts?

  • Seattle, WA · Member since 2018 · 5 posts · 4 votes
    6y

    Hi Chris,

    They proposed the following revenue share model, in tiers; your current rate is the 'target rate' is what they pay for your rental currently : 

    • 0-50% of target rate = Zeus gets 4%
    • 50-100 of target rate = Zeus gets 10%
    • >100% of target rate = Zeus gets 55%

    What's particularly absurd is that they also now charge operating expenses, which was not mentioned until i studied the contract, regardless of whether the unit is rented. For my 2bed/2bath unit for example, they would charge $575 a month (presumably for the furniture they place in the home etc) and I would have to pay them if unit isn't rented.

    Overall, it's clear their previous business model was a failure (or they were too leveraged); Given their default on current monthly rents, I"d caution anyone from (re)signing with them. 

    Did you get a similar offer?

  • Member since 2018 · 4 posts · 1 vote
    6y

    Yeah, they gave me the same thing. I'm currently changing the terms on the contract though, they tried increasing the minimum amount in which they needed to call me for repairs, and I'm trying to reduce the months in which I'm able to cancel the contract if it's vacant. I told them that since there's currently a tenant and I would still be making about the same (~$100 less, but no annual "fee"), that I would probably agree to these terms for one year. I figure the virus should be pretty contained by then and the economy should be somewhat back to normal, that they should be able to offer the previous guaranteed rent. If not, then I'll be renting it out to regular tenants. When April came around, I wasn't too worried with Zeus not paying this month because of all the funding they received ($55million in Dec and $24million last March), but to spring it on us like this is still not sitting right with me.

  • Member since 2020 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    6y

    Hi Ryan / Chris

    Thanks for starting this thread. I got the same email from their CEO too and was only able to get a slot for this coming Thursday. I literally just started with them 2 months ago and am just terrified to see such unprofessional behavior from them. This is literally their business model wherein even if the apartment is not rented, they will take care of the expenses, so that the owners are not supposed to deal with the hassle. The ONLY attractive part for the owner of the property, and for Zeus to not honor that is really surprising. I am not even sure if it is legal. 

    Do you know what rights as owners do we have if they don't pay the rent ?

    Have any of you considered taking the cancel the lease option ? Based on the contract, will they give us a 60 day notice (payment) if that is chosen ?

  • Member since 2018 · 4 posts · 1 vote
    6y

    Hey Rohit,

    I doubt it's legal, but they're hoping if you agree to the new contract that you'll overlook it. I'm not sure the rights we have but I assume it would be as if they were regular tenants. Either way, after having done some research and talking to other landlords, I won't be accepting the new contract and will definitely be holding them to the late fee in the contract. If you send me a private message with your email, then I can send you an invite to the Facebook group we have going with other landlords

  • Member since 2020 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    6y

    Really appreciate the quick response Chris. Just sent you a private message with my email. Please invite me to the facebook group. 

  • Member since 2020 · 1 post · 0 votes
    6y

    Hey everyone,

    Thanks for kicking off this thread. I also got the email from Zeus and found it curious that the 2nd bullet point on their options for me was different: "Rent is abated until occupancy OR payment deferred until next month on fully occupied homes." (instead of "Cancel our lease...")

    I had the call with Zeus yesterday, and the mentioned that these were the three options they see going forward (profit sharing, cancel lease, rent abatement) and they were steering me toward the rent abatement option, where they would skip rent for April/May and resume payments in June, as my unit isn't currently occupied. (And maaaayybe if the higher-ups approved it, they'd only skip one month and/or defer instead of abate if a new tenant signed on before then - but they made it sound like a very long shot).

    Anyway, I too have a bad taste about how they sprung this all of a sudden, and not really cool about them just skipping rent without any consequence - especially as no one else I owe (mortgage, property tax, etc) is willing to forgive my payments, so I don't see why they should get special consideration. Not sure collecting late fees is an option for me (the county where the property is located is allowing 120 day deferrals due to C19).

    Chris, I also PM'd you about the private FB group - thanks!

  • Pleasanton, CA · Member since 2018 · 4 posts · 0 votes
    6y

    Hi Chris, Thanks for starting this thread. I got the same email from Zeus living  CEO too. I have a property in Milpitas, CA which is managed by Zeus.I PM'd you about the private FB group.

  • Developer · New York City, NY · Member since 2015 · 812 posts · 718 votes
    6y

    Seems like Zeus is attempting to politely give you guys the caboose.  Reminds me kinda like a residential WeWork. They may go belly up soon, so I'd get out while you can. I do not see how they provide you with much value with the new structure.

  • Member since 2020 · 1 post · 0 votes
    6y

    Got a similar mail and offer from Zeus. I decided to not sign it, given how they’ve handled the situation. I had to move out their furniture on my own since their off boarding team only had availability in mid May. What options to we have to recover management fees, unpaid rent and all other costs incurred?

  • Member since 2020 · 3 posts · 1 vote
    6y

    Hi, landlord here from CA. Please send me the invite to the group on Facebook. Also, maybe it should be a public group instead of private so more people can find it. I had a hard time getting to this article. And found no articles online.  Zero response on nextdoor. Thanks. 

  • Member since 2018 · 4 posts · 1 vote
    6y

    Hi Prasad. The group is private so you'll need to search for it and request an invite. The group is called "Zeus Living Landlords and Owners". The group was made public for a short time but many members expressed concern over privacy, so the group was made private again. The group is available for anyone to search for, so it shouldn't be too hard to find

  • Member since 2020 · 3 posts · 1 vote
    6y

    Thanks Chris. I did raise a request and sent a message to you and the other admin.  While I understand the privacy concerns, making it harder for people to join at a crucial time kind of defeats the purpose. I have been looking hard the last week to find a forum and did not come across any until today. Also, looks like my request to join the group was not approved. Can you please help check this and I am happy to provide any details you want.

  • Investor · Singapore · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    6y

    Wow. Just Wow. I had considered Zeus as an option but never went through with it. Id be pissed off enough that if my apartment was empty and full of their furniture Id change the locks sell their furniture and re rent the place on my own and tell them to get f****ed. Let them sue you. Its ridiculous that a company would screw over individual landlords at the first sign of trouble. Force Majeure would be if your house burned down or the government made you shut it down like a business. The lack of bookings is not force majeure. It is their business risk which like all corporations in the scam that is America will pass to the public. Directly like this or through the governement.

  • Seattle, WA · Member since 2018 · 5 posts · 4 votes
    6y

    Quick update for others on this issue and words of caution. We now have confirmed that there are at least 30 people across multiple cities (only counting those who personally took time to reach out, likely many more that haven't found our owners groups) that are not being paid rent, without any notice. Contractual terms are being discarded and rationalized as not applicable by Zeus. New and unreasonable contract terms are being forced on owners. Many requests and emails are going ignored by their agents. The furniture provider has also not been paid that Zeus used to stage homes. 

    Strong words of caution for any new (or existing) owners who are considering working with Zeus in the future. They are abdicating their contractual obligations and even worse, treating owner/business partners with disdain and lack of transparency.

  • Member since 2020 · 1 post · 0 votes
    6y

    I am in the same situation as everyone else although I've decided to not reach out to them for the moment. I wasn't able to join the call this evening. Did anyone listen?

    My property is in the SF / Bay Area (Menlo Park). Does anyone have good suggestions for other good property management companies? (Even if they aren't signing the lease.) We all need to be looking for options so we have leverage to say, "no" to the new bad contracts. If they aren't trustworthy to fulfill the first contract, pretty sure they can't be trusted for another.

    Thanks.

  • Member since 2020 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    6y
    Hi Zeus Living clients, I was fortunate enough to find this thread after talking to ZL about their change in contract. I have a unit in SF which is currently rented, and they were kind enough to pay the April 8 rent. I had received the CEO email, but chose to ignore it until a follow up email directed to me. I then scheduled a phone interview, which was brief. They sent me a version of the new contract by email. They did not state any intention of not paying existing leases, but I feel that is their plan. I would like to know how they plan on avoiding living up to the terms of their existing leases. I'm also trying to join the FB group. Thank you thank you for starting this conversation!
  • Member since 2020 · 1 post · 0 votes
    6y
  • Member since 2019 · 215 posts · 122 votes
    6y

    Read this thread as a curiosity.  Really feel for everyone here.  Seems like your getting royally screwed.

    With that article it sounds like this may lead towards a class action.

  • Member since 2020 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    6y

    They can legally hold May rent temporarily under cover of the Mayor's order regarding COVID-19, but this is only effective until May 22 so far. Tenants must pay it back soon after. Details herehttps://sf.gov/information/abo...

    I would advise everyone with a mortgage to petition for forbearance to get through at least temporary delays in rent payments. The big banks agreed to an Apr-May-June with the state of CA, but these payments become due July 31 unless further documentation is provided to banks. I know US Bank offers this temporary forbearance.

  • Member since 2020 · 1 post · 1 vote
    6y

    I've worked in the Corporate Housing industry for many years and watched Zeus Living, and other companies with  similar models, start-up and rapidly expand.  Zeus is in a number of markets and at last count, I believe had over 350 units/locations  in the Seattle market.  I know from some of the multi-family buildings they lease in, they signed 2 year leases and demanded one month free rent.  Typically the standard multi-family type leases have a lease break of a few month's rent, pay back the concession and forfeiture of the deposit.  If Zeus Living plans on staying in business, they'll need the relationships to be good with the larger property management companies as that's where they get their depth of inventory, not only in Seattle but their other markets as well.  

    Their revenue share model looks bad, if anyone considers it, try to only pay furniture rent & operations costs when the unit is occupied.  If Zeus is  "renting" the furniture (I think they rent from a new company called furnish or habitat), they may already have this scheme in place (getting furniture rent credits for vacant days).  If Zeus owns the furniture, then they should be willing to not charge you any furniture/houseware cost when the unit is vacant.  If they are inflexible and you still want to work with them, you may want to just purchase furniture, as that furniture is probably only about $3,500 cost for a one bedroom space, and if it's in place and you've had guests stay, it's already used. Also, you may want to find out from them how many properties they will end up with (the ones they have to pay rent on) as they will be pushing those to be filled first.  If they only have to pay you when it's full, and they are getting "operational costs" what's their incentive to fill your unit when they have obligations to pay full rent and other costs on the units they've leased direct...  Most multi-family property management companies won't do rev shares.

     If you are following Airbnb, you'll see that they have refunded the "guests",  leaving the property owners high and dry. Not sure if Airbnb is just an investor or if they have any oversight on Zeus.  No one knows how soon business for corporate housing / vacation rentals will pick back up.  If it were my property, I'd probably try to get it leased with a long term renter, at least for the next year or two.    Hope this is helpful.

  • Member since 2021 · 1 post · 0 votes
    5y
    Originally posted by @Loga Siva:

    Hi Chris, Thanks for starting this thread. I got the same email from Zeus living  CEO too. I have a property in Milpitas, CA which is managed by Zeus.I PM'd you about the private FB group.

    Hi how can I join this private FB group? Is there a link? I am interested in joining Zeus but wanted to see how profitable it was for other homeowners first

  • Member since 2021 · 1 post · 0 votes
    4y

    Hi there, Could you please add me to the Zeus FB page?

  • Member since 2021 · 1 post · 0 votes
    4y

    Came across this thread by chance. Any suggestions to homeowners considering Zeus as an option to rent their home? Now that covid situation is getting better, are they more prompt with paying the rent on time?

  • Fairfax, VA · Member since 2016 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    4y

    To any still renting with Zeus — we're considering signing a 3 year lease with them at the fixed rent option and are looking for insight from other landlords. Apart from how they handled the covid crisis, are you happy leasing to them?

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