Pascal Oparada
As the lockdown caused by the Coronavirus pandemic bites harder, reports say some predatory landlords are asking for sexual favours from tenants who are cash-strapped.
Millions of people around the world have either been laid off or left in limbo due to the pandemic as governments impose harsh lockdown measures.
But some unscrupulous landlords want to exploit the situation to exploit vulnerable tenants who find themselves in financial troubles and unable to pay rents, reports say.
According to a US lawyer, Kevin Block some landlords are asking for other arrangements and even sending explicit images to female tenants.
“I am concerned because reported incidents indicate a greater number of unreported incidents,” Mr. Block told CNN.
In February, it was reported that some desperate tenants are sleeping with landlords instead of paying rent in ‘sex for rent’ epidemic.
A recent survey by Shelter Scotland found that about 220,000 women have said they have been asked for sex in place of their rents.
Earlier this year a woman urged others to be safe after sharing her messages with a ‘landlord’ who offered to lower rent in exchange for nude photos.
The woman, Georgia Linehan took to social media to share how some people on the internet can be in a post that has been liked over 33,000 times.
She shared a screenshot of her conversation with a supposed landlord. She wrote on Twitter: “This is the last time I tried to buy a house on the Internet.”
Asking how, she is told: “I own a modelling company, a few of my tenants work for me doing boob work basically. Breast pics for 2 pics the rent get reduced by £200.”
