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1. What are Trimark’s current hours of operation?

The Trimark Properties Office remains open during our normal business hours.

Mon - Fri, 9AM to 5:30PM
Sat - Sun, Closed

2. I would normally visit the office in person, but I’m currently practicing social distancing. Can someone help me via phone?

Of course! Please call 352-376-6223 and press the following extensions to be forwarded to the proper department:

Leasing or asking questions about how to reserve housing, please press 1.
Bookkeeping or rent questions, please press 2.
Maintenance or service requests, please press 3.
Customer service questions, please press 4.

3. Can I visit the Trimark office in person for assistance?

We know that many residents rely on our apartments, houses, and dorm rooms as their primary housing; for others, our housing is their permanent address. Some residents are choosing to remain in Gainesville due to travel restrictions, jobs, in order to isolate, or because their home town is experiencing a larger number of COVID-19 cases than Gainesville. Trimark is committed to providing stable housing and customer service to all of our residents, regardless of where they choose to locate during this time. Our office is currently open and Trimark’s team members are still working full-time to provide full service to all Trimark residents. Due to the fluid nature of the situation as well as changes in local, state, and federal guidelines, we may need to close our office on short notice. Please call before coming to the office in person. Our staff is also working full-time answering questions and providing assistance via phone at 352-376-6223.

COVID-19 SCREENING QUESTIONS BEFORE ENTERING TRIMARK OFFICE: If you answer YES to any of the questions below, we ask that you not enter the office and instead call us at 352-376-6223 so that we can assist you over the phone:

Have you traveled aboard in the last 14 days?
Have you had any contact with any confirmed COVID-19 cases in the last 14 days
Have you (or are you currently experiencing) any of the following symptoms with the last 14 days?
- fever greater than 100
- difficulty breathing
- cough

1. I have a current lease with Trimark. Is my rent still due on the 1st of the month?

At this time, we are not offering any variances in our rental contracts. Rent remains due on the 1st of each month.

2. I left Gainesville due to UF’s recommendations and am not living in the unit. Do I still have to pay rent?

We are all living in unprecedented times with tremendous impacts on our professional and personal lives. While we realize that many residents have chosen to leave and return to their parent's homes, we also have some residents that have chosen to stay for various reasons (concerns over COVID-19 being worse where they are from than in Gainesville, inability to get transportation, opting to stay in Gainesville due to the educational environment differences, etc.). We are continuing to operate our facilities at full capacity to meet the needs of our stakeholders (residents, employees, vendors, etc.). At this time, we are not offering any variances in our rental contracts. We have the contractual lease obligation to house our residents for the entire term of the lease. Residents have the freedom to physically occupy their apartments, houses and private dorm rooms as they choose. For example, it is not uncommon for residents to go home during breaks between semesters, during spring break, etc. In the case of COVID-19, we remain committed to providing stable housing for all of our residents, regardless of whether or not they choose to physically occupy the units during the social distancing portion of the response.

3. I’m considering joining a rent strike. What are the potential outcomes?

Rent strikes are an interesting case in regards to student housing during these times. Striking renters may be attempting to push housing providers to modify their contracts by reducing rents, waiving late fees, or terminating contracts early. If a housing provider is already offering assistance for residents experiencing hardship (as Trimark is already doing)), a rent strike may do nothing more than increase the balance that the striking residents and parents end up paying, causing long term impacts on the their financial health due to legal judgments, decreased credit scores, and increased debt. With most student housing contracts, the impact of a non-payment is not only borne by the resident but also by a parental guarantor. If the lease is an individual lease, the negative financial impacts are likely limited to the resident and guarantor. If the lease structure creates joint and several liability with multiple lease signors, the outcome is much further reaching and could create financial hardships for roommates and their parental guarantors as well. Regardless of whether or not there is a rent strike, Trimark will not modify the lease contracts since Trimark has already provided interest-free options for residents who are unable to pay rent due to COVID-19. A variety of negative outcomes (outlined in the lease agreements) kick in when a resident fails to pay rent for any reason, including during a rent strike. Such negative outcomes include 18% interest accruing from the date of default, acceleration in rents owed for the remainder of the lease period (including renewal period if applicable) upon default, and the potential for legal judgements and additional court/legal costs for all parties to the lease agreement (including guarantors).

Generally speaking, it’s a bad idea not to pay rent, with many unintended outcomes for the resident and parental guarantor who do not pay. Put simply, when a landlord is already offering options for at-need residents, a rent strike only increases the cost for the renters and the landlords. Since the lease contract states that increased collection costs will be paid by the defaulting residents and parental guarantors, the rent strike increases the resident’s short term and long terms costs. A rent strike does not release a resident from his/her legal obligations. The resident is still legally required to pay the debt to the landlord.

Trimark has interest-free options for truly impacted residents, which you can find outlined on our website. We highly recommend that you review those options and reach out to us if you and your guarantor truly cannot afford to pay rent. If the options laid out don’t work for you for some reason, reach out to us individually and see if there are other options for you specifically. We will do our best to work with each affected resident. While we cannot just eliminate your contractual responsibility for paying the rent, we can attempt to make it less burdensome, when/if possible. If you believe that a rent strike is an effective measure after reviewing the options we have in place, we recommend that you take the step of requesting free legal advice from UF Student Legal Services ( https://studentlegalservices.ufl.edu/ ). We’d prefer to work with those that cannot afford to pay rent rather than see them risk their financial future on an ill-advised measure.

4. I am experiencing financial hardship. What do I do?

Please review the Help with Rent Flyer based on info provided by the National Multifamily Housing Council. It summarizes relief options currently available for renters.

In addition to state and federal relief options, several groups associated with the University of Florida are also offering assistance to University of Florida students impacted by COVID-19. In March 2020, UF launched the Aide-a-Gator program (link: https://www.sfa.ufl.edu/aidagator/) which offers grants to UF students in order to assist them with paying education-related expenses. On May 5, 2020 two new financial relief programs were announced for University of Florida students. UF Student Government announced that they passed a $500,000 rent relief bill to help qualified students pay for rent during this time (info here.) In addition, the University of Florida announced a $15.5 million reflief package that will go to UF students for federal emergency aid. More than $15,523,000 will be dispersed to UF students as grants for aid needed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The City of Gainesville is also offering support for qualified Gainesville residents earning extremely-low, very-low and low-to-moderate incomes who experienced disruption and loss due to COVID-19 with temporary rent and utility payments for up to two months, not to exceed $1250 per household and funded with a $1,593,000 grant. For more info, see here: https://www.cityofgainesville.org/GNVCares.aspx

Your contract remains in full effect, and rent remains due on the 1st of each month. Trimark is closely monitoring numerous proposed federal relief options. At this point, the details remain vague or are still awaiting further vote on a federal level. We realize that everybody, including us at Trimark, wants answers quickly, but unfortunately we must wait for the federal aid packages to pass before we can make any adjustments. Once legislation is passed (whether it's relief to landlords/property owners or relief to renters affected by the shut downs or no relief at all), we will determine how, if at all, our existing contracts can be modified. At this point, there are no modifications that can be made. We hope that changes at some point, but it will require some legislative action. We sincerely empathize with residents experiencing financial hardship and understand that these are very difficult times for everybody. We too are seeking to meet our legal and financial obligations, employ our staff, and serve our residents.

We're here to work with you

We understand there may be a delay in your ability to access unemployment or stimulus benefits. We are offering a limited number of Temporary Rent Restructuring options based upon varying levels of financial hardship. Please note that these options are limited due to the need for us to generate funds sufficient for us to operate our business.

If you have funds to pay
First and foremost, we ask if you have the funds available or access to funds, that you pay the contracted rent according to the rental agreement. Trimark is facing financial challenges similar to other small businesses. We are deeply committed to the community, our residents who must remain in Gainesville, our contractors, and our vendors. In order to meet our obligations to paying our employees, mortgages, taxes, insurance, and utility bills, we must collect rent from our residents. We are relying on those renters and guarantors that are facing less dire financial consequences to help those renters in true hardship cases by paying as contracted. If you can pay as contracted, we appreciate you, and those that cannot pay on time will appreciate you too.

If you have a true financial hardship and require an extension in order to make the full payment for rent for this month, please contact us here so we can make the appropriate arrangements to help:
Late Fee Waiver Request Form

If you are truly indigent, with no access to monies to pay the full rent in the time period when due, we will do our best to attempt to help you with a payment plan. In order to be considered for Temporary Restructuring of Rent, you must be truly indigent. We will require an “Affidavit of Indigence” from all parties on a lease as well as all cosignors, and we will analyze the Affidavits that we receive to determine which units are truly facing the most extreme financial hardship. An Affidavit must be filled out (including financial information and documentation relating to your indigent status). Please note that indigent status requests require that all parties to the lease (including guarantors) qualify as indigent. If you are approved for a Temporary Rent Restructuring, please be aware that it will not reduce the remaining amount of rent due on your contract. Instead, it will spread the amount due for the remaining months of the contract over a longer period of time, thereby reducing each of the monthly payments that you must make. Please follow this link to let us know if you feel you are Indigent and meet this status requirement. We will then provide you the Affidavit of Indigence. Once all residents and guarantors for the lease group return the form, we will consider your request for rent restructuring.
Request Form for Affidavit of Indigency

4. I normally pay by check. Can I still pay by check? What if I want to pay with a credit card or bank transfer?

Trimark is still accepting check payments, but we are requesting that residents make payment online via ACH bank transfer or credit card. To request a link to your online account, email leasinginfo@trimarkproperties.com and request info for your online account.

1. Can I still submit service requests?

Trimark continues to have a full staff available to complete necessary service requests. We ask residents to continue to submit service requests online as they normally would. In order to limit staff exposure and reduce the spread of COVID-19, Trimark is analyzing all submitted service requests on a case-by-base basis. Some service requests which are deemed non-essential may have their completion delayed based on the travel history and exposure risk of the residents living in the unit. Trimark has purchased additional personal protection equipment for staff in case an emergency work order is entered in a unit with low to moderate risk levels.

2. What steps is Trimark taking to reduce the spread of COVID-19?

We have adopted guidelines provided by the CDC and World Health Organization, and we have communicated those guidelines to our staff and vendors. Additionally, Trimark hired a Certified Industrial Hygienist to provide a thorough analysis and make recommendations on how to best reduce risk. Any team member who has exposure risk, is sick, or has a fever has been asked to stay home and isolate, in order to allow healthy team members to service our communities. We have reduced our entry into apartments, dorms, and houses, in order to reduce exposure risks and reduce the spread of COVID-19 in accordance with recommendations from Alachua County government. Maintenance and facilities teams are disinfect tools between uses. We’ve increased cleaning of high-touch areas. In both of our offices, we have increased distancing, hand sanitizing, and hand washing. We have discontinued tours into lived-in units. Prior to entering units, we are asking residents to complete screening questionnaires so that we can assess risk. If work must be done in an apartment, house or dorm room, Trimark staff is utilizing hand sanitizer and cleaning all surfaces prior to touching them and cleaning all touched surfaces again with a disinfectant when leaving.

1. Are you currently giving tours of models apartments?

In order to give prospective residents the most accurate picture of what it’s like to live in a Trimark property, Trimark leasing agents usually take tenants into lived-in units. Though our office is open, we have temporarily discontinued touring of any lived-in units. We are now offering prospective residents one-on-one online tours with a leasing agent. During the online tour, the leasing agent will speak on the phone with the prospective resident and him/her access to a exclusive webpage with virtual tours, photos, floorplans, and will go over all specials. We are offering online tours and online reservations from the comfort of your home.

2. Am I able to schedule an online tour, since you are not touring lived-in model apartments and houses?

Yes. Click here to schedule an online tour.

3. Am I able to reserve housing online?

Yes, we offer a reservation process that is fully online. Reserve your housing from the comfort of your home! Reservations only take 15 minutes and can be completed via desktop, phone, ipad or other tablet.

4. Can I come into the office to rent an apartment or ask questions?