WPG - Washington Prime Collects More Rent but Not Enough
As the COVID-19 pandemic forced non-essential retailers to close earlier this year, retail landlords -- especially mall owners -- suddenly found it very difficult to collect the rent they were owed. Some tenants argued that the pandemic entitled them to temporary rent breaks. Others simply didn't have the financial wherewithal to pay what they owed.
Washington Prime (NYSE: WPG) was hit hard by rent delinquencies this spring. This caused shares of the embattled mid-tier mall real estate investment trust (REIT) -- which had already fallen from double-digit territory as recently as 2016 to less than $4 by the end of 2019 -- to plunge below the $1 mark.