Independent Landlord Rental Performance Report: February 2026

Monthly Tracker of On-Time Payments in Non-Institutional ("Mom-and-Pop") Rental Properties

Key Takeaways

In February 2026, on-time rental payments in independently operated units rose to 83.7%, extending the rebound from last fall’s trough.
Measured year-over-year, on-time payment rates remain below prior-year levels, down 167 basis points from February 2025 and marking the 31st consecutive month of annual declines, though the magnitude of those declines continues to narrow.
Forecast full-payment rates strengthened to 95.8%, signaling improving overall income realization despite elevated late-payment activity.
Late payments — the primary driver of underperformance in the mom-and-pop sector — remain above the 10% threshold, though the three-month moving average has continued to trend lower in recent months.
Western and Mountain states continue to post the strongest on-time payment rates nationally, with South Dakota, New Hampshire, Utah, and Alaska among the top performers.

The Bottom Line Upfront

Recent national data continue to point toward stabilization across independently operated rental properties. February’s improvement in on-time payment performance reinforces the gradual recovery that began in late 2025. While on-time payment rates remain below post-pandemic highs, the rebound from last fall’s trough has extended into early 2026. The pace of improvement remains measured, but the absence of renewed deterioration suggests that the sector is working through the pressures that emerged in mid-2025.

Late payments remain the primary source of underperformance. In both 2023 and 2024, the three-month moving average of late payments rarely reached double digits. In contrast, late payments remained above 10% throughout 2025 and continue to exceed that threshold today, underscoring that payment timing pressures have not fully normalized. That said, the three-month trend has moved lower in recent months, pointing to easing — though still elevated — strain in this channel.

At the same time, overall income realization remains firm. Forecast full-payment rates have strengthened meaningfully in recent months, reaching their highest level since late summer 2025. This suggests that while a larger share of tenants may be paying late, many continue to ultimately cure missed payments.

The broader macroeconomic backdrop remains supportive. Real GDP growth held at 2.2% in 2025, reflecting resilience despite elevated policy and trade-related uncertainty that weighed on investment decision-making. As some of that uncertainty begins to recede and economic visibility improves, the operating environment for renters and small landlords may become more stable in 2026. Combined with wage growth continuing to outpace inflation, these conditions provide a constructive foundation for further improvement in rent payment performance.

National Overview

On-time rental payments in independently operated units moved higher in February 2026, extending the gradual recovery that began in late 2025. While improvement remains measured, the February data suggest that the sector continues to stabilize following the pronounced deterioration observed in mid-2025. According to the latest figures, 83.7% of units paid their full rent on time in February, up from January’s revised reading of 82.8%. Relative to the September 2025 low, the on-time payment rate has now improved by 135 basis points.

As additional payment data have been incorporated, prior month estimates have been revised modestly. January’s on-time payment rate, initially reported at 83.3%, has since been updated to 82.8%, while December now stands at 83.0%. These routine revisions reflect the reconciliation process as late-arriving payments are fully accounted for and do not materially alter the broader narrative of gradual improvement entering early 2026.

Year-over-Year Change

Despite continued month-to-month improvement, on-time payment rates remain below year-ago levels. Compared to February 2025, on-time collections are down by 167 basis points, extending the streak of year-over-year declines to 31 consecutive months.

Encouragingly, the magnitude of annual declines continues to narrow. Year-over-year gaps exceeded 300 basis points between late summer and fall of 2025 — but have compressed materially in recent months. With on-time payment rates now 135 basis points above their September 2025 low, the data point toward stabilization and a gradual rebuilding of payment performance as the sector moves further into 2026.

Note: As of May 2024, monthly data estimates are reported as a three-month moving average.

Full-Payment Rate: Historical & Forecast

The forecast full-payment rate for February 2026 — which accounts for on-time, late, and historically anticipated late payments — is estimated at 95.79%, up from 95.29% in January. This marks the highest forecast full-collection rate since August 2025, signaling continued stabilization in overall rent realization despite elevated late-payment activity.

As in prior months, realized full-payment outcomes have tended to modestly outperform initial forecasts, reflecting a higher-than-expected resolution rate of late payments. While this dynamic can weigh on headline on-time figures, it underscores the continued willingness and ability of tenants to cure missed payments over time.

Excluding the most recent months, which remain influenced by incoming late payments and forecast assumptions, the average monthly full-payment rate for 2025 stood at approximately 96.0%. This placed 2025 performance between the 2023 average (96.6%) and the 2024 average (95.3%), reinforcing the view that income realization for independent landlords has remained comparatively resilient, even amid the late-payment surge observed in mid-2025.

Late Payments

Late payments continue to represent the primary source of underperformance for the mom-and-pop rental sector. While late payments are generally less damaging to property-level economics than outright nonpayment, they remain a meaningful source of operational strain. Independent landlords rely heavily on timely rental income to meet recurring expenses, making payment delays particularly disruptive.

The three-month moving average of late payments rose steadily through much of 2024 and 2025, climbing from a cycle low of 8.4% to a post-pandemic high of 13.4% in September 2025. Since then, conditions have begun to ease. The trailing three-month average declined to 12.7% in December and fell further to 12.4% in January, reinforcing the view that the late-payment surge observed in mid-2025 has likely peaked.

Further improvement appears likely. Based on current payment patterns, the forecast late-payment rate is projected to moderate to 12.1% in February. While late payments remain elevated relative to historical norms, the recent downward drift suggests that pressure in this channel is gradually abating as the sector moves deeper into 2026.

Performance by Property Type

Performance across rental subsectors continues to show a clear gradient. In February 2026, 2–4-family rentals once again led all property types, posting an on-time payment rate of 84.5%. Single-family rentals followed at 83.5%, while multifamily properties continued to trail at 83.1%.

All three subsectors recorded month-over-month improvement, reinforcing the broader stabilization trend observed at the national level. While on-time payment rates remain below earlier-cycle highs, recent gains have been broadly shared across property types, suggesting that improving conditions are not confined to any single segment of the independently operated rental market.

Regional Differences

At the state level, regional performance patterns remained broadly consistent in February 2026. Western and Mountain states continued to outperform much of the country. South Dakota (97.2%) led the nation, followed by New Hampshire (94.0%), Utah (94.0%), DC (93.8%), and Alaska (93.5%), with several additional Mountain and Pacific states close behind.

At the lower end of the distribution, on-time payment rates remained concentrated in the mid-70% to low-80% range. Geographic performance gradients remain evident across states, with Western and Mountain markets generally outperforming much of the South and parts of the Northeast.

Importance of the Independent Landlord Rental Performance Report

The Independent Landlord Rental Performance report provides valuable insights into how well non-institutional landlords are managing rental payments. It uses data from property management software RentRedi, showcasing results from 64,552 units. Information is collected and reported monthly by Chandan Economics. The trends highlighted here can serve as a benchmark for investors, brokers, and policymakers to understand the health of independent landlords in the rental market.

About: Chandan Economics

Chandan Economics is an economic advisory and data science firm serving the commercial real estate industry. The firm provides bespoke research, analytics, and advisory services to investors, lenders, operators, and public- and private-sector clients. Core practice areas include real estate data science (REDS), economic and market research, and litigation consulting, with a focus on translating complex data into clear, decision-relevant insight.

About: RentRedi

RentRedi is the leading comprehensive, data-powered rental management software for smart landlords and investors. It helps landlords and their tenants rent smarter by providing all the tools and intelligence needed to optimize portfolios, boost retention, reduce turnover, and improve the lives of everyone in the rental process. By combining real-time data, user behavior insights, and customer feedback with a modern, intuitive interface, RentRedi delivers solutions that help savvy real estate investors increase revenue, reduce risk, save time, minimize friction, and improve relationships. For landlords, the all-in-one web and mobile app streamlines rent collection, listings, tenant screening, lease signing, maintenance coordination, accounting, and more. For their tenants, it includes online rent payment, auto-pay, credit building and boosting, 24/7 maintenance requests, among other services. Founded in 2016, RentRedi is VC-backed and a proven PropTech leader. It has been recognized by the Inc. 5000, Inc. Power Partners, Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech, and HousingWire’s Tech100. With more than $33 billion in assets under management and nearly 300,000 landlords and tenants using its platform, RentRedi partners with leading technology providers including Zillow, TransUnion, Experian, Equifax, Realtor.com, Lessen, Thumbtack, Plaid, and Stripe to create the best customer experience possible. Learn more at RentRedi.com.

Methodology

Data are reported on a forward basis from March 2020 through February 2026 (current reporting period). As of the latest month of data availability, the reduced unit sample size totals 64,552. Rent charges are measured on a 15th-to-15th-of-the-month basis. Rent charges that are issued after the 15th of the current month are treated as a rent charge for the following rent-tracking period. (E.g., a rent charge sent on February 16th would be treated as a charge corresponding to March's owed rental payment.) Monthly estimates are represented as a three-month moving average.

Only charges designated as "rental income" are included for analysis. Rent charges below $500 and above $10,000 are excluded from this analysis.

Units that have not paid any form of rental income (full or partial) in the previous 60 days at the time a new rental charge is issued are removed from the sample tracking sample. Unpaid units refer to all units that have yet to fully satisfy their owed rents for a collection period. These unpaid units include units that have only partially paid their rent. As a means of reporting standardization, units with more than one monthly rent charge (E.g., rent paid weekly) are removed from the rent tracking sample.

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE'S ECONOMIC ADVISORS