May Day apartment rent payments are promising, according toearly rent collections data from LeaseLock.First-day rent payments in May increased slightly compared tofirst-day payments in April. More than 15% of renters paid in fullon the first in both April and May, according to the report. Thetrend shows that renters that can afford to pay rent areprioritizing the payment.

"The people that pay on the first of the month are veryreliable," Derek Merrill, CEO and co-founder ofLeaseLock, tells GlobeSt.com. "Those people are still paying theirrent, and there was even a slight uptick in people that are payingon the first. That could be attributable to a number of things, butas long as people have the money, it looks like they areprioritizing paying rent. That is a really good thing because thebig worry is first if they have they money, and second, if they dohave the money, how they are prioritizing their housingexpense."