Retail rent payments improved, albeit nominally, in May.According to data from Datex Property Solutions, acompany that tracks retail rent activity, there was a slight uptickin rent payments during the first two weeks of May compared to thesame period in April. Still, the numbers are not promising. ThroughMay 15, only 51.35% of retail rent was collected, compared to 48.9%in April. National retail collections are stronger with 53.2% ofrents collected in the subcategory in May, compared to 50.65% inApril.

"As a frame of reference, since late fees kick in after thetenth in most leases, this is a pretty good indicator of overallmonthly trends, which also explains why March 15th data showed87.4% total rents collected, and 91.6% collected for nationaltenants," Mark Sigal, CEO of Datex PropertySolutions, tells GlobeSt.com. "By the time the stay at home orderskicked in in most of the country in mid-March, most retail rentshad been paid."

The increase in May payments could be due to a combination ofdeferral plans forged between landlords and tenants as well as thearrival of PPP funding to relieve retailers. "I would note thatwith May being the first month that rent relief agreements arestarting to factor in, that the collections picture is likelysomewhat weaker than the May numbers show, owing to the level ofrent deferrals we are seeing," says Sigal.