If you're communicating with a large company that may own thousands of apartments, email might be the best method to start communication about your rental agreements, says Zillow economist Joshua Clark.
"That way, you know your information and request will be passed along to the right people and everything is in writing," he told Business Insider.
"Mom-and-pop landlords might be different — it depends on how comfortable you are negotiating with them," he continued. "You might get further with someone if you're dealing with them face-to-face. At the same time, I don't think that doing it over the phone or over email will put you at a disadvantage. Do whatever will make you the most comfortable and allow you to negotiate effectively."
Through email, you can also set up a time for a phone call or FaceTime to discuss your leasing agreement with your apartment manager or landlord, if you'd prefer to have a face-to-face discussion while maintaining social distancing.
One Business Insider contributor, Serena Marie, wrote about their experience negotiating their rent after they lost both of their service industry jobs in one day. According to the author, after they were laid off from work, they approached their landlord through a FaceTime call about not being able to make future rent payments.
"The face to face interaction (through FaceTime) was crucial to the outcome because it allowed us to assess her reaction," Marie said. "As roommates with no other real options, we had prepared ourselves for an intense confrontation, but once we saw that she was listening and had a sympathetic attitude, we were able to take a different tone."