Whether you are a single-unit landlord or a multi-family housing manager, the safety of your residents should be a primary concern, as it is certainly a top concern for your residents and factors into their decision to renew their lease with you. Property managers who do not attend to safety concerns usually suffer high turnover rates and lose substantial profits.
Along with price, location, amenities and appearance, the perception of safety weighs heavily in a prospect's decision. Families with children, elderly and female residents are especially sensitive to these factors.
If you are serious about preventing crime on your property, take the time to implement the following safety tips. These tips are a starting point for a general safety plan that should be written down and distributed to staff and residents.
Landlord Profits Information, Advice, News for Property Management
11 Safety Tips for Property Management
1. Screen Your Tenants & Employees: The first step in implementing a safety plan is to thoroughly review residents by not only checking their credit report but by also doing a criminal background check. Property managers should be especially vigilant to not allow criminals with violent histories, sex offenders and convicted thieves and drug dealers into their properties. If property management does not take appropriate steps to review an applicant's background BEFORE making a leasing decision, they will leave themselves open to potential lawsuits -- imagine the community impact and resulting implications if a sex offender violates another resident because the property manager did not screen them properly at the time of their rental application.
And walk the talk!! It is a good risk management practice to check the backgrounds of employees as well as residents.
2. Know Your Neighbor: Helping your residents to be aware of their surroundings and neighbors is a great way to get the community to keep an eye out for each other. Encourage your residents to meet and know their neighbors - through social events sponsored by the neighborhood or property management group. Also, start a community webpage through a variety of free resources available on http://www.neighborhoodlinks.com/. You can use your community webpage to document and maintain a community watch program as well as an events calendar.
3. Identify Your Staff: Property staff should be always display an ID card. Residents and staff should always be on the look out for suspicious strangers and unusual activity. This includes unknown packages and unattended vehicles. Post signs to ban door-to-door solicitation and report such activity to the police.
4. Don't Keep Your Residents In The Dark: Parking areas, entrances, offices, hallways, clubhouses, stairways, laundry rooms and other common areas must be well lit and locked. (Never allow entrances to be propped open) Burned out light bulbs should be changed immediately and angled mirrors installed.
5. Change Your Locks Regularly: Always change the locks when new residents move in and install 1-1/2 inch deadbolts. Install wide-angle peepholes with a cover to prevent outside-to-inside viewing. Outside-facing doors should be metal or solid 1-3/4"hardwood and fit their frames tightly, with no more than 1/8-inch space between the door and frame. Place crime prevention stickers on doors and windows.
6. Install Alarm Systems: Active alarm systems on your property can also help reduce your property insurance rates.
7. Secure Sliding Glass Doors: Reinforce sliding glass doors and windows with commercial locks and anti-lift devices as well as a wooden dowel to jam the door from being forced open. Ground-level windows may also be protected with bars that can be opened from the inside.
8. Remove Hiding Places For Criminals: Trim trees and bushes at the ground level while removing obstacles and debris that may impede a clear view of walkways and entrances.
9. Be Smart About Hide-A-Keys: Discourage your residents from putting spare keys under the doormat, in the mailbox or anywhere thieves may look.
10. Give The Impression Of Activity: Encourage residents to put timers on lights, radios and TVs, so when they are not at home, it gives the appearance of someone being there.
11. Protect Your Residents' Privacy: Never put full names on mailboxes or directories.
As always, information in this article is not intended to be used, and should not be used, as legal, tax or accounting advice. Investors should seek advice from an independent financial advisor about their specific situation.
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About Landlord2Landlord
Landlord2Landlord (http://www.landlord2landlord.com/) is a residential tenant screening company that partners with property management companies and homeowner associations to help communities reduce neighborhood crime, and to protect homeowners from renters with criminal backgrounds or a history of evictions and poor credit.
Our website is easy to use, available 24 hours per day, and delivers instant, inexpensive results that comply with FCRA and Fair Housing Act requirements. See our Success Stories at http://www.landlord2landlord.com/SuccessStories2.aspx.
We also have a free monthly e-newsletter that contains information to help homeowners maintain and lease their residential properties more effectively. To receive the e-newsletter, please visit http://www.landlord2landlord.com/ezinesignup.aspx.
Landlord Profits Information, Advice, News for Property Management
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