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Leaking Toilets Key To Saving Money And Water In Apartments

By
John Triplett
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How to save money and water in apartments is the passion of entrepreneur Richard Lamondin Jr., who has founded a company to take on the challenge of both saving water and helping apartment owners, landlords and property managers make their apartment communities more green and eco-friendly.

By John Triplett

Recently Earth Day helped remind us of  to save money and water in apartments..

In an interview with Rental Housing Journal, one entrepreneur, who is in the middle of a large 10-property project in Dallas to help the Dallas-Fort Worth area with water conservation, talked about his passion and his company. The project is expected to save multifamily properties there an estimated 108 million gallons of water this year alone. The company is expecting to save two billion gallons of water over time.

How leaking toilets are key to saving money and water in apartments

“My brother and I grew up with a father who is a real estate developer, so we basically grew up on construction sites,” said Richard Lamondin Jr., CEO of Ecosystems. “But we are also environmentalists. We began researching the water situation here in the U.S. and found that 20 percent of all toilets in the U.S. right now are leaking as much as 200 gallons of water a day.

“I can go on with the numbers, but homes waste one trillion gallons of water every year. So while we’re trying to find solutions on the grand scale, a lot of times what’s being overlooked is the basic building block of water usage in apartment communities, which is the bathroom,” he said.

Seattle and Atlanta two of highest cost cities

Atlanta, Georgia and Seattle, Washington have some of the highest water rates in the country at $325.52 and $309.72 per month for a family of four, respectively, according to a Michigan State University study. “These rates are based on 100 gallons (378.54 liters) of water per person per day including water, sewer and storm water for 5/8 inch (15.875 mm) meters. It is likely these rates will rise as the cost of providing water increases.”

The Michigan State University study, called “Affordable Water In the U.S. – A Burgeoning Crisis,” says “If water rates continue rising at projected amounts, the number of U.S. households unable to afford water could triple in five years, to nearly 36 percent.”

So Lamondin said it’s actually a growing problem not just for apartment owners but “pretty much anyone paying their water bill right now because of our aging infrastructure and certain stresses on the water supply.”

“I think part of the reason why we’ve actually seen a lot more interest in water conservation over the last few years is the fact that it’s hitting people’s pockets in a meaningful way,” he said.

Apartment bathrooms are the initial focus

“We audit a property’s water usage,” Lamondin said. The audit is based upon the building structure plus any potential local incentives and other contributing factors. Then they create a program based upon that property.

“Most of the time what that includes is full replacements of all water-using fixtures in the bathrooms and kitchens. So we’ll change out toilets, shower heads, sinks, or even just the sink aerators ,” Lamondin said.

They also inspect the apartment community looking for:

    • Any sinks, tubs, valves and supply lines that may have an existing leak
    • Any ground leaks throughout the property

”It’s very common to come across toilets that use three-and-a-half gallons per flush. Now those toilets were manufactured usually in the 70’s and 80’s and haven’t been changed since.”

And when the company is done, “We’re really saving anywhere from about 30 percent to as much as 68 percent off of water bills,” Lamondin said.

Installing new toilets without disrupting tenants 

“These days, you’re getting toilets that are flushing 0.8 to one gallon per flush with more power than those big guzzling fixtures. It is basically a simple math problem.

“If you take a three-and-a-half gallon per flush toilet and cut 75% off its water use, it’s going to save you money. The same thing in the shower heads. A typical shower head uses two-and-a-half gallons per minute. We typically put in one-and-a-half gallon per minute shower heads, and that saves 40 percent off their shower usage right there.

“We try to make conservation unavoidable. We do not seek to disrupt any person’s daily routine, that’s really embedded in our philosophy,” Lamondin said.

“Sometimes we find some fun things when we lift up the toilets. And, that is another added value of the program.

“For instance, we may lift up the fixture and find there’s a rotted floor under there. Or, there’s some cracked item or a leaky valve that may in the future cause a catastrophic leak. So we go in and harden those properties against those leaks in a multi-floor building.

“We’re in and out usually within half an hour or 45 minutes, very quickly. We try to disrupt residents as little as possible. I would say that a lot of times the management, especially property managers on site, really appreciate the efforts we go through to handle that. We have their maintenance teams opening doors for us. We have a member of the staff with us at all times so residents see a friendly face. We really make an effort to make this a positive project,” Lamondin said.

Big projects around the country to save money and water in apartments

How To Save Money And Water In Apartments

The Ecosystems team in Houston where they did 1,300 bathrooms. Lamondin is back left top.

Lamondin said his company works with another company called BH Management Services, LLC which has expanded to a nation-wide project.

“We’re doing more than 14,000 bathrooms with them over the next year nationwide. In Arizona, we did 4,400 bathrooms in the fourth quarter of last year. We’re still working on getting the savings numbers off of that, but they’re going to be saving hundreds of millions of gallons of fresh water. I have no doubt about that,” he said.

Denver project provided return on investment in nine months

“Last year we did a project in Denver for one property.” Lamondin said. “It used to be called the Breakers and now it’s called Tava Waters,” and is managed by BH Management Services.

“It was about 2,500 bathrooms in one shot. We did it in three months. Denver Water didn’t think we could do it in five months. They gave our clients the largest rebate in Colorado history. it was about $376,000 on that project. Their return on investment (ROI) was about nine months.

“This was the largest toilet rebate we’ve ever done,” Jeff Tejral, Denver Water conservation manager, said in the great toilet payback on the Denver Water site. “It was an impressive project, and they’re saving a lot of water by using some of the most efficient toilets available.” Denver Water estimates that Tava Waters will save around 33 million gallons of water each year by making the changes. Before the changes, Tava Waters residents were using about 51 gallons per person, per day; after the renovations, each person is using around 33 gallons per day.

The practical side of working with a single vendor

Mike Watkins, Director of Construction, West, for BH Management Services, said, “In the very beginning of an acquisition or refinance, we’re working with an engineer on a green study report to  identify the different items and areas where there could be efficiencies,  electrical or water. A lot of our projects to date  have been focused around  water savings.

“EcoSystems really stood out to me,” Watkins said. “I was involved in the Denver project where we had a short time frame of less than 90 days to do about 2,500 bathrooms. When I got involved with the program, and looked at how to roll this out nationally, we asked ‘Does it make sense to have multiple different vendors throughout the country doing it, or does it make sense to work with one vendor who has it down?’

“Based on their response and how they performed on the project in Denver, it was a no-brainer to work with them on the  project nationwide  That way, we have similar crews going on site and into tenant’s units, rather than having multiple different vendors. This has allowed EcoSystems to become more efficient working with our projects and our managers to continue to deliver a high level of customer service to our residents. ,” Watkins said.

Freddie Mac Green Up Program for borrowers

“BH Management has the Denver property but also 269 properties and just over 80,000 units under ownership and management,” said Kate Miller, Senior Asset Manager for BH Management Services.

“We started participating in the Freddie Mac Green Up program when it was initiated in early 2017. The benefit here is Freddie Mac recognized that in most multifamily apartment communities, the tenants paid their own utilities such as electric, gas, water, etc.. Previously, multi-family investors didn’t have a strong motivation to focus on  green improvements.

However, Miller said, “We are always cognizant of our footprint. We want to save resources, both utility-wise and financially, and we’re always trying to do the right thing. We’ve taken full advantage of the Freddie Mac loans since they were introduced, which provide for funds to be rolled into the loan at favorable loan rates to implement green initiatives within the individual units.

“It’s a program that we’re really excited about,” she said. Of their 269 properties “we’ve got 55 properties to date that are participating in the Green Up initiative. It’s really something that we’re proud of. It takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of logistics. But it’s fun to see these projects wrap up. EcoSystems been very helpful to us in tracking, so going forward we’ll be able to see the benefits of the investments being made in these properties,” Miller said.

City rebates make a difference

“Municipalities often offer rebates to encourage owners to participate in energy saving practices ,” Watkins said. “Denver had a phenomenal rebate. It basically paid for more than half of the project, which was fantastic.”

“In Phoenix, we’ve  taken advantage of smaller rebates; every market and county has their own standard for what is offered. But as far as all the cities, between Phoenix and Tempe, everything was fine. I can’t think of anything that stood out to me, where it didn’t go smoothly,” Watkins said.

Return on investment for apartment owners

Apartment owners can finance much of the cost for the water saving initiatives.

“Right now, there’s a fantastic financing opportunity through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for any owners purchasing or refinancing,” Lamondin said.

The programs go by different names, but “they all boil down to basically green loan programs.”

“And for owners, that can save 25 percent on their utility costs. They’re able to receive significant reductions of up to 30 basis points on the loan in basis points, basis point discount, sa well as receive back much of the cost of the project that they implement through rebates.” Whose quote is this?

“So, for example, that project in Denver was one of the early ones for that program, and they received, I don’t know officially how much, but I think about 30 basis points off of their loan in addition to the water savings. We’ve seen a lot of growth and a lot of large owners taking advantage of this program lately,” Lamondin said.

“I’d say about 18 months is our average ROI. We’ve had as quickly as three. When we do our due diligence, we ask the owner what their tolerance is in terms of an ROI. And if it goes above that – it’s the least favorite part of my job – but we recommend not performing projects if something doesn’t meet roughly about a 24- to 36-month ROI.

“We really understand the importance from a business perspective in doing this work. But I would say right now anything built before 2000 has significant potential from a conservation standpoint. And there’s about 20 million or so bathrooms in the U.S. that meet that criteria just in the multifamily industry,” he said.

Owners saving 35 percent to 68 percent

“It really all depends in terms of consumption, the amount of gallons saved, but we’re pretty steady on that savings number,” Lamondin said. “A lot of times the way bills are structured – and this is something that we teach our partners – is a large determining factor in how much savings in dollars are achieved.

“For example, you have things on your bill like a storm water charge that no one can affect. However, you also have consumption charges based on the number of gallons. That’s where we really hone in. And a lot of times people don’t understand how much of the bill they can actually affect. And so we do a lot of educating on understanding both opportunity and liability from a utility standpoint,” he said.

Millennials like apartments to focus on green initiatives

So for example, for BH Management, “We did a projection that they’re going to save about 400 million gallons of fresh water annually and just from the projects we’re going to do for them within a calendar year,” Lamondin said. “Those are significant numbers that continue to build on each other.

“I’m 30. A lot of times people in my generation do care that the place they live is doing their part to keep and stay green,” Lamondin said, and the key is to save money and water in apartments.

Resources:

Michigan State Study Affordable Water In The U.S. – A Burgeoning Crisis

A Nationwide Assessment of the Geography of Water Affordability in the United States

The great Denver toilet payback

Ecosystems

BH Management Services

Freddie Mac Multifamily Green Advantage

Four ways Miami startups are trying to save the planet

 

 

Tacoma Votes To Make Landlords Give 90-Day Notice Before Evictions

By
By The Editors
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The Tacoma City Council has adopted a temporary ordinance that requires property owners to give 90 days notice to tenants who are being evicted due to building demolition, renovation or change of use.

That ordinance will expire at the end of September, but the city council said it’s working on something more permanent.

The new temporary ordinance came after council members  voted to look into tenants’ rights issues and landlord-tenant laws after a hearing involving residents at the Tiki Apartments who had been facing evictions after a 20-day notice, according to reports.

The temporary ordinance is intended to provide interim enhanced protections as the city develops further recommendations to address housing and tenant protections for City Council consideration.

“Having experienced homelessness in my life I understand the hardship caused by the affordable housing crisis and the need for enhanced tenant protections,” Councilmember Keith Blocker said in a release.“To address the immediate needs of the residents at the Tiki Apartments, we have been in contact with the new property owner, who has agreed to provide additional time for tenants to relocate and extended the notice of eviction to June 30, 2018. The city is committed to continued coordination of service delivery with our community partners to ease residents’ transition as we begin to work toward long-term solutions for our community.”

The ordinance will not address the emergent need of residents who have already received notification of termination of tenancy, yet city leaders recognize the urgency for assistance according to the release.

“The rising cost of housing in Tacoma impacts us all, but being displaced in this climate creates a particular hardship for our most vulnerable neighbors,”  Mayor Victoria Woodards said in the release.

“While the landlord in this case offered to go beyond the minimum requirements of the law, we as leaders need to ensure that other tenants in the city have sufficient time to relocate and to access the services they need to keep a roof over their heads,” she said.

Evicted residents given until end of June

With the passing of the temporary ordinance, the residents now have until the end of June to relocate.

Initially, the council voted unanimously to direct City Manager Elizabeth Pauli “to look into options for expanding tenant rights, while working with tenant and landlord groups to build a consensus, and to bring possible recommendations to be discussed at an upcoming Community Vitality and Safety Committee meeting,” according to the Tacoma News Tribune.

On April 5, the Tiki Apartments on South Highland Avenue were purchased by CWD Investments, a Seattle-based company, according to KIRO-TV. Residents in all 58 units received a notice from Allied Residential, the third-party company that now manages the property. The notices indicated that residents in half of the units have until April 30 to vacate. Residents in the other half have until the end of May.

The tenants have been renting month-to-month and Washington law only requires a 20-day notice to move, according to reports.

The notice said that the property will be “going through a major renovation in the next few months” and offered “a one-time relocation benefit of $900 … exchanged for your apartment keys on the prearranged move out date,” according to the newspaper.

Chad Duncan is the lone registered member of CWD Investments LLC, according to the newspaper, and he said in a statement, ““We intend to work with those in hardship that communicate such. We are not heartless.”

Ordinance deals with evictions

Mayor Woodards  initially called the emergency public meeting which resulted in the temporary ordinance and an extension of time to the end of June for the Tiki Apartments residents, many of whom have nowhere to go and don’t have the means to pay first and last month’s rent as well as a deposit for a new place on such short notice.

Woodards also directed Pauli to look into any possible violations of landlord-tenant law that may have occurred at the Tiki Apartments and other Allied Residential properties as alleged by some speakers at a recent council meeting.

Roger Valdez with Seattle for Growth told the television station that what happened at the Tiki Apartments may become more common in places like Tacoma. Tenants say the building has been run down for years. Housing experts think that leaves developers with few options.

“You see people who are benefiting from years and years of deferred maintenance in lower rent and then it all catches up,” he told KIRO-TV. “It’s an unfortunate situation but we’ve seen it a lot in Seattle.”

Resources:

Tacoma examining rental laws after evictions

Emergency Tacoma council meeting planned to discuss evicted Tiki Apartment residents

New Tacoma landlord to desperate tenants he’s evicting: ‘Moving will be an improvement’

Families told to leave Tacoma apartments: ‘It’s so scary it brings tears to my eyes’

 

Do You Have A Smoke-Free Policy That Adequately Protects Residents?

By
By The Editors
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Landlord Hank what do i do about second-hand smoke in my apartment?

Have you thought about your smoke-free policy or no-smoking policy and whether it adequately protects residents who need a smoke-free environment? The Grace Hill training tip of the week focuses on this issue and new HUD rules for smoke-free policies in public housing.

By Ellen Clark

More and more rental properties across the country are adopting smoke-free policies with the goal of improving air quality, reducing the fire risk, and lowering maintenance costs.

Even with no-smoking policies in place in many apartment complexes, research indicates that many of the nearly 80 million Americans who live in multiunit housing experience secondhand smoke infiltration in their living unit that originated from elsewhere in or around their building.

For tenant in apartment buildings and condominiums, secondhand smoke can be a major concern. It can migrate from other units and common areas and travel through doorways, cracks in walls, electrical lines, plumbing, and ventilation systems.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that all multi-unit housing in the United States adopt smoke free policies in order to protect residents from the very serious health hazards caused by drifting tobacco smoke.

“There is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke, and even brief exposure can cause immediate harm,” the CDC says.

What the CDC says about multifamily housing

“Multi-unit housing residents are particularly susceptible to involuntary secondhand smoke exposure in the home. Environmental studies indicate that secondhand smoke constituents can infiltrate units where no smoking occurs (eg, units whose residents have adopted smoke-free home rules) from units and shared areas where smoking is permitted,” the CDC says.

“Nearly 7 million U.S. multiunit housing residents live in government subsidized housing, including approximately 2 million in public housing either owned or operated by a government housing authority. The potential for secondhand smoke exposure in public or subsidized housing is of particular concern because a large proportion of these units are occupied by people who are particularly sensitive to secondhand smoke, including children (45%), the elderly (41%), and the disabled (25%).

All Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) administering low-income, conventional public housing were required to have a smoke-free policy in place by July 31, 2018.

In December of 2016, HUD published a final rule requiring Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) administering low-income, conventional public housing to implement policies.

The rule went into effect in February of 2017, but there is an 18-month implementation period, meaning that all PHAs must have a smoke-free policy in place by July 31, 2018. This rule applies to all public housing except dwelling units in mixed-finance buildings.

The rule says that each PHA must implement a smoke-free policy banning the use of prohibited tobacco products in all living units, indoor common areas, PHA administrative office buildings, and outdoor areas within 25 feet of any building on public housing grounds.

Note that the rule does not prohibit residents of PHAs from smoking. In fact, PHAs can establish outdoor designated smoking areas beyond the required 25 feet perimeter to accommodate residents who smoke. PHAs may also establish additional smoke-free locations, or they can even make their entire grounds smoke-free.

HUD rules on smoking could help any apartment community

While this rule applies to public housing (except dwelling units in mixed-finance buildings), the materials that HUD has assembled to help PHAs comply with this rule may be very helpful to any community that is thinking about, or in some stage of implementing, a smoke-free policy.

More rental properties across the country are adopting smoke-free policies. If you are one of those properties, here are some great resources HUD has put together to help PHAs implement smoke-free policies that may also be helpful to you.

    • Implementing HUD’s Smoke-Free Policy in Public Housing includes strategies for communicating with residents, examples of smoke-free policies and enforcement plans, tips for training staff, helpful information for launching a smoke-free policy, and guidance on responding to requests for accommodation.

There is more available on the Healthy Homes section of HUD’s website. Take some time to look around – you might find just what you are looking for!

Also, the American Lung Association worked with experts around the United States to develop an online curriculum on how to implement a smoke free policy in multifamily housing properties like apartments and condominiums.

    • Communicate the health and economic impact of secondhand smoke in multi-unit housing.
    • Engage with building managers, property owners, policymakers, residents and other stakeholders to adopt smoke-free multi-unit housing policies.
    • Plan and implement a successful smoke-free multi-unit housing policy.
    • Identify resident rights and responsibilities, as well as options for providing services to help smokers quit.

Group Says Multifamily Should Ban Smoking Inside and Near Buildings

 

About the author:

Ellen Clark is the Director of Assessment at Grace Hill.  Her work has spanned the entire learner lifecycle, from elementary school through professional education. She spent over 10 years working with K12 Inc.’s network of online charter schools – measuring learning, developing learning improvement plans using evidence-based strategies, and conducting learning studies. Later, at Kaplan Inc., she worked in the vocational education and job training divisions, improving online, blended and face-to-face training programs, and working directly with business leadership and trainers to improve learner outcomes and job performance. Ellen lives and works in Maryland, where she was born and raised.

About Grace Hill

For nearly two decades, Grace Hill has been developing best-in-class online training courseware and administration solely for the Property Management Industry, designed to help people, teams and companies improve performance and reduce risk.

Do You Have A Smoke-Free Policy That Adequately Protects Residents?

 

Photo credit idil toffolo via istockphoto.com

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Are LED Light Bulbs The Best Option For Your Rental Property?

By
By The Editors
-

LED light bulbs, whether replaced by the landlord or the tenant in your rental property, is the maintenance checkup from Keepe this week as we look at the pros and cons.

Going green is also important for some properties and something to consider for LED light bulbs.

LED light bulbs have become popular with industry professionals. So we asked our electricians to give us some tips as we explore what is best for our rentals.

How LED light bulbs work

LED light bulbs produce light by conducting electrical currents through a microchip that powers a small, light-emitting diode.

Their popular counterpart – incandescent light bulbs – rely on electrically-produced heat instead: electrical currents heat the metallic filament found inside the glass bulb, which becomes luminous after being brought up to a high, incandescent temperature

Pros of LED light bulbs

    • Efficient: LED light bulbs have been found to be up to 90% more efficient than incandescent light bulbs. This is because LEDs require much less energy to power up and produce light than it takes for an incandescent light bulb to reach the temperature necessary to emit light. Consuming less energy to illuminate a space will translate in lower utility bills.
    • Long-lasting: While incandescent light bulbs will stop working when their filaments wear out, the microchips and diodes in LED light bulbs last much, much longer. Some LED bulbs can last up to 10 years and produce over 40,000 hours of light before needing to be replaced. Additionally, instead of suddenly “going out” like incandescent light bulbs, LED nearing the time of replacement will visibly becoming dimmer, which makes it more practical to be prepared for their replacement and not experience a sudden loss of light.
    • Stylish: Since their introduction in 1995 and especially during the early 2000’s, compact fluorescent lights (or CFLs) became the best available alternative to incandescent light bulbs; while they certainly allowed for reduced energy consumption – fluorescent technology requires from a third to a fifth of what an incandescent light bulb would need to work – they came in a one-of-a-kind, rather impractical design: a curly or long twisted tube. Most people find the tubular design to be unappealing and difficult to incorporate in most light fixtures, especially decorative ones, like chandeliers and pendant-type pieces. While General Electric announced that it would stop producing curly CFLs altogether back in 2016, they can still be easily found and purchased: today, LED offer a much more practical and aesthetically pleasing alternative. Not only are LEDs widely available in the “classic” round and bulbous design – which is easy to incorporate in light fixtures – but manufacturers have been able to develop different shape variations to satisfy a wide range of design preferences.
    • Safe: LEDs surpass both incandescent and CFL light bulbs when it comes to safety. The main flaws of incandescent light bulbs are their frail glass exterior that can shatter easily and the way they heat up; in fact, they can generate enough heat to get the entire light fixture to reach dangerously high temperatures that can damage heat-sensitive surroundings and in some cases even cause injury when touched. Their fluorescent technology requires CFL light bulbs to incorporate mercury, which is a toxic material that cannot be disposed of alongside “regular” trash and needs to be handled with care. LED light bulbs resolve both issues as they do not generate heat when turned on nor utilize toxic materials.
    • Increasingly affordable: when LED light bulbs were first released, they were quite pricier than other available light bulbs. Their price has dropped ever since and today is considered to be rather accessible. It is possible to easily find LED light bulbs at most hardware stores at a variety of price points.
    • Directionality: LED light bulbs are versatile; they now can produce a diffused glow for a large room or can also create a spotlight effect in a certain space, such as below a bathroom vanity.

 

Are LED Light Bulbs The Best Option For Your Rental Property?

Cons of LED light bulbs

Are LED Light Bulbs The Best Option For Your Rental Property?

 

    • Light spectrum: LED light bulbs produce a white light, which is rather “bright” and cold. Some people find this light spectrum to be unappealing in spaces that they prefer to be dimmer. While investing in a light dimmer would solve this issue, it nonetheless requires an added step and expense.
    • Temperature-sensitivity: While LED bulbs don’t generate heat or temperature variations themselves, they are sensitive to the temperature of the space they are found in. LED bulbs have been found to fail when placed in an environment presenting a higher temperature. In some spaces, LED bulbs will need a heat sink to be added so that they can be kept cool.

The Best Appliances In Rental Property

About Keepe:

Keepe is an on-demand maintenance solution for property managers and independent landlords. The company makes a network of hundreds of independent contractors and handymen available for maintenance projects at rental properties. Keepe is available in the Greater Seattle area, Greater Phoenix area, San Francisco Bay area, Portland, San Diego and is coming soon to an area near you. Learn more about Keepe at https://www.keepe.com

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Social Media Tenant Screening Risks And Fair Housing

By
By The Editors
-
social media and tenant screening

Have you thought about using social media tenant screening as a way to checkout potential tenants on social media or checking on current residents on social media? The Grace Hill training tip of the week focuses on this issue and the Fair Housing Act.

By Ellen  Clark

Social media can be a tempting tool to find more information about tenants and prospective tenants, but the information you find can leave you vulnerable to discrimination claims.

But what about looking up applicants or residents on social media? Can that be problematic from a fair housing perspective? Let’s take a look.

First some background as the topic of social media and fair housing is back in the headlines.

In March, fair housing organizations filed a lawsuit against Facebook, accusing the company of allowing real estate companies and landlords to exclude women and families with children from seeing certain housing ads.  The lawsuit, filed by the National Fair Housing Alliance in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, alleges that the world’s largest social network still allows advertisers to discriminate against legally protected groups, including mothers, the disabled and Spanish-language speakers.

Diane Houk, lead counsel for the alliance, told ProPublica this type of discrimination is especially difficult to uncover and combat. “The person who is being discriminated against has no way to know” it, because the technology “keeps the discrimination hidden in hopes that it will not be caught,” she said.

Facebook disputes the housing groups’ allegations. “There is absolutely no place for discrimination on Facebook. We believe this lawsuit is without merit, and we will defend ourselves vigorously,” said Facebook spokesman Joe Osborne told ProPublica.

A few weeks ago we talked about how social media communications are often considered advertisements, and discrimination in advertising is prohibited by the Fair Housing Act. It is illegal to create, publish or distribute housing ads that discriminate, limit or deny equal access to housing because of membership in any federally protected class.

Using social media tenant screening 

It may be tempting to use social media to learn more about prospective residents during the screening process.

However, on social media you are likely to find out information that defines someone as protected class, such as their religion, that they have children, or that they have a disability.

This could make you more likely to deny someone housing based on those characteristics, which could make you more vulnerable to discrimination claims.

If you think what you find on social media could influence, or even appear to influence, your decision about leasing to someone, then steer clear of investigating on social media. The best thing to do is follow your standard application and qualification procedures consistently for all prospects.

If you connect with residents on social media, think carefully before acting on information you find.

 Using social media to check on current tenants

Imagine you have a couple living in a one-bedroom apartment home.

Your occupancy limits specify two people per bedroom.

On social media, you learn that the couple is in the process of adopting twins. What should you do?

In this case, it is best to not take any action.

Even making a note of this in the residents’ file could be problematic if you face a fair housing claim. It could appear as though you used the couple’s familial status in making decisions, which could violate fair housing law.

What if you come across something concerning about residents on social media, such an indication that they lied on their application or weren’t honest in an accommodation request?

Consult with your supervisor and legal counsel before taking any action. If you act on information and are wrong about what you found, you may put yourself at risk for a fair housing complaint.

Summary on social media tenant screening and fair housing

In this age of social media, it is important to understand that you are responsible for acting in a non-discriminatory way, no matter what form of communication you are using.

You must be just as mindful of fair housing laws when sharing information and interacting with customers online as you are when sharing information and interacting in print and in person.

The same rules apply.

Read Ellen’s full blog post here.

Successful Landlords Know All Tenant Screening Companies Are Not The Same

About the author:

Ellen Clark is the Director of Assessment at Grace Hill.  Her work has spanned the entire learner lifecycle, from elementary school through professional education. She spent over 10 years working with K12 Inc.’s network of online charter schools – measuring learning, developing learning improvement plans using evidence-based strategies, and conducting learning studies. Later, at Kaplan Inc., she worked in the vocational education and job training divisions, improving online, blended and face-to-face training programs, and working directly with business leadership and trainers to improve learner outcomes and job performance. Ellen lives and works in Maryland, where she was born and raised.

About Grace Hill

For nearly two decades, Grace Hill has been developing best-in-class online training courseware and administration solely for the Property Management Industry, designed to help people, teams and companies improve performance and reduce risk.

Sign Up For Our Newsletter And Get Apartment News And Helpful, Useful Content Each Week.

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10 Ways To Make Small Bathrooms In Your Rentals Look Bigger and Better

By
By The Editors
-
small bathrooms in your rentals - 10 ways to make them look bigger

Small bathrooms in your rental properties can be made to look bigger and keep tenants happier with small, affordable changes in this maintenance checkup from Keepe

Being able to enjoy a spacious bathroom is on the wish list of many tenants,.

However many properties – especially rental unit clusters – are designed to optimize space. That means that the sheer size of a property’s rooms might have to be reduced to squeeze in extra storage space or living areas.

While an extra small bathroom or powder room is certainly better than having one less bathroom in the property, it can be a hard point to sell, especially when a small bathroom is a property’s only bathroom.

A room expansion or remodel is expensive, labor intensive and time-consuming. It is also unlikely to be feasible for units that have been purposely designed to host certain numbers and types of rooms of specific dimensions.

10 ways to make small bathrooms in your rentals look bigger and better

No. 1 – Opt for white on white

Avoiding dark, overly bright or coordinated color schemes is a must. Avoid contrasts and colors from emphasizing how small a space is by highlighting where the walls and/or ceiling end. White creates a spacious and airy feel. White also allows natural and/or artificial light to illuminate the space as opposed to being absorbed by dark colored paints or wallpapers.

No. 2 – Match tiles, walls and ceiling

Matching the color of painted walls, tiling and ceiling erases the visible contrast that would result if they were of different colors. Uniformity and continuity of color makes the space look significantly larger, thus making more elaborate tiling patterns or color schemes an element to avoid.

No 3 – Extend tiling

If showers and other areas are surrounded by tiled walls, it’s ideal to extend tiling all the way up to the ceiling to avoid trims to “mark” a clear point on the walls and “shorten” them as a result.

10 Ways To Make Small Bathrooms In Your Rentals Look Bigger and Better

No. 4 – Lengthen the space with vertical tiling

Instead of opting for regular or square-like tiles and laying them horizontally, choosing longer tiles and laying them vertically tricks the onlooker to perceive the space as being taller or wider than it really is.

No. 5 – Save space with a new door

Regular doors demand a certain radius of space available at all times to adequately swing open. This forces the layout of all elements within the space to accommodate the clearance. Sliding doors give back this space as they slide open without taking up space from the room.

No 6 – Use bright lighting in small bathrooms

Poor illumination can make a small bathroom look dark and claustrophobic. The combination of bright lighting with the white color scheme of its surroundings creates an airy, fresh look.

No 7 – Use mirrors to your advantage

Large mirrors can create an optical illusion that makes the room look larger. You can almost double the perceived space with them. Larger mirrors can be pricey, but generally still cost less than a tiled wall. This makes them an advantageous substitute.

No. 8 –  Invest in sleek fixtures and furnishings

10 Ways To Make Small Bathrooms In Your Rentals Look Bigger and Better

Elaborate design elements are distracting and overwhelming is a small space.  Modern bathroom fixtures and furnishings showcase sleek and harmonious lines, which work well with the minimalist look of uniform white paints and tiling to create an elegant space.

No. 9 – Go with glass

Instead of boring and cheap-looking shower curtains, opt for a glass panel for your shower. It modernizes and opens up the space by allowing for greater visibility past the “visual wall” that a shower curtain would create. For added privacy – if preferred – glass paneling can be tinted or frosted.

No 10 – Be smart about storage

In small bathrooms, any extra room made available by eliminating “bulky” furnishings goes a long way. Adding floating vanities, shelving and wall cabinets maxmizes storage space while still maintaining a neat and polished look.
About Keepe:

Keepe is an on-demand maintenance solution for property managers and independent landlords. The company makes a network of hundreds of independent contractors and handymen available for maintenance projects at rental properties.

Keepe is available in the Greater Seattle area, Greater Phoenix area, San Francisco Bay area, Portland, San Diego and is coming soon to an area near you. Learn more about Keepe at https://www.keepe.com.

5 Maintenance Tips For Long-Lasting Carpet In Your Rentals

Kitchen Range Hood Options for Your Rentals

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Apartment Owner Ordered To Pay $1.6 Million In Bed Bug Lawsuit

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By The Editors
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A jury has awarded a California family $1.6 million in one of the largest single bed bug lawsuit case awards ever reported against an apartment owner, according to a release.

Liliana Martinez told NBC in Los Angles her family suffered for months with bed bugs at the Kahala Islander Apartments in Inglewood, California in 2010. She said her child, a baby at the time, was covered in bites.

“Just seeing how he would scratch all the time and nothing would heal because it would start bleeding again. It was very emotional, very stressful,” she told the television station.

The family says they complained to apartment management and were told to throw out all of their furniture and sleep on the floor. But it took months to eradicate the bugs. The lawyer who represents the apartment building declined to comment on the case.

The defendant in the case, Amusement Six Apartments LLC owns an apartment complex in Inglewood and simply didn’t respond appropriately to the Plaintiffs complaints about bedbugs, according to Yahoo news.  According to the suit, it took management 9 days to initially schedule bedbug treatment, and when they did, the pest control operator left handfuls of chemical all over their belongings and carpet.  When the plaintiffs complained about the chemical, the management told them there was nothing they could do, and they should vacuum a square area in their living room to sleep on with their 2 young children.  Although they then agreed to change the carpet, it took them 3 months to do so, and all the while, the bed bugs were feeding and breeding in the carpet until it was changed.  The family continued to receive bedbug bites the entire time.

Bed bug lawsuit verdict the largest in U.S.

Brian Virag, attorney from the law firm of mybedbuglawyer.com, obtained the $1.6 million verdict for the family and said in a release it was the largest verdict for a single family for bed bugs in the U.S.  He represented the family of four including a 3-year old boy and a 3-month old baby girl who were all bitten by bed bugs.  His clients were all exposed to bedbugs between July and October of 2012.

The case was Liliana Martinez Et. Al. v. Amusement Six Apartments LLC.

The young boy, Jorge Maravilla Jr., who was 3 years old at the time of the bedbug exposure was covered in bed bug bites.  He has significant residual scarring to the day.  The jury awarded Jorge Jr. $880,000.

This is the fifth landmark verdict obtained by Virag in the last 12 months that included a 3.5-million-dollar verdict against PLB Management, and a $546,000 verdict in October against the Hilton Garden Inn in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, whose clients were exposed to bed bugs for a one-night hotel stay.

Sixteen former and current residents of one of Los Angeles’ largest apartment complexes  won a $3.5-million verdict over an infestation of bed bugs in their units last year, Virag told the Los Angeles Times.

Park La Brea Apartments, a sprawling complex with more than 4,000 units in the Miracle Mile District, was found liable by a jury in Los Angeles Superior Court late Friday afternoon, said attorney Brian Virag, who represented the plaintiffs.

Colorado Governor Signs New Bed Bug Law For Landlords And Tenants

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Seattle City Council Halts Online Rent Bidding Apps

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The Seattle City Council in an 8-0 vote has put a moratorium on the use of rent bidding apps such as Rentberry for rental housing in Seattle until the council can study the impact of the technology, according to a release.

Startups like Rentberry allow landlords to list rental units so that would-be tenants can offer higher or lower prices, based on what they would be willing to pay. The sites take a percentage of the difference. Operators of these rental auction sites claim supply and demand already affect rent prices and that their services just make the process more transparent, according to reports.

“Innovation in technology has been a key component of what makes Seattle such a great city, adding to our economic diversity. At the same time, we must have the opportunity to learn about new platforms, such as these ‘rent bidding’ platforms, and ensure that they live up to the equity and housing access values of our city,” Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda said in the release.

The Rentberry site says, “Rentberry is a transparent home rental service and a price negotiation platform uniting tenants and landlords. It automates all the standard rental tasks from submitting your personal information, credit reports and custom offers, to e-signing rental agreements and online rental payments.”

Rentberry lists a number of major cities, with the exception of Seattle, on its site including New York, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Atlanta.

Rent bidding apps will be studied

Mosqueda’s legislation puts a one-year moratorium on the technology’s operation in Seattle while the City’s Office of Housing, in conjunction with Office of Civil Rights and Department of Construction and Inspections, evaluates the potential impacts of the rent auctioning applications, specifically how they abide by equitable access to housing laws.

During the moratorium, the city will evaluate how the bidding platforms comply with the city’s fair access housing laws, including the “First in Time” law, which requires that landlords accept the first qualified applicant.

Mosqueda developed the legislation after the Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) approached her with concerns about access and equity, and asked that the City evaluate the potential impacts of rent bidding apps, and compliance with city laws.

Sorana Nance, ASUW Senate Speaker, said in a release, “I’m glad that students have had an impact on the Seattle that we will be living in, especially at a time when our city is experiencing rapid change. My hope is that this legislation will help ensure equitable housing practices for Seattle residents now and in the future.”

Councilmember Mosqueda added, “I’m thankful to the ASUW students for approaching me, and appreciate Puget Sound Sage for illustrating the importance of pausing and evaluating the technology before we have unintended consequences.”

Rentberry said in a release that, “One of the revolutionary blockchain technologies the team is working on this year is the Rentberry Auctioning Technology. The Auctioning Technology’s core purpose is to ensure that landlords price their properties optimally in both hot and slow markets, while potential tenants are afforded complete visibility on competing offers and offered the ability to seamlessly negotiate rental terms online. It acts as a pricing oracle that allows tenants to bid, sign legal rental documents, and settle payments using BERRY tokens, all in one place,” according to investinblockchain.com.

Tenants can also crowdsource their rent deposits in the community.

Resources:

Seattle bans rent bidding in latest attempt to keep disruptive tech from compounding housing crisis

Seattle bans apartment auction apps to avoid online bidding wars

Why rent bidding apps will make the rental market even more unaffordable

Rentberry Roadmap: Will 2018 Be the Year of the Rental Market Revolution?

 

Seattle, Phoenix, Denver Top Hot Spots For Apartment Jobs

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the-editors
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Apartment jobs listings jumped up 18 percent in February over January, according to the apartment jobs report from the National Apartment Association Education Institute.

The increase in the number of apartment job listings in February certainly involves some seasonality factors as 2018 hiring plans took firmer hold, according to Paula Munger, Director, Industry Research and Analysis, for the National Apartment Association (NAA).

Denver, Phoenix and Seattle maintained spots in the top three metro areas for apartment jobs as a percent of the entire real estate sector, signaling increasingly competitive job markets where qualified candidates have plenty of choices, she said.

Construction manager positions took the longest to fill, at 44 days, as the construction sector overall has experienced a long-term labor shortage. By contrast, owners and operators looking for administrative positions can typically fill these jobs in less than a month.

 Leasing consultant apartment jobs pay mean of $39,235

Seattle, Phoenix, Denver Top Hot Spots For Apartment Jobs

This month’s snapshot focused on the leasing consultant position, with job postings across the country showing a mean salary of $39,235.

In addition to leasing experience, these positions require strong communication and writing skills, as well as customer service skills.

Experience in property management was also a strongly desired. Markets with the highest concentration of demand for leasing consultants are unsurprisingly in areas which have had a spate of new apartment construction: Detroit, Raleigh and Washington, DC. Although all types of apartment jobs will be needed for new communities, these markets are currently experiencing a shortage of qualified leasing professionals, Munger reported.

Jobs in property management, maintenance and leasing will continue to grow and “we’re not seeing that change any time soon,” Munger said last month. ”Construction has leveled off a bit and I’m sure you’ve heard that starts are down. But I see that as more of a normalizing thing than anything. More and more people are making a choice to live in apartments,” she said in an interview with Rental Housing Journal.

“Our education institute is a credentialing body for the apartment industry. They hear often that one of the biggest problems keeping our industry leaders up at night is the difficulty in finding talent, attracting talent and retaining talent,” Munger said last month at the time the first report was released.  “Labor-market issues are happening in a lot of industries, certainly with the tight labor market we have.”

For the monthly on-going reports, the NAA decided to partner with Burning Glass Technologies. “They have a labor-job posting database that is proprietary,” she said, and they can “layer on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). We looked at that and thought we could do something that is really going to help the industry and help benchmark job titles and trends as we go forward.”

About the National Apartment Association Education Institute

The NAA Education Institute provides broad-based education, training and recruitment programs that attract, nurture and retain high-quality professionals and develop tomorrow’s Residential Property Management industry leaders.

About The National Apartment Association

The National Apartment Association is the leading voice for the apartment housing industry. As a trusted partner, a valued connector and a powerful advocate, the NAA is committed to serving 160 affiliates, more than 75,000 members and the 9.25 million apartment units operate globally.

 

Portland Landlords Will Have To Pay Tenant Moving As City Makes Policy Permanent

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By The Editors
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Portland landlords now face a permanent policy that forces them to pay tenant moving costs if they want to increase rent by 10 percent or do no-cause evictions to move tenants out to rehab old apartment buildings to upgrade them, according to reports.

Landlords see the ordinance as disguised rent control.

The permanent renter protection policy requires landlords to pay tenant moving costs ranging from $2,900 to $4,500 to tenants subject to no-cause evictions or who choose to move if their rents are raised more than 10 percent a year.

The council revoked an exemption for landlords who own just one rental unit, except in limited circumstances. The revised policy is effective immediately, according to reports.

“I’m pleased that we’ve been able to work through some complex issues and arrive at a consensus policy that will, after today, become permanent City law,” Commissioner Nick Fish said in a release.

“There’s no shortage of anxiety and uncertainty in the world and in our community right now. Portland tenants shouldn’t have to worry whether they’re going to come home to notice of a 20 percent rent increase. Or whether their child is going to have to change schools and start over somewhere new mid-year. Whether they’ll have to choose between groceries or medicine. Or whether they’ll be able to keep a roof over their family’s head. The market forces at work here are too big for any local government to contain, but we have an obligation to step up and lead in ways that we can,” Fish said in the release.

Mayor Ted Wheeler who had earlier said he wanted more study on the issue, changed his mind and voted to remove the exemption for small landlords who own only one property and require them to comply with the moving ordinance.

Removing the small landlord exemption came after a research study

Chariot Wheel Research Consultants authored the study which says, “This single-unit exemption not only undermines the spirit of the law, it leaves nearly 20% of renter households vulnerable to the same double-digit rent increases and no-cause evictions which precipitated the housing state of emergency to begin with, thus perpetuating and exacerbating the very hardships the RELO ordinance seeks to mitigate.”

Landlords continue fight against the relocation ordinance

Last year, John DiLorenzo, attorney for two landlords challenging the ordinance in court said, “Though we appreciate the time and effort the court expended on this case, we still strongly believe the ordinance will only aggravate Portland’s housing crisis. The court failed to see it for what it is – disguised rent control, which violates state statutes and the Oregon Constitution,” DiLorenzo said.

Summary of changes to Portland tenant moving ordinance

Attorney Leah Sykes with Greenspoon Marder LP wrote that in addition to making the ordinance permanent, the City made numerous other changes. The exemption for owners of a single rental dwelling within the City was removed and the following 12 highly specific exemptions from the relocation fee requirements were implemented:

 

  • Rental Agreements for week-to-week tenancies;
  • Tenants that occupy the same Dwelling Unit as the Landlord;
  • Tenants that occupy one Dwelling Unit in a Duplex where the Landlord’s principal residence is the second Dwelling Unit in the same Duplex;
  • Tenants that occupy an Accessory Dwelling Unit that is subject to the Act in the City of Portland so long as the owner of the Accessory Dwelling Unit lives on the site;
  • A Landlord that temporarily rents out the Landlord’s principal residence during the Landlord’s absence of not more than 3 years;
  • A Landlord that temporarily rents out the Landlord’s principal residence during the Landlord’s absence due to active duty military service;
  • A Dwelling Unit where the Landlord is terminating the Rental Agreement in order for an immediate family member to occupy the Dwelling Unit;
  • A Dwelling Unit regulated as affordable housing by a federal, state or local government for a period of at least 60 years.
  • A Dwelling Unit that is subject to and in compliance with the federal Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970;
  • A Dwelling Unit rendered uninhabitable not due to the action or inaction of a Landlord orTenant;
  • A Dwelling Unit rented for less than 6 months with appropriate verification of the submission of a demolition permit prior to the Tenant renting the Dwelling Unit;
  • A Dwelling Unit where the Landlord has provided a fixed term tenancy and notified the Tenant prior to occupancy, of the Landlord’s intent to sell or permanently convert the Dwelling Unit to a use other than as a Dwelling Unit subject to the Act.

In addition Sykes wrote, “It is extremely important to note that these exemptions are only available to landlords AFTER the landlord completes and submits the required exemption reporting forms to the Portland Housing Bureau. As revised, these narrow exemptions appear to extend to companies managing such properties on behalf of an exempt owner.”

Divided Oregon Supreme Court Upholds Portland Relocation Payment Ordinance

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