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Apartment Amenity Company Partners With Denver Property Manager

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By The Editors
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A boutique apartment operator in Denver and Colorado Springs, Urban Phenix, has partnered with a lifestyle apartment amenity company, Amenify, to offer different types of on-site lifestyle experiences to residents, according to a release.

​​​​​​​​​​Urban Phenix, a boutique apartment operator in Denver and Colorado Springs, is partnering with Amenify to offer daily dog walks, apartment cleanings, massages, and personal training sessions. Urban Phenix is also building local partnerships with nearby gyms and yoga studios.

“We are thrilled with our properties’ participation rates. It’s wonderful to see that over 70% of our residents are enjoying their upgraded lifestyle with these amenity services” Nick Lazzarra, President of Urban Phenix, said in the release.

As competition for residents continues, there is a growing need for multifamily buildings to differentiate themselves from the pack, according to the release.

Apartment amenity issue big for millennial renters

“Data is showing that apartment renters’ checklists are growing, and this is especially true for millennial renters. No longer is high-speed internet or a Visa gift card enough to attract new renters. Renters are overwhelmingly choosing properties based on lifestyle services that improve their move-in experience by instantly plugging them into a local community and ecosystem of on-demand services,” the release states.

Per their website, Urban Phenix focuses on ‘renovating assets to create a modern apartment experience’ and they are spending the money to deliver on this mission. At Urban Phenix’s Sloan property, all new residents will receive one of three apartment amenity options upon lease signing:

    • Six months of dog walks, or
    • Six months of personal training, or
    • One year of cleaning services (multiple per month)

Real estate industry experts in the apartment world refer to these services as “soft amenities” opposed to more capital intensive “hard amenities” like club rooms and big screen TVs.

Dog-walking, in particular, is becoming a focal point for renters.

As the apartment world is seeing an increase in pet ownership, recent data suggests pets are a key factor impacting leasing velocity. According to Richard Melton, an Urban Phenix onsite manager, the most popular service is dog-walking. The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) delivered a report at Optech 2017 stating 72% of pet owners were interested in having a community dog park, followed by 60 percent wanting a pet-washing station, and 56 percent being interested in a pet daycare service.

Amenify,  is a  property-centric real estate technology company that white labels their amenity program and provides hotel-style concierge and support. Amenify does all the work, including resident communications and vetting service providers, making it easy for properties to elevate their brand without monopolizing their staffs’ time and resources.​

Amenify creates a white-label program that seamlessly plugs into the operating software used by the property. There is virtually no work for the on-site team, other than leveraging the amenity program as a sales tool for prospective residents.

“Residents choose communities that offer convenience and value, and it’s more effective to deliver an experience with software than to build things onsite. We believe in creating a win-win,” Everett Lynn, CEO of Amenify, said in the release.

Based on initial pilots with Amenify, Urban Phenix is expanding the program to all of its Denver communities in 2018.

Amenify, a privately held company founded in 2016, is a next-generation property-centric marketplace that makes it easy for apartment buildings to offer a suite of local services and experiences. For more information, visit www.amenify.com.

 

Multifamily Managers And Marijuana: Caught In A Pot Crossfire

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By The Editors
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The Grace Hill training tip of the week focuses on the issue of marijuana and multifamily property managers and owners. Editor’s Note: “Grace Hill worked with our attorneys at Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd on this piece. We are grateful for their insights and expertise in navigating this tricky topic!”

By Ellen Clark

Multifamily property managers are often caught in a pot crossfire between state and federal laws when it comes to marijuana use in apartments, especially in states where marijuana use is legal.

Of course under federal law, marijuana possession is illegal. Pursuant to the Controlled Substances Act, it is classified as a Schedule I substance, which are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States.

Multifamily housing providers are generally permitted to prohibit the use or possession of marijuana as part of a smoke-free policy, but consider being explicit about marijuana in your smoke-free policy.

However, thirty (30) states plus the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana either for recreational or medicinal uses. This conflict between federal and state law creates confusion in the multifamily property management industry.

As you face questions about marijuana use, it may help to keep in mind that federal law supersedes state law. Among other things, this means that you are not obligated to “permit” breaking federal law to allow a resident to do something that is legal under state law.

Marijuana and implications for multifamily properties

    • Multifamily housing providers are generally free to prohibit the use or possession of marijuana as part of a smoke-free policy, even in states where recreational or medical marijuana use is allowed (but see below explanation regarding accommodations). Consider being explicit about marijuana in your smoke-free policy. Articulate a clear enforcement plan and apply the policy consistently to all prospects and residents to avoid discrimination claims.
    • Under the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (QHWRA), many HUD-assisted housing owners must deny admission to assisted housing for any household with a member determined to be illegally using a controlled substance. The QHWRA also permits owners to evict current residents for their use of marijuana.

Marijuana and disability

If you receive a request for an accommodation for medical marijuana use based on a tenant or applicant’s disability, you should proceed carefully.

The law on this issue is evolving rapidly, and it is advisable to seek legal counsel on these requests. The FHA is clear that a disability “does not include current, illegal use of or addiction to a controlled substance.” However, a tenant may be taking medical marijuana to treat a condition that is considered a disability.

Even if a person has a recognized disability, there are reasons that an accommodation to smoke marijuana might not be considered “reasonable.” For example, an accommodation that allows conduct in violation of a federal law constitutes an undue burden.

Further, other problems exist such as second-hand marijuana smoke traveling through ventilation systems and bothering residents in common areas. However you proceed, be consistent with all prospects and residents in similar situations.

This is just the tip of the iceberg on this topic, and a lack of relevant case law makes it tricky to navigate. The courts will likely address this issue in the coming years and provide some clarity. Until then, consider your policies carefully, and err on the side of consulting an attorney as you face marijuana-related issues at your multifamily properties.

A Colorado law professor gives his view

In addition to these tips above from Grace Hill, Sam Kamin, a law professor and director of the Constitutional Rights and Remedies Program at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law in Colorado, posed several questions on this issue for multifamily owners and property managers in a recent article from the Urban Land Institute.

He states that getting a federally backed loan from a bank or lending institution means the property owner taking out that loan must agree to abide by all federal laws, such as those including marijuana use.

“Could a federal agent arrest a property manager for knowingly allowing medical marijuana use in an apartment unit? If the owner established a policy that allowed for observation of state rights—despite the federal conflict—could the principals be arrested? The answer appears to be yes, albeit unlikely. Property owners who allow marijuana on their premises also risk losing their buildings to the federal government through civil forfeiture cases. “The federal government isn’t actively doing that, but it remains a remote possibility,” says Kamin.

One might argue that “the safest course is to prohibit all marijuana,” says Kamin. “Amendment 64 explicitly gave property owners [in Colorado] the right to exclude marijuana from their premises. Landlords can put in the lease that a tenant [must] not possess marijuana, not grow marijuana, and not smoke marijuana, and that would be permissible.”

Also in the article, Alex Kreit, a law professor at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego and author of Controlled Substances: Crime, Regulation, and Policy (Carolina Academic Press, 2013), says, “I think it is a state-by-state question of whether there are any potential discrimination-type protections that might apply to medical marijuana patients.

“In a state with explicit protection, there is the further question of, ‘Do you have to accommodate everything this patient wants to do, or would it be enough to say they have to consume the medicine in the form of an edible product?’ And if so, are you discriminating by treating consumers differently in allowing exceptions to the lease limitations and compounding your potential liability?”

For landlords and building managers dealing with complaints from tenants re­­garding marijuana smoke, stepping in as quickly as possible to work out a solution may be the best course of action to avoid an escalation of the situation https://modafprovig.com.

“My take is that it is probably not that dissimilar in many ways from any other kind of landlord/tenant dispute,” Kreit said. “At the end of the day, I imagine that to the extent it is at all possible, you’re probably better off trying to resolve the issue without it becoming some sort of a legal process.”

Marijuana Resources:

Property Management in the Face of Conflicting Marijuana Laws

HUD: Use of marijuana in multifamily assisted properties

Weekly Training Tip: Marijuana and Multifamily Properties

Can I say no pot in my apartment when it is legal in my state?

Quality Housing And Work Responsibility Act Of 1998

Controlled Substances: Crime, Regulation And Policy

Lawyers walk fine line to navigate state, federal pot laws

Fair Housing Act

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

Photo credit zhudifeng via istockphoto.com

 

 

 

Renters Now A Majority In Almost 25 Percent Of Largest U.S. Cities

By
By The Editors
-

Renters are now a majority in almost a quarter of the 100 largest U.S. cities as they shifted from owner- to renter-majority between 2006 and 2016, according to a new report from RentCafe.

Renters took over in 22 cities including key markets like Chicago, San Diego, Detroit, Austin and  Sacramento, boosting the total number of renter-dominated cities to 42.

“Furthermore, over the 10-year period we analyzed, rentership growth outpaced homeownership in 97 of the 100 most populous cities,” RentCafe writes in the report.

 

    • Almost a quarter of the 100 largest U.S. cities shifted from owner- to renter-majority between 2006 and 2016. Renters took over in 22 cities including key markets like Chicago, San Diego, Detroit, Austin and Sacramento, boosting the total number of renter-dominated cities to 42.

 

    • Furthermore, over the 10-year period rentership growth outpaced homeownership in 97 of the 100 most populous cities.

 

    • Which are the markets with the highest proportion of renters? Two cities in New Jersey lead the way, Newark and Jersey City, followed by Miami, New York, Boston, and Orlando.

 

    • Here’s a fact: the total U.S. population gained 23.7 million people during the past 10 years. At the same time, the number of renters increased by 23 million, and homeowners by less than 700,000.

 

Renters took over 22 of the largest cities

The report states, “Though this shocking imbalance would have had to go on for a while longer to convert America into a renter nation, it was enough to tip the balance in some of the largest cities that used to be dominated by homeowners. In fact, renters have become the majority in almost a quarter of the 100 most populous cities.

“Back in 2006 only 20 out of the 100 largest cities had more renters than owners. A decade was enough to boost the number of renter-dominated cities to 42.”

The table below contains the 22 big cities where the number of renters has exceeded that of homeowners between 2006 and 2016.

 

 

In 8 of the cities listed above, the overall population has decreased. In Toledo, OH; Honolulu, HI; Santa Ana, CA; Baltimore, MD; Cleveland, OH; St. Louis, MO and Chicago, IL this relative desolation is attributable exclusively to the shrinkage of the owner population, as the number of renters has increased in each of them.

 

In spite of large gains, many cities still a long way from having a renter majority

 

You may have expected to find only fast-growing cities on this list, but you shouldn’t forget that we are ranking the cities by proportional growth, so the placements have a lot to do with the initial size of a city’s renter community. When a city already has five million renters, a decade is barely enough to produce a remarkable proportional growth. This is how New York City had no chance to make it to the top 10 with a sorry 4.5% growth rate—in spite of adding close to 440K renters, more than San José’s entire renter population and more than double that of Raleigh, NC or Cleveland, OH. But in case you can’t imagine a study without seeing NYC rank high in a comparison, we have good news.

 

 

Renters rather than owners

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Have You Reviewed Your Criminal Background Checks Policy?

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By The Editors
-

The Grace Hill training tip of the week focuses on your criminal background checks policy and whether you are using it correctly.

By Ellen Clark

A federal lawsuit in New York is challenging a landlord’s blanket ban on leasing to people with criminal backgrounds. The federal government has advised landlords against such bans, saying they could violate fair housing laws, but the practice persists.

The lawsuit alleges that the landlord’s policy disproportionately affects black and Latino men, and thus violates federal law. The policy, although not discriminatory on its face because it doesn’t single out any protected classes, could still be illegal if it has a discriminatory effect. In other words, if the effect of the policy is discrimination, even if not intentional, it would be illegal.

Review your policies regarding residents’ criminal histories to ensure they do not have a disparate impact on minority home seekers. Criminal background checks policies cannot intentionally or inadvertently make it more difficult for them to find housing.

Some estimate that one in three Americans has a criminal record, and studies cited by HUD show that certain racial and ethnic minorities are arrested and convicted of crimes more than others. This means certain criminal history policies could have a disparate impact on minority home seekers, making it difficult for them to find housing.

Some individual cities have now gone even further in restricting what landlords can ask about a potential tenant’s criminal background. See related story from last year- Seattle bars landlords from using criminal records to screen tenants.

4 tips on criminal background checks

HUD has provided guidance for developing, reviewing or revising a community’s criminal background checks policy.  Here are tips to help you comply with the guidance.

    • A policy may use criminal convictions as a screening criterion because a conviction is sufficient evidence that someone engaged in criminal conduct, but may not use convictions to automatically exclude individuals.
    • A policy should not deny residency or otherwise discriminate against an applicant or resident based solely an arrest record. An arrest is not the same as a conviction.
    • A policy may use criminal convictions as a screening criterion because a conviction is sufficient evidence that someone engaged in criminal conduct.
    • However, a policy should not automatically exclude individuals because of a criminal conviction. Instead, it should consider factors such as the nature and severity of the crime and how long ago the crime was committed.

 Note that a policy can automatically exclude based on convictions for the illegal manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance. Related convictions, such as drug possession, are not covered by this exception.

No blanket denials

If a resident or applicant is denied housing because of a criminal history, you should be able to show how the criminal conduct affects your ability to protect residents’ safety and property.

As HUD states, you must be able to show that a policy “accurately distinguishes between criminal conduct that indicates a demonstrable risk to resident safety and/or property and criminal conduct that does not.”

See related story: 7 issues and answers about renting to felons

Be consistent

Don’t forget the importance of being consistent. If you make an exception to your standard policy for criminal background checks for one prospective or current resident, you must offer the same exception to other prospects or residents who are in similar situations.

Take some time in this New Year to evaluate your screening processes to make sure they do not produce a disparate impact.

Remember, policies may consider criminal history in appropriate way, but should not contain exclusions that are arbitrary or too broad. For more information, review the full text of HUD’s guidance here.

Other Recent Training Tips:

Do You Know How To Respond To a Sexual Harassment Complaint?

How Apartment Rules To Protect Children Could Be Discrimination

Read Ellen’s blog post here.

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.

 

 

 

How To Make Apartment Move-In Easier For Tenants And Managers

By
John Triplett
-

The apartment move-in process can often frustrate both tenants and property managers as it is not just the physical move-in. It is all the processes that need to be done before that moving truck ever shows up.

By John Triplett

Landlords and property managers know that tenant communication is one of their biggest challenges. Technology can improve that communication, including digital tools that improve the move-in experience. Millennials especially appreciate easy-to-use technology from apartment management.

“The issue for the resident is the average American takes 10 to 15 hours to just deal with the actual process of moving,” said Ash Bell, vice president and executive director of property management for moving website  Updater.com,  in an interview with Rental Housing Journal.

“And it is not only the physical move, but the process of moving.  Think of all the things from utilities, to forwarding the mail and the businesses you interact with on a day-in-day-out basis.  All those companies need to be notified of your new address. You need to turn off utilities at your current place and turn them on at your new place. If you’re moving into an apartment that requires renter’s insurance, you need to get that renter’s insurance to protect your assets,” Bell said.

And the list goes on.

“You need to book a moving company. You need to reserve an elevator if you’re moving into a class A property in the city. There are just hundreds of tasks that a person needs to deal with when they look at moving,” Bell said.

Communication is key to solving apartment move-in  issues

“Single-family management is the same as multifamily as far as some of the move-in problems,” Bell said. With larger multifamily properties, “maybe they have it on more of a mass scale because they may have a 400-unit property that has people moving in every day, where with a 50-unit property the likelihood is that we only have one or two moves a month. But it’s still all of the same issues.

“There’s just a lot that every stakeholder in running a property encounters when it comes to moving,” Bell said. And it is what he looked at in developing the technology.

Three moving stakeholders in multifamily:

    • The resident
    • The site team
    • The ownership

“Those are the only three stakeholders so any time you look at processes or technology, you have to filter through those three stakeholders. If it brings value to any one of them, it’s something you should consider. If it brings value to all three, you’ve got to do it,” Bell said.

An apartment move-in customer service tool

Vikki Sherman, senior director of marketing at Fairfield Residential said, “I think it’s a challenging time in a customer’s life, so we really approach the move-in process in particular, as well as the move out, in the eyes of the customer. We’re trying to make their lives easier, simpler, better, the whole process improved, so that they have a good experience when they’ve got a lot of other things happening.

“Oftentimes there’s a big life event that is preceding the move, kind of causing a move, whether it’s an addition to the family, a marriage, a divorce, something big in their life that’s happening. So the move has different nuances depending on that, right? It could be a very happy occasion. It could be a sad occasion, and so, in essence, we just want to make sure that we’re offering them something and making that transition a smooth one, and a positive one for them.

Benefits to property management

“The benefits from the property management side of a tool like Updater is, it’s very easy for us to onboard, and implement, and be able to quickly provide the extra level of service to our customer,” she said regarding her company which manages 44,000 units across the country. “In 2017, Fairfield averaged about 1,500 move-ins per month across our portfolio.”

“Updater is very, very quick. They do a lot of the heavy lifting. The email invitation for the resident to use the service is automated, so it’s not anything manual that the property manager needs to do, yet they’re able to give this time-saving tool to a future resident,” Sherman said.

Jennifer Staciokas, senior vice president at Pinnacle, seconded what Sherman said about the customer service aspect, “I would say it’s saving more time for the renter than it is for the property manager. For the property manager, the value to them is that it’s an added amenity that they can offer to their renters to make their move-in seamless.

She said the property managers are “making sure that they’re letting their clients, as customers, know, ‘Hey, you’re going to be receiving an email. This is the benefit that you’re going to receive from it, and this is what you should do to utilize that service,” Staciokas said.

How To Make Apartment Move-In Easier For Tenants And Managers

How many tenants use Updater when it is offered?

Staciokas said Pinnacle saw more than 9,000 moves last November (they have 165,000 units) and invited a total of 9,799 residents to use the tool. She said about 70 percent of the tenants adopted and used at least some features of Updater.

Sherman said that overall they have seen about an 80 percent adoption rate of the tool in their properties.

“We actually see really good usage of the tool,” Sherman said. “I don’t have the official open rate for a whole year but I would say in the last 90 days, we’ve seen about 80 percent of those emails get opened, which is an incredible open rate to begin with. We see about 60 percent of those invites be accepted. Meaning, someone opens it, they read the content, they say, ‘Yes, I’m interested in this tool.’ Then, the actual usage ends up being at about 50 percent, which is great. I mean, it’s hard to get a customer’s attention during that busy time.

“You know, the really fun thing about Updater is, they give you a dashboard. So you can really kind of quantify the results. We find that residents are using about half of the services offered within the Updater tool because there’s things like connecting with utilities, there’s changing your address, there’s sharing your move digitally on social media, there’s moving services.

“So when we quantify the tools that our residents are using, and the number of residents over the last 90 days, our residents have saved over 3,000 hours. If they had to manually change their address, if they had to call all these utility companies, they would have spent quite a bit more time,” Sherman said.

Three top items most tenants use in apartment move are:

    • Change of address
    • Utility changes
    • Local offers where they can save money

Reducing frustration for the property management team

“Our customers, today, are expecting things to be frictionless. They like things to be easy. They like things to be quick. They’re used to doing things online. The ability to offer a customer what they want and need I think definitely reduces frustration for a property management team,” Sherman said.

“We’re meeting the demands of today’s customer and it is also a feel-good, right? You’re saving your new resident time. You’re making their move-in experience better. Ultimately, you’re improving the satisfaction with the process.

“Once you have happier customers, you yourself are able to focus on the things to make better next. I definitely think it reduces some frustration on the property manager side, in that aspect.

“On the customer side, I think our industry certainly has a reputation for doing things in an old-school manner. This is one more way that we are meeting that demand of the tech-savvy customer who finds doing things on paper in a manual process to be not in their normal day-to-day experience, right?

“They’re shopping online. Having food delivered to their house. They’re doing all these things in a digital world, so it makes sense that not only can they lease online, and pay rent online, but they can coordinate some of their move-in details, as well,” Sherman said.

Updater integrated with many companies

Bell said Updater is integrated with all of the major property management software companies.  And Updater white labels (allows apartments to put their own brand) the service so the apartment community gets the credit and it can fit with core property management tools.

“We’re doing all the heavy lifting. The property gets all the credit,” Bell said.

He said having a good move-in process helps tenant retention and “statistics have shown that that move-in experience – how things go during that time – increases the likelihood that they will renew.

“Why waste all those dollars that you deal with from a marketing standpoint to get somebody attracted to your property and ruin it with a really bad move-in experience? If you give them a great moving experience, you’re helping there,” Bell said.

A sales tool for the property

Bell said Updater can serve as a sales tool for the property.

“So if I were a leasing associate and I were taking you on a tour of apartments, I would let you know as I’m showing you a model unit,” Bell said. “I’m showing you the workout facility and the pool, and also say, ‘One of the things that we want to let you know is we understand that moving can be very time consuming and stressful. So one of the things that we do, is we provide a free moving concierge, digital moving concierge to every one of our residents that move in here, and it’s our gift to you.

“ ‘It’s going to help you with sorting the mail, booking a moving truck, getting those utilities turned on, getting the renter’s insurance required, notifying businesses of your new address. You name it, you’re going to be able to handle it within Updater. And that’s just how much we care for our residents,’ “Bell said.

Cost of Updater to the property

In terms of the cost of Updater.com to the property, Staciokas said, “Using the app is a time-saver, and it’s really viewed as an amenity to make a seamless and successful move-in for the renter.

“I had several meetings with Updater before we decided to move forward. To me, it was really a no-brainer decision, because it was low-cost for a high-value amenity, which is going to translate into potentially more rentals moving forward,” Staciokas said.

What size are the properties using Updater?

Bell said the company has many of the top industry leaders deployed.

“We have 30 of the National Multifamily Housing Council  (NMHC) top 50 fully deployed. I have another couple that are in partial deployment, meaning they’re doing it in phases.

“We are all over the place from a standpoint of size, we can have anybody. Obviously as the NMHC top 50 goes, typically so goes the market. But we have some of the largest single-family providers in this space. We have some of the smallest single-family providers. We have people like myself that have a few properties that utilize our platform,” Bell said.

“The average size I would say is probably the average size in the industry, which is 5,000-, to 7,000-unit portfolios. But again, we have people that have two properties, and we have single-family companies as long as they’re utilizing one of the single family property management providers we integrate with.”

Bell said the site has features specific to property managers and others specific to residents. The site sorts them by login. “So residents see something different when they log in than the property manager,” he said.

Updater, based in New York City, has just under 100 employees.  “A lot of people often say with startups, “Are they going to be around, are they going to be here five years from now?” Bell said. “Well, absolutely yes we are. We’re a very stable company. But I think the biggest thing that I would want to stress is that we’re really excited about some of the features that are coming down the pipeline.”

About Updater:

The nation’s leading moving app for property management companies. The company works with real estate brokerages, mortgage lenders, student housing, and others to streamline the move-in and out process. The company describes its tool as “Turbo Tax for moving,” helping with all the tasks involved in a move. Updater works with over half of the NMHC Top 50 Managers and Owners, including full rollouts with Greystar, Fairfield, Pinnacle, Avalon Bay and Village Green, among others. The company was named NMHC’s Apartment Innovator of the Year in 2015, #3 Best Place to Work in NYC according to Crain’s in 2016, and Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year by the American Business Awards in 2016 and 2015.

 

Do You Know How To Respond To a Sexual Harassment Complaint?

By
By The Editors
-

The Grace Hill training tip of the week focuses on The Fair Housing Act and how to respond to a sexual harassment complaint.

By Ellen Clark

HUD aggressively pursues violations of The Fair Housing Act (FHA) involving harassment in housing and complaints often name property managers directly, so do you know how to respond and stay on top of the situation?

Photo credit Microgen via istockphoto.com

Remember courts have consistently recognized sexual harassment as a form of discrimination that violates the FHA.

In addition to individual property managers directly, the complaint may name the corporate entity or owner associated with the complainant’s housing.

Any individual or company that has witnessed or experienced housing discrimination, including sexual harassment, may file a complaint with HUD, free of charge

4 ways  to respond if you find yourself facing a sexual harassment complaint

If a complaint has been filed against you, you will be notified by HUD, and you will have 10 days to respond.

No. 1 – Prioritize mail from HUD

Due to the tight window a company has for responding to a complaint, make sure anyone responsible for collecting mail at your facilities is trained to give mail from HUD priority attention and to forward it to the appropriate person immediately.

No. 2 – Respond to complaints

Although filing an answer is not mandatory, it is strongly encouraged.

Responding gives you an opportunity to give your version of the story and provide sufficient information that may convince HUD that it should not pursue the matter further.

No. 3 – Involve legal counsel early

Because your answer will become part of the official case record and any representations can and will be used against you in future proceedings, it is strongly encouraged that you seek the assistance of legal counsel in responding to a HUD complaint.

In addition, legal counsel can likely negotiate an extension of time to respond.

No. 4 – Notify your insurance company early

As soon as you know a complaint has been filed, you should notify your insurance company.

There may be insurance to cover the allegations of the complaint. If there is coverage, the insurance company will only be there to help you if they are notified early.

It is a situation we all hope we never have to face. However, in this time of increased awareness around harassment, it is important to have a game plan for a quick and appropriate response to harassment complaints.

 

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.

 

 

 

6 Insights About Rental Property Owners And Property Managers

By
By The Editors
-

What are the keys to the relationship between rental property owners and property managers? These insights could help rental property owners better set their expectations and help property managers better understand the owners.

The rental property owners’ survey from Buildium.com revealed 6 insights about rental property owners and the relationship with property managers.

 

Photo credit istockphoto.com

 

6 insights about rental property owners and property managers

 

 

    1. Rental owners fall into two distinct categories but share many of the same concerns

 

    1. Maintenance and tenant management are the biggest areas of owner pain

 

    1. Communication is the #1 reason owners love a property manager. Poor service is why they leave.

 

    1. Most rental owners find their property managers by searching online

 

    1. Cost is the #1 reason self-managing rental owners don’t use a property manager

 

    1. There is an inertia effect in property ownership.

 

 

No. 1 – Intentional and accidental owner-investors

 

 

    • Intentional investors: “These owners typically set out to acquire a real-estate portfolio as a way to invest their incomes for retirement. They might begin with their own starter home, but typically they currently own between 2 and 40 units. They focus more on growth and on cash flow, and are either expanding or seeking to expand their portfolio. They are more often male, and a bit older than accidental investors. They are more likely to say they always enjoy property ownership,” Buildium.com writes in the report.

 

    •  Accidental investors: These owners tend to fall into property management, either through inheritance or more commonly due to moving away from a property they own and being unable or unwilling to sell. They have a slight bias toward being female and younger than intentional investors. Though they see their property as a solid investment, they commonly own just one rental unit— usually a single family home—and are not as likely to grow their portfolio. Accidental investors are less likely to say they always enjoy property ownership.

 

    • Note: There was a 12% crossover between the two, where owners indicated they had a portfolio that was inclusive of a former residence and property purchased as an investment.

 

 

6 Insights About Rental Property Owners And Property Managers

 

Charts courtesy of Buildium.com survey.

 

No. 2 – Maintenance and tenant management are top headaches

 

Maintenance emerged as the biggest stressor overall, with 62% of respondents reporting it as stressful.

 

However, finding and keeping tenants was a very close second, at 58%, and indeed more painful for many owners.

 

“When we delved into the numbers, we discovered that finding and dealing with tenants was actually the No. 1 biggest stressor for property owners who are seeking property management in 2016,” Buildium.com said in the report. “62% of owners were concerned about keeping good tenants, and 56% worried about dealing with problem tenants.

 

Tenant issues was, in aggregate, a major stressor, occupying the No. 2 and No. 3 spots for owners, overall. This suggests that particular pain around tenant management is driving property owners to seek third party management.

 

No. 3 – Good communication needed between property managers and owners

 

Though a majority of owners say they are happy with property management, there does seem to be room for improvement, in particular around the areas of communication and customer service.

 

Those who love their property manager say:

 

 

    • “Very pro-active and engaged in the overall process.”

 

    • “They are very transparent, efficient and sensible.”

 

    • “They are brilliant and save me time and money.”

 

 

However those who are unhappy with their property manager say:

 

 

    • “Their goal is to make money for themselves, not for me.”

 

    •  “Poor communication and no value add.”

 

    • “They make decisions without consulting me which cost me money.”

 

 

No. 4 – Rental owners find their property managers online

 

While a majority of owners already have a property manager, about 25 percent are looking for a property manager.

 

Many owners lean on local associations or personal referrals to find property managers—with investors tending to do this in higher numbers than accidental owners.

 

In fact, referrals emerged as the second most popular technique both for those who intend to look and those who have already secured a property manager. However, most owners seem to be doing their own research online. We found that owners of all kinds overwhelmingly rely on the web to find property management, using either search engines—or a proven online resource such as All Property Management.com—that can connect them to high quality property owners.

 

In addition to property websites, owners who acquire property as investors are slightly more likely to get information from professional associations, publications or real estate investment websites, versus investors whose property was a former home, who have a moderate bias toward getting information from family or friends.

 

property managers and owners survey

 

Where survey participants live.

 

No. 5 – Cost is the reason owners do not hire property managers

 

As you might expect, reluctance to spend money is the top reason self-managing rental owners decide not to use a property manager, with 50% saying they simply don’t want to pay for one.

 

As one owner suggested: “If a property management team wants to get a piece of my investment, then they need to bear a part of the burden of loss as well. Hire a team that doesn’t charge for removing tenants, viewing work done on property etc. I get that the property owner bears the cost of repairs and reasonable legal fees, but the property management team needs to beat the costs of having to directly deal with the tenants, going to court, reviewing repairs etc.”

 

What are the costs that these owners seem sensitive to?

 

“We asked our survey respondents how they like to pay—and what they expect to pay—property management firms. Owners were split on whether or not to be charged via flat fee or % of rent.

 

A slight majority (53% vs 47%) prefer to be charged a percent of rent. Interestingly in our 2015 State of the Property Management Industry report we found that 72% of property management companies also choose to charge a % of rent rather than a flat fee. In this sense, property managers and owners seem to have come to a sort of agreement

 

No. 6 – Owners who are expanding their portfolios are likely to continue

 

“We found that there is a momentum (or inertia) effect in property ownership,” Buildium.com writes in the report and “75% of owners who have grown in the past are likely to say they will grow significantly in the future. Likewise, 58% of those who predict a stagnant portfolio have also not grown in the past 5 years.

 

And finally, of those who expect their portfolio to shrink, 51% have already been experiencing a retracting portfolio over the past 5 years.

 

“We also found, perhaps unsurprisingly, that growth, profitability and love of property ownership go hand in hand. Those whose portfolios have expanded are most likely to report that property ownership has been extremely profitable for them.”

 

Summary on 6 insights about rental property owners and property managers

 

What do property owners of all kinds offer as best advice they had gotten on property ownership? Find a strong property management partner.

 

 

    • “Get a property management company that you trust.”

 

    • “Do get references and speak to them before choosing a property manager”

 

    • “Property management is the key to success”

 

    • “Don’t deal with tenants directly. Let your management company handle all issues.”

 

    •  “Good property management doesn’t cost—it pays!”

 

 

Get the full report from Buildium.com here.

 

About Buildium:

 

Buildium and All Property Management are the chosen solution of more than 12,000 property managers and HOAs.

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Are Your Social Media Posts Compliant With Fair Housing Laws?

By
the-editors
-

The Grace Hill training tip of the week focuses on how Fair Housing Laws apply to social media posts and property management.

By Ellen Clark

 Social media is a great tool for marketing in the multifamily industry to help build strong connections and community with your customers, but did you know Fair Housing laws apply?

When you share information in print or in person you may be aware of the Fair Housing issues, but are you watching all of your social media posts as closely?

The same rules apply. You are responsible for complying with anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws, no matter what form of communication you are using.

Do you display the equal housing opportunity logo on your social media posts?

Last year, ProPublica revealed that Facebook advertisers could target housing ads to whites only.

After that report, Facebook said it had built a system to spot and reject discriminatory ads. However, ProPublica recently retested and found lapses in the company’s monitoring of the rental market.

Here is what ProPublica said late last year, “Last week, ProPublica bought dozens of rental housing ads on Facebook, but asked that they not be shown to certain categories of users, such as African Americans, mothers of high school kids, people interested in wheelchair ramps, Jews, expats from Argentina and Spanish speakers.

“All of these groups are protected under the federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to publish any advertisement “with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.” Violators can face tens of thousands of dollars in fines. Every single ad was approved within minutes.

How is this relevant to property management companies?

 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. But “advertising” doesn’t just apply to traditional advertising, such as newspaper and Internet ads, banners and signs, and commercials.

 Social media communications are often considered advertisements.

 5 ways to comply with Fair Housing on social media

Here are some tips to help ensure your employees use social media in a way that complies with fair housing law.

No. 1 – Train everyone in Fair Housing

  •  Before being given access to your social media accounts, each person should complete fair housing training and acknowledge your company’s policies and procedures. Do the same for any agency or service that has access to your social media. When sharing images, show males and females, people of different races, people with disabilities, a variety of ages, and families with and without children in order to comply with fair housing laws.

No. 2 – Show diversity in images

  • Consider all federal, state, and locally protected classes. For example, show males and females, people of different races, people with disabilities, a variety of ages, and families with and without children. Show diversity when using avatars, animated characters, and illustrations, too. 

No. 3 – Use welcoming language

  •  Social media messages must not position your community as more or less suitable for someone based on membership in a protected class. Avoid things like racial or ethnic terms, references to religion, exclusions based on disability, and limitations based on familial status. A good rule of thumb is to describe the community, not the people.

No. 4 – Designate a point person to regularly review all social media posts

  •  Reviews should look for words or images that discriminate, limit or deny equal access to your community based on membership in any federally, state or locally protected class. Also look for posts in which prospective or current residents indicate they feel they’ve been treated unfairly, don’t feel welcome in your community, or feel they are being discouraged from living in your community.

No. 5 – Display the Equal Housing Opportunity Logo

Are your social media posts compliant with Fair Housing Laws

  • Always show the Equal Housing Opportunity slogan, logo or statement on your social media pages and on your website.

Make sure employees understand that it is important to be just as mindful of fair housing laws when sharing information and interacting with customers online as it is when sharing information and interacting in print and in person.

The same rules apply. They are responsible for complying with anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws, no matter what form of communication they are using.

For more information Grace Hill has a mini-training course on this issue that covers:

  • How to apply the FHA’s rules about discrimination in advertising to social media posts.

  • How to develop policies and procedures to help social media posts comply with the FHA.

  • Guidance for using information customers post on social media without violating the FHA.

  • Strategies to avoid and handle problematic social media posts in ways that comply with the FHA.

Resources:

Facebook (Still) Letting Housing Advertisers Exclude Users by Race

Fair Housing Advertising

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.

 

Liberty Rent Guarantee Partners With GreenPath Financial Wellness

By
By The Editors
-

Sponsored Blog

Liberty Rent Guarantee, a cosigner for potential residents of multifamily properties who have less-than-perfect credit, is proud to announce that it is partnering with GreenPath, Inc., a non-profit, financial wellness organization that has been empowering people to lead financially healthy lives since 1961.

“I’m very proud, in this season of giving, that Liberty Rent Guarantee was able to launch its latest initiative for tenants with less-than-perfect credit,” said Liberty Rent Guarantee CEO Bubba Grimsley.

“It has always been part of our mission to reduce the risk in the multifamily rental space. Now, we take it a step further by partnering with GreenPath. Our strategic alliance with GreenPath will allow all of our residents the availability of live, online, and web-based assistance in all of their financial endeavors.”

GreenPath is a Michigan-based 501c3 with a 50-year history of teaching financial literacy to consumers. It offers live, certified financial analysts who can help tenants during times of financial crisis. Liberty Rent Guarantee is on a mission to help build communities by reducing the risk of defaults in the multi-family market. The company is committed to helping its customers fill units at no risk and no cost to the property owners.

Liberty Rent Guarantee and GreenPath together help familes with finances and housing

GreenPath has engaged in a deep re-think of its work in the last two years, looking for ways to radically change the culture around personal finances in America. The company helps to improve financial security for the 54 million American households that do not have three-months savings. GreenPath is exploring new ways of influencing and measuring financial health for families, as well as looking for innovative ways to partner with organizations.

Liberty Rent Guarantee is committed to increasing access to safe and affordable housing for economically vulnerable individuals and families. They do this every day through their primary service, the co-signed rental guarantee agreement. However, they recognize that there is a need for improved financial literacy and improved financial behaviors among their customers, as well as the broader population in America. The company is contributing a portion of its profits toward the development and deployment of financial wellness programs as a way to give back to its customers and the broader community.

GreenPath and Liberty Rent Guarantee recognize that there is clear mission alignment between the two organizations.

“GreenPath is a leader in intuitive mobile-based programs that help consumers manage and improve their credit,” Grimsley said. “Through improving financial literacy, Liberty Rent Guarantee and GreenPath continue to further our mission of reducing risk, and helping consumers. It’s a huge win for the multi-family industry and a huge win for the consumers. We are all in this together.”

About Liberty Rent Guarantee

Liberty Rent Guarantee helps property owners fill units without risk of default, while simultaneously helping consumers find a good home and re-build their credit. Operating nationwide, Liberty Rent Guarantee has helped secure homes for thousands of families by serving as a limited co-signer on every lease it agrees to guarantee. To learn how it works, please visit www.libertyrent.com.

Liberty Rent Guarantee parnters with Green Path Financial wellness

Liberty Rent Guarantee Partners With GreenPath financial wellness

A Passion For Helping Tenants With Poor Credit Get Apartments And Homes

 

How Apartment Rules To Protect Children Could Be Discrimination

By
the-editors
-

The Grace Hill training tip of the week focuses on how rules you think could protect children, could actually open up landlords and property managers to charges of discrimination.

By Ellen Clark

Normally, when you think of familial status discrimination, you likely think of things like refusing to rent to families with children, charging families with young children higher deposits, or steering them to certain buildings.

But what about rules or policies that are intended to protect children?

Could these be discriminatory?

 A story from a condominium complex in Fremont, California brings to light the issue around policies or rules that are intended to protect children, but actually could subject the property management to discrimination charges.

A condominium complex had a long-standing rule that tenants’ children could not run and play outside within the complex gates. The rule was set up by the homeowners’ association, citing safety concerns, and threatened to fine residents for violations.

 One of the residents claimed that she and her children were subjected to threats, intimidation, and harassment. A housing nonprofit called Project Sentinel brought a class action lawsuit pro bono and recovered $800,000 from the condo managers. Additionally, board members of the homeowners’ association must undergo fair housing training and post signs indicating that children are allowed to play outside.

 Excluding children from areas other residents can use could be discrimination

This news item reminds us that excluding children from areas that other residents can use could be considered discrimination—even if the intent of the exclusion is to protect them.

 Here are some tips for working with families with children in a way that complies with fair housing law.

 When working with prospective residents, it is ok to ask about the number of people who will live in the apartment home, but do not ask questions specifically relating to children.

Three questions to avoid asking:

  • How many adults and children will be residing in your apartment home?

  • How many children are in your family?

  • How old are your children?

Instead, ask: “How many people will be residing in your apartment home?”

Do not discriminate against families with children by stopping or restricting children’s use of community facilities or services. Safety and liability are still important, but you must create your community policies carefully.

 Avoid statements like:

“Children may not skateboard on community property.”

 Instead say: “Skateboarding is prohibited on community property.”

You may require direct adult supervision during children’s use of community provided services and facilities. However, the rules must not unreasonably restrict a child from using the amenities.

 Don’t prohibit children from using amenities

Avoid rules such as:

“Children under the age of 14 are prohibited.”

 Instead, say: “Persons under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an adult.”

 Familial status was added as a protected class in 1988 with the signing of the Fair Housing Amendments Act.

 This act made housing discrimination against families with children illegal and protects not only married couples with children, but also those who are single parents, legal guardians, mothers who are expecting, and people in the process of obtaining legal custody of a child.

Take time to review this important area of the law with employees so that families with children feel both safe and welcome in your community.

 Read Ellen’s blog post here.

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.

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