May General Membership Meeting Recap

Disruptive residents, parking issues, loud parties, barking dogs, and recreational marijuana are just a few of the headachecausing issues that rental housing providers deal with on an all too frequent basis. The Apartment Association of Orange County’s (AAOC) General Membership Meeting on May 18 focused on “Finding Relief for Your Property Management Headaches” and addressed these and other property management issues, offering insight into possible solutions through the implementation of best practices and policies. Contributing to the discussion was a knowledgeable panel of seasoned multifamily industry professionals, comprised of Michael Brown, CPM, Director of Property Operations for Advanced Management Company; and Ashley Godlewski and Kalie Mason, Regional Supervisors with Sullivan Property Management.

Ashley Godlewski started the discussion with the “hot button” issue of service and emotional support animals. She emphasized the need to have set policies and procedures in place, and recommended implementing the “reasonable accommodation“ form available through AAOC. She also touched on the challenge of maintenance staff gaining entry into units when residents are refusing, stressing the importance of consistent communication, whether in-person or via email or text, and being readily available to answer any questions.

Kalie Mason then addressed the issue of domestic disputes and related disturbances, the importance of preparing complete and detailed incident reports, and that managers and owners should feel comfortable seeking legal counsel when these situations arise.

Mason also touched upon the issue of children playing in public spaces and the potential safety risks it can pose. She suggested that “house rules and regulations” be distributed to all residents but not pinpoint any specific troublemakers or sources of disturbance. She also proposed a possible solution of keeping children’s activities in one designated area of the community.

Finally, Michael Brown steered the discussion to an issue that many AAOC members have had to deal with —

Ashley Godlewski (Sullivan Property Management) shares her experiences and recommendations for handling residents and their emotional support animals. Kalie Mason (Sullivan Property Management) offers insight into effectively handling domestic disputes in residential rental communities. Meeting Recap — continued on page 20

Michael Brown (Advanced Management Company) stresses the importance of rental housing providers building and maintaining strong relationships with their residents.

SEISMIC ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION EXPERTS

Since 1984, our team has been making California buildings safer, performing full-service seismic retrofit engineering, steel fabrication and construction on soft-story apartments, historical structures, non-ductile concrete buildings, steel frame and unreinforced masonry buildings throughout the state of

California.

Our business model is built on value engineering: a systematic method of achieving the optimum ratio of functionality, safety and cost effectiveness.

We believe that superior customer service is the foundation of any business, and we customize every project to suit the individual needs of our clients. Industry leader

Proven expertise

Satisfied clients

Experts in All Building Types

Soft-story Multifamily Tilt-up Unreinforced Masonry Non-ductile Concrete Steel Moment Frame

Full-service Team

In-house Licensed Engineering, Steel Fabrication & Construction

Since 1984, our team has completed more than 3,000 projects

(833)9Strong

(833) 978-7664

optimumseismic.com

Contractor License No. 1012702

collecting rent during the pandemic. He stressed the importance of being timely in issuing necessary paymentrelated paperwork and keeping detailed documentation.

Brown is a big believer in trying to build strong relationships with residents and is a proponent of consistent communication, even expressing his belief that there is nothing wrong with overly communicating.

In general, Brown has also seen an increase in the number of work orders during the pandemic, largely the result of residents spending more time at home, as well as an increase in reported theft, particularly catalytic convertors being stolen from automobiles. In this regard, Brown has sent out notices to residents on how to be more diligent in protecting their property. He shared that his company has installed Ring doorbells for enhanced security, and to address the increase in work orders an ample inventory of appliances and parts is now maintained, to always be “at the ready.”

Program moderator David Cordero then transitioned the panel to a discussion of other issues that typically cause headaches for rental housing providers.

Starting with marijuana, the panel shared how some of their communities have adopted strong “no smoking” policies which has helped curtail its use, while in other communities they have suggested to their residents that there are other ways to enjoy the effects of marijuana without having to smoke it.

Security was then discussed at length. All pointed out that residential theft has declined during the COVID19 pandemic due to more residents being at home, with Mason adding the pandemic has brought together a closer community, with people watching out for each other.

The panel then shared their thoughts on comfort and emotional support animals. There was agreement that fraudulent “emotional support animal” documentation can be easily secured on-line, and again it was recommended that using the reasonable accommodation forms from AAOC can help you stay consistent and compliant with Fair Housing laws.

The topic then shifted to the issue of residents who fail to clean up after their pets on premises. Godlewski said she is not afraid to directly confront residents to do the right thing. Brown then mentioned a dog DNA registry that he is aware of that can process evidence and pinpoint the canine culprit, and that he believes in assessing fines for pet owners who commit such offenses.

The reoccurring theme throughout the program was the critical importance of communication between rental housing providers and their residents, and that was how the panelists closed out the evening, in agreement that continual and consistent communication is of paramount importance, and that it is key to helping alleviate rental housing headaches.

AAOC wishes to thank Kay Properties for its sponsorship of the May General Membership meeting. Their continued support of the association and its members is greatly appreciated.

Be sure to mark your calendar for Tuesday, June 15 at 7 p.m., as AAOC presents its next General Membership Meeting. We look forward to welcoming Colin Calvert (Fisher and Phillips, LLC) as he prepares us for “Getting Back to Business in a Post-Pandemic California,” and the new legal and regulatory realities that must be considered. Registration is now open at www.AAOC.com.

Multi-family specialists

Did you know AAOC is on Facebook?

“Like” us on Facebook to get up-to-date news, information on educational opportunities, updates on legislative activity and much more!!