Valley Rental Housing Journal - March 2014

March 2014 - Vol. 8 Issue 3

Rental Housing Journal Valley

2. The Dreaded Annual Reviews – How to Make Them Effective

5. How To Find Property Management Super Stars…In 30 Days!

3. Dear Maintenance Men:

6. Tax Time Doesn’t Have to be Taxing

4. Remedies After the Lease is Up

7. Got cats on your property? Spay/ Neuter this spring to prevent litters, curb bad behavior

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Experts on Buying & Selling

Tips for Rental Housing Owners

able deposit information all make the potential Buyer feel secure with the records.

Maintain a monthly record of all income and expense items, in detail, and keep receipts. The more organized you are, the more impressed the Buyer will be.

R

esearching frequently promoted tips for rental housing owners brought up a plethora of topics related to the functioning and financial survival of properties.

Ultimately I want to narrow in on three different factors that I feel make the biggest impact on a smoothly operated building. Three business mannerisms which have been around forever but are now requiring methods of modern improvement are documentation, exceeding customer expectations and obtaining insurance coverage.

Documentation has been a funky transition from literally having everything hand written, to the invention of the telephone and now to the endless possibilities of internet communication and email. Everyone communicates on the phone and in a lot of ways it is the most direct and efficient way of getting the job done.

However, how many times have things slipped through the cracks or been mis-communicated because the original message is lost in translation and memory? I can’t hear our property managers reiterate enough to their resident managers the need to follow up on phone calls with an email summary. It saves so many steps and provides a great back up when controversy arises.

Along with always having documented evidence, the old busi-

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ental Housing Journal sat down independently with apartment brokerage experts, Joseph Chaplik, Linda Fritz- Salazar and Greg Frick. This is the advice each gave: RHJ: What advise do you give to an investment property owner when they are considering putting a property on the market?

JC: If you are considering selling, I would recommend working with a broker and brokerage firm that has the following: They should have a specific and sole expertise in the apartment market and a good history of past transactions as well as current activity. Working with the right professional is the main difference with selling correctly or making huge errors.

LFS: I stress street appeal and operational health of the investment.

Continued on page 3 Professional Publishing, Inc PO Box 30327 Portland, OR 97294-3327

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Simple cosmetic enhancements and bookkeeping housekeeping can have a significant impact on the final sales price. The property’s appearance is the first perception a Buyer will have.

The owner that shows pride in his property is a step up from the others.

From simple items, such as trimming bushes and trees, cleaning up around the dumpster and parking lot, or replacing unit numbers on front doors to touching up paint on trim, gutters doors, window sills fences and gates will all have a positive effect on the property’s appearance.

The operational health of a property can be a best foot forward by having organized books and records.

Make sure all leases are up-to-date and tenant files are organized and orderly. Keep a monthly “rent roll” that will show all of the particulars for each unit, not just the day and the amount of rent paid. Things like move-in date; lease expiration date, refundable deposits and non-refund-

GF: Find a firm that knows how to listen. By listening to what your goals and objectives are, a good broker can help put a plan together that will help achieve your goals. Be careful of those who might just tell you what you want to hear! The person you work with should listen to you, and be willing to tell you when, given all the circumstances involved, it’s not in your best interest to sell your property.

Then, when you’re sure the time is right, choose a brokerage team with the experience, knowledge and skill to implement an effective plan of action.

RHJ: What about buying? What words of wisdom do you have for prospective investor when they are considering buying a property.

JC: If you are considering buying, I would recommend working with a broker and brokerage firm that has the following: They should be experts in the apartment market and have the knowledge and deep resources to assist with finding the right property for sale. There should be a lot of data given to you by your broker to help evaluate the right purchases and how it compares to the rest of the market. They should also know the future potential of properties and how to protect your investContinued on page 4

Advertise in Rental Housing Journal Valley Circulated to over 6,000 Apartment owners, On-site, and Maintenance personnel monthly.

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RENTAL HOUSING JOURNAL VALLEY 16083 SW Upper Boones Ferry Road, Suite 105, Tigard, OR 97224 503-213-1281, 503-213-1288 Fax www.multifamilynw.org

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Multifamily NW President

The Dreaded Annual Reviews – How to Make Them Effective

If you are like most people review time comes around quickly and there is never enough time to appropriately prepare or to effectively complete them. Reviews are time consuming and often put off. How many of you have personally experienced the brush off review?

It ends up as a quick phone call from your supervisor telling you “You are doing a great job and your increase will be effective on your next check, keep up the good work”. While we all can appreciate an annual increase this type of review accomplishes nothing and can often make employees feel undervalued.

During the Olympics we are reminded of how goal setting and specific feedback can result in extraordinary achievement.

The objective of an annual performance review is to highlight accomplishments, examine goals that were set the prior year along with progress in meeting those goals, talk about areas that could improve and set goals for the year ahead. The goal is to create reviews that motivate your employees, recognize top performers

and document areas to improve.

Tips for effective reviews:

• Focus on results – based evaluations, which have tangible and measurable criteria.

• Be specific in your feedback – give concrete examples that correlate to the goals • Take adequate time to prepare the review document.

• Avoid bias – someone may have a different approach or personality but still produces results • Back it up – track performance throughout the year and review regularly • Discuss career ambitions – know where they want to be in two years • Be truthful about performance – there is nothing worse than a glowing review and then the next month the person is terminated for poor performance • Provide ideas on ways to improve performance; ie; shadow a mentor, read a specific book, take a related class, get a certification or volunteer • Be aware of the recency effect – remember to evaluate the full year

• •

• •

• • •

and not just what has occurred in the last 30 days Recognize those carrying a larger load Ask for feedback – how do they think things are going? What are they doing that is highly effective?

Concentrate with strong performers on what they have done well With poor performers this is an opportunity to demand improvement – if you don’t address poor performance you are not doing them any favors. They won’t be considered for promotions or pay increases.

Link performance to pay Have your employees complete a self – review prior to meeting with them Set realistic and achievable goals Review more often, not just once a year – people want feedback.

Have employees write down their goals and refer back to them monthly as a reminder of what they need to focus on. Complete quarterly reviews to check in on their progress.

Tips for the Employee:

Multifamily NW

Events Calendar March 4, 2014 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM CAS: Supplier Success Course (Portland, OR) March 6, 2014 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Maintenance Fair 2014 (Portland, OR) March 7, 2014 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM Forms & Notices Class (Portland, OR) March 11, 2014 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM CAM: Financial Management (Portland, OR) March 12, 2014 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM Buying Apartments "Right" in 2014!

(Portland, OR) March 13, 2014 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM CAM: Risk Management (Portland, OR)

Date: Luncheon Wednesday March 27, 2014 Time: 12:00pm - 12:30pm Date: Part I Wednesday March 27, 2014 Time: 12:30pm - 4:00pm Date: Part II Thursday March 28, 2014 Time: 9:00am - 1:00pm Location: Eugene Hilton 66 East 6th Ave. 16083 SW Upper Boones Ferry Rd. Suite 105 Tigard, OR 97224 Ph: 800-632-3007 Fx: 503-213-1288 info@multifamilynw.org 2

Notice of Tampering with Alarm/Detector M041 OR Tampering with alarms or detectors creates dangerous situations affecting the safety of all residents. Utilize the Notice of Tampering with Alarm/Detector to hold tenants accountable for disabling or removing installed smoke/carbon monoxide alarms

• Come to your review prepared – understand this is not easy for the reviewer. If the reviewer has done their job they will provide constructive criticism and you should be prepared to receive it • Have a list of things you want to talk about • Prepare to answer questions with confidence • Find out about the process ahead of time so you understand the format • Track your work progress, keep a list of accomplishments and monitor what didn’t work • Assess yourself – self evaluations are important (salary.com’s self – assessment tool) • Write your own goals • Reflect on work attitude • Discuss your biggest challenges over the past year • Ask your supervisor to include important achievements if missed in the review • Remember to demonstrate value – come in with numbers showing specifically how you have improved operations Continued on page 5

March 14, 2014 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM It's the Law Lunch Time Series: Winning Court Strategies: Don't Shoot Your Own Feet (Portland, OR) March 18, 2014 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM CAM: Marketing (Portland, OR) March 19, 2014 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM PDX Monthly Luncheon: Crazy But True Stories (Portland, OR) March 21, 2014 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM NALP: Leasing and the Internet (Portland, OR) March 25, 2014 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM 10 Common Fair Housing Mistakes to Avoid (Portland, OR) March 28, 2014 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM NALP: Telephone Presentations (Portland, OR)

and detectors. Oregon law allows a fee of up to $250 be charged for each alarm or detector that has been tampered with. Limit your liability, make sure to verify the functionality of these devises during periodic inspections and serve this notice when necessary.

Rental Housing March Valley • March 2014

RENTAL HOUSING JOURNAL VALLEY

Dear Maintenance Men:

By Jerry L'Ecuyer & Frank Alvarez

By Jerry L’Ecuyer & Frank Alvarez Dear Maintenance Men: When the bathroom faucet was new, turning off the hot or cold water knobs would cut the flow of water immediately.

Two years later, upon turning them off, the faucet weeps a bit of water. Is this a sign the knob isn’t working? Can a clogged spout screen be fixed? With all these problems, do I need to buy an entire new fixture?

Paul Dear Paul: Most types of faucets are repairable with standard tools and a rebuild kit. Note the brand and style of the faucet and find a corresponding repair kit at the local plumbing supply house or home improvement center. Repair kits often come with the specialized tool you may need to repair the faucet. The faucet screen can be cleaned and is housed in a removable assemble at the end of the spout. These can be spun off and the screens cleaned and replaced. Keep in mind the cost of repairs may rival the cost of replacement. If the cost of repair is more than fifty percent of the cost of replacement, we recommend the faucet be replaced with

new modern fixture.

Dear Maintenance Men: We have a vacancy and are currently upgrading the units as they became vacant. We are looking for an inexpensive way to upgrade our rental units. In other words, spiffy them from the normal.

Hans Dear Hans: A great way to update older and modern units is to upgrade the cabinet knobs, interior door knobs and hinges.

Typically apartment or builder grade knobs and hinges are rather utilitarian in nature. They get the job done and that is about it, nothing fancy. That missing certain “je ne sais quoi” in a remodeled unit can be found in the choice of knobs and hinges you install. A wise choice is a lever style knob. They come in many different finishes and colors and they not only look attractive and modern, they are user friendly for any disabled or older residents. The use of solid brass knobs adds a bit of weight to a door making it appear rich and sophisticated. Stainless steel knobs and pulls can make an older unit look more modern.

Check at your local home improvement center for ideas along with these brand names to look for:

Westlock, Hamilton Sinkler, Schlage, Baldwin, Kwikset.

Dear Maintenance Men: We have a one-handle adjustable faucet in our kitchen. It has been in use for about seven years. At this point, it seems to not turn off well after use. It’s loose.

Sort of like a car’s stick shift that won’t engage. At this point, is it simply worn out and needs replacement? Just what is the typical life cycle of such a faucet given typical use in the kitchen?

Bryan Dear Bryan: The typical life time of a good quality single handle faucet is between five and ten years. Because of the many different faucets on the market, it is difficult to give an exact diagnosis. A loose handle as described can be repaired with a valve repair kit available at any hardware store. The faucet handle can be removed by loosening a set screw at the base of the handle which will expose the faucet valve. Using the repair kit, replace the faucet’s internal parts and reassemble. The new parts will bring the faucet back to its original tolerances and should tighten up the handle operation.

TIP:

When replacing a sink or

shower/tub valves and cartridges, use plumber’s grease to lubricate the internal moving parts.

QUESTIONS? QUESTIONS? QUESTIONS? We need more Maintenance Questions!!!

To see your maintenance question in the “Dear Maintenance Men:” column, please send submission to: Questions@BuffaloMaintenance.com Please “Like” us on Facebook.com/ BuffaloMaintenance Bio: Please call: Buffalo Maintenance, Inc for maintenance work or consultation.

JLE Property Management, Inc for management service or consultation Frankie Alvarez at 714 956-8371 Jerry L’Ecuyer at 714 778-0480 CA contractor lic: #797645, EPA Real Estate lic. #: 01460075 Certified Renovation Company Websites: www.

BuffaloMaintenance.com & www.

ContactJLE.com www.Facebook.com/BuffaloMaintenance

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Tips ...continued from front page ness tactic of under-promising and over-delivering will never cease to be relevant. There always comes a time when business operators have wishful thinking and want to deliver sugar-coated hopes and dreams to their clients. But this is where dreams and reality need to have a fine, realistic line carved right down the middle.

As the intelligent American author Ernest Hemingway once said (more profoundly): “the most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-

Rental Housing Journal Valley • March 2014

proof, crap detector.” This applies to a businessman as well. In order for your property to function,

3

RENTAL HOUSING JOURNAL VALLEY

Remedies After the Lease is Up

W

hen a tenant moves out and fulfills the full term of his or her lease, he or she is not normally obligated to pay any additional rent to the landlord.

However, an Arizona Appellate Court ruled that in some instances a landlord may be able to charge extra rent. This article will examine that case.

The Arizona Landlord and Tenant Act, under Section 33-1373, does allow a landlord to charge rent until

the lease expires or the apartment is re-rented when the tenant breaches his or her lease.

Additionally, if a tenant who is on a month-to-month agreement does not give a 30-day notice under Section 33-1375, 30 days from the next rental period, the tenant can be charged up to an extra month’s rent.

What happens when a tenant pays all the rent due under the lease and moves, but leaves the apartment continued on page 4

Experts ...continued from front page ment and help grow it.

LFS: Before giving advice to an investor, it is imperative that we find out what the investor wants and/or what he/she needs. Wants are wishes and I, as much as most, understand unless you have a wish, you will never have a wish come true, realize needs are where we should start.

Many investors come to our market and say they want an 8 or a 9 CAP, only to realize they need cash flow to cover the debt, if they need to borrow, and they need to put some money in their pocket after all expenses are paid. That’s not necessarily an 8 CAP purchase, initially. It doesn’t mean a 6.5 or 7 CAP property at time of purchase can’t get there.

A second piece of advice or piece of the puzzle to match is to find out what the investor plans to do for management. Many owners prefer to self-manage, staying very “handson” and involved. Conversely, many have no interest in this facet of ownership and will gladly let someone else take care of the broken toilets and leaky faucets. Management plays a large part in the success and profitability of multi-family ownership.

I do not want to overlook, perhaps, the most important piece of advice and that would be to find a broker who is experienced, not only in selling apartments; but ownership, management and the ongoing success of the investment.

GF: In addition to the above, you need to have someone working for you with the expertise to analyze the properties in terms of valuation and operations. In any transaction, it’s “surprises” that come up that prevent a sale. You will be best served by working with an expert who can identify potential surprises and find solutions in advance.

You’ll also want to work with someone who is not afraid to tell you whether what you’re hoping to find is in line or out of line with the market. Portland metro multifamily properties typically are not trading at cap rates above 7.5% and above.

A buyer coming into this market sometimes needs to be educated on whether their expectations in terms

of return and pricing are realistic.

Look for a firm that doesn’t push you into a deal because it benefits them. Find someone who does what’s right for you. A client can get the most out of a broker/client relationship when they are acting in sync over the long term. Brokers are always on the front lines of what properties are coming to market. The more they know about you and your investment goals, the more great opportunities will come knocking at your door.

Joseph Chaplik is President of Joseph Bernard Investment Real Estate.

Joseph Bernard Investment Real Estate is headquartered in Portland and has offices in Washington and Arizona. They consistently complete more apartment transactions annually than any other Oregon firm. www.josephbernard.net Linda Fritz- Salazar is Associate Broker at The Kasten Long Commercial Group. KLCG has specialized in apartment brokerage in metro Phoenix since 1998. Agents have brokerage more than 1,000 communities with gross sales in excess of 1 billion dollars. The company also provides weekly updates (by e-mail) on apartment sales and publishes the Metro Phoenix Apartment Owner’s Newsletter on a quarterly basis – past issues are available on the company’s web site (www.KLCommercialGroup.com).

Greg Frick is a partner at HFO Investment Real Estate. Founded in 1999, this apartment-only brokerage firm has handled transactions on over 15,000 units valued at $1.84 billion throughout Oregon and Washington. Greg works with both private market and institutional clients and can be reached directly by phone at 971-717-6332 or email greg@hfore.com. For details about apartment listings and services visit www.hfore.com.

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Rental Housing March Valley • March 2014

RENTAL HOUSING JOURNAL VALLEY

How To Find Property Management Super Stars…In 30 Days!

by Ernest F. Oriente, The Coach {Article #215…since 1995}

W

ould you like to learn the secrets for finding SuperStars to join your property management company…in 30 days? Are you tired of placing ads and wondering why it takes months to fill a vacant position? Have you looked at your budgets for this year and considered how a few key SuperStars could impact your compensation bonuses? Follow the three steps in this article and your dream of having a powerful property management team will be 30 days away!

Recruiting internally: Begin your internal recruiting for SuperStars by paying a recruiting bonus to your current employees if they find a new candidate who becomes an employee of your property management company. A typical recruiting bonus of $250-$1000 could be earned for each new employee hired.

50 percent of this recruiting bonus could be paid to the referring employee on the day the new employee begins and the remaining 50 percent of the bonus could be paid after the new employee has worked six continuous months for your company.

Next, include a classified ad in the E-newsletter that is sent to the residents of the properties you manage.

If your residents really enjoy living at your wonderful apartment community, imagine the asset they will be on your property management team.

Lastly, consider using the services of a temporary employment agency to fill short-term positions and vacation

days, while using their service to find potential future employees.

Tip From The Coach: Temporary employment services will want you to pay a recruiting fee if you want to convert one of their temps to full-time status with your property management company. Remember, their fees are negotiable, especially if you discuss your hiring plans with them in advance or show them the significant amount of money your company has paid them over the past years. Of course, the best SuperStar recruiting comes from making internal promotions, which raises team morale at the same time.

Recruiting externally: Begin your external recruiting search by looking at the people employed by competitive property management companies. Since these companies employ individuals in the multi-housing industry, this is a targeted place for recruiting SuperStars.

Trade shows and apartment association meetings are also a great place to network and meet these potential candidates. Next, consider the vendors who serve the property management company, as these vendors spend the majority of their day working with companies just like yours, and their expertise and industry knowledge can be a great asset when it comes to looking for help with your recruiting efforts. Lastly, try using employment placement agencies that specialize in the property manage-

ment industry or place your employment advertisement in the magazine or E-newsletter published by your local apartment association.

Tip From The Coach: Have you considered doing a hiring seminar to recruit new employees for your property management company? If you can imagine the normal hiring process, which typically takes two to four weeks, and would like to see this process condensed into two hours, send an E-mail to ernest@ powerhour.com asking for details.

Recruiting using current technology: If your property management company has a website, add “job opportunities” to your main web page. To see some examples of this idea, go to www.aimco.com or www.riverstoneres.com or www.pinnacleams.com.

Next, try placing your hiring ads at websites specializing in employment opportunities like Monster or Career Builder or LinkedIn, just to name a few. Lastly, on your company E-mail system, add job opportunity information so it appears in the “signature” file at the bottom of every E-mail that is sent.

Tip From The Coach: Recruiting using today’s technology is fun and fast. More importantly, have you seen the demographics of the type of people who are online?

Still wondering how to find property management SuperStars? Try more online recruiting and watch to see the world-class candidates who begin to apply for positions with your company. In addition, use behavior and values assessments to numerically evaluate and benchmark key success factors such as intensity of ambition, people skills, economic drive and sales skills.

Want to hear more about this important topic or ask some additional questions? Send an E-mail to ernest@ powerhour.com and The Coach will E-mail back to you a free invitation to be a participant on a TeleForum conference call. For those who join this TeleForum, a bonus of 17 recruiting tips and 37 employment recruiting websites will be shared!

Author’s note: Ernest F. Oriente, a business coach/ trainer since 1995 [31,500 hours], serving property management industry

The Dreaded ...continued from page 2 What would you do if you were caught by surprise by something in your review? This is not the time to be defensive. Your response could be, “We haven’t discussed this before and I want to better understand how I could improve in the future.” Know ahead of time how you might want to respond if you receive unfavorable feedback. The more you can be prepared for your review the more productive it will be.

If you are effectively managing

your employees and communicating throughout the year about their performance, there should be few surprises during the review process.

This is an opportunity to provide constructive feedback and set the goals for the year ahead. Effective reviews can reduce employee turnover and will help you to achieve better results.

VALLEY

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Adve rt i ze i n Rent a l Hou sin g Jo ur na l Va l l ey ( 503) 221-1260 www.renta l h o u si n gjo u r n a l .co m

Rental Housing Journal Valley • March 2014

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RENTAL HOUSING JOURNAL VALLEY

Tax Time Doesn’t Have to be Taxing

T

ax time is here again and you should be aware that rental income isn’t the only way to make money when you rent a property. There are many incentives and tax advantages given to rental owners that entitle you to larger profits.

Some of these money saving advantages are available monthly, and some of which are available annually when filing your taxes.

Were you aware that often the entire amount of your property loan payment is tax deductible? This means that both the principle and interest payments made towards your property loan may possibly be deducted from your rental income. In addition, the interest that you pay on credit card purchases for your rental property is also tax deductible. As a real estate investor, you want the

rental income to match as closely as possible to the property expenses to minimize tax liability.

Some of the other common property expenses that are tax deductible include repair and maintenance costs, home office expenses, casualty or theft loss, all related travel to the property to make repairs or do regular inspections, professional fees such as an attorney or accountant, hazard insurance premiums, property depreciation beginning from year two of the rented property, and even a portion of your landlord association membership dues. The government provides us these tax exemptions to encourage greater real estate investing. Real estate investing plays a strong role in the economy, from the laborers who repair and build houses, to the mortgage broker who

secures the property loan. Your investment dollars help to strengthen the housing sector in many ways and these tax deductions is our government’s way of saying “thanks”.

The major key to taking advantage of the available write-offs is good record keeping. A complete year-todate file of your properties income and expenses will help ensure accuracy and assist your tax preparer in capturing the largest possible tax deductions for your business. So start by organizing your credit card statements, mortgage and insurance statements, and receipts. In addition, always check with a tax adviser or the IRS about other returns, deductions, or advantages that may be available for your situation specifically. The tax laws change often, so consulting with a professional who is familiar with

real estate investments will keep you up to date with what’s available to you as an investor. And don’t forget that their fee is a write-off!

Also, talk to each other. Real estate investors can help one another by just sharing their own experiences.

The tax rules for landlords are pretty favorable. Let us learn from our peers, and the professionals, how to only pay our fair share of taxes.

Katie Poole - Hussa is a Licensed Property Manager, Continuing Education Provider and Principal at Smart Property Management in Portland, OR. She can be reached with questions or comments at Katie@SmartPM.com

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Super Stars ...continued from page 5 professional since 1988--the author of SmartMatch Alliances™, the founder of PowerHour® [ www.powerhour. com ], the founder of PowerHour SEO [ www.powerhourseo.com ], the live weekly PowerHour Leadership Academy [ www.powerhourleadershipacademy. com/pm ] and Power Insurance & Risk Management Group [ www.pirmg.com ], has a passion for coaching his clients on executive leadership, hiring and motivating property management SuperStars, traditional and Internet SEO/ SEM marketing, competitive sales strategies, and high leverage alliances for property management teams and their leaders. He provides private and group coaching for property management companies around North America, executive recruiting, investment banking, national utility bill auditing, national real estate and apartment building insurance, SEO/SEM web strategies, national WiFi solutions [ www.powerhour.com/propertymanagement/nationalwifi.html ], powerful tools for hiring property management SuperStars and building dynamic teams, employee policy manuals [ www.powerhour.com/ propertymanagement/employeepolicymanuals.html ] and social media strategic solutions [ http://www.powerhour. com/propertymanagement/socialmedialeadership.html ]. Ernest worked for Motorola, Primedia and is certified in the Xerox sales methodologies. Recent interviews and articles have appeared more than 8000+ times in business and trade publications and in a wide variety

of leading magazines and newspapers, including Smart Money, Inc., Business 2.0, The New York Times, Fast Company, The LA Times, Fortune, Business Week, Self Employed America and The Financial Times. Since 1995, Ernest has written 225+ articles for the property management industry and created 400+ property management forms, business and marketing checklists, sales letters and presentation tools. To subscribe to his free property management newsletter go to: www.powerhour.com.

PowerHour® is based in Olympictown…Park City, Utah, at 435-6158486, by E-mail ernest@powerhour.com or visit their website: www.powerhour. com. For leading trends about property management, surf www.powerhour.com

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RENTAL HOUSING JOURNAL VALLEY

Got Cats on your Property? Spay/Neuter this ON-SITE-NW SEA Spring to Prevent Litters, Curb BadVALLEY, Behavior METRO, ARIZONA APT

L

litters a year, with each litter being about four kittens. A few unfixed cats in the spring can easily turn into 12 or more cats by fall.

Trying to trap and remove the cats is costly and time consuming. And even if you were able to catch all the cats, new cats are likely to move into the area to take advantage of the food or trash scraps now available.

This method is also likely to upset residents who care for the cats.

They'll ask hard questions like, where are you taking the cats and what will happen to them? Feral cats are not adoptable in shelters and will be euthanized. Friendly stray cats might be adopted through a shelter, but there are often waitlists, restrictions and fees.

Asking residents who care for the cats to stop feeding them will result in unhealthy cats who breed unhealthy kittens. Often residents start secretly feeding the cats because they can't stand to watch them suffer. This strategy often creates a sense of distrust between tenants and their landlord.

Working together with tenants to spay/neuter the cats on your property will build trust and

ate night cat fights. Litters of unwanted kittens. Spraying and yowling. You might have heard these complaints from tenants about cats living on your property.

These cats are likely unfixed and the offspring of pets from past tenants who've since moved away. They could be friendly or feral (untamed).

There's one or a few residents with a soft spot for animals who put out a bowl of food for these hungry, homeless cats. You and your tenants want a solution, so what do you do?

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is the most inexpensive and humane option to curbing an outdoor cat population. The Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon (FCCO) is a nonprofit, donation-based spay/neuter program that practices TNR, where individuals who care for cats bring them in to be spayed/neutered and vaccinated, and then return the cats to where they were living. This method ends reproduction, improves each cat's life and prevents future litters of kittens.

Ignoring the problem leads to a growing cat population and growing discontent among residents. Female cats can have an average of three

Background Screening

Rental Services, Inc.

bring about the fastest solution to issues surrounding outdoor cat populations. If you have unfixed outdoor cats living on your property, please call FCCO at 503-797-2606 or visit their website atFeb, feralcats.com.

Apr, Jun, Aug,

Salsbury Indu

By Olivia Hinton, Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon.

Oct, Dec

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Visit us at www.erentalservicesinc.com Rental Housing Journal Valley • March 2014

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RENTAL HOUSING JOURNAL VALLEY

Alive ...continued from page 6 damaged or so dirty it cannot be rerented until cleaned? The Arizona Court of Appeals decided in SDR Associates v. ARG Enterprises, Inc. that a tenant would be responsible for lost-rental income.

Specifically, the court said a tenant’s failure to return the property to its original condition, as required by the lease, entitled the landlord to recover rent lost during the time necessary to restore the premises. In the SDR Associates case, it took the landlord two months to make repairs.

During that period the owner was unable to lease the apartment unit.

Keep in mind the law requires a tenant to return the premises in the same condition it was at the time of occupancy, normal wear and tear accepted. There is, however, no exact formula used by the courts to determine what is “normal wear-andtear.”

Some factors are the condition at move-in and the length of time in the unit. Obviously, someone who lived in an apartment for four years would have more wear-and-tear than a person with a six-month occupancy in a new apartment. A landlord must provide a tenant with a move-in inspection form so they can establish the condition at move-in.

As an example, consider the following: George Cantcook rents an apartment from the manager of Hungry Arms Villa for six months. The unit is brand new with no damages listed

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on the move-in statement.

Since George really can’t cook, he orders out for each meal. Not only can’t George cook, he can’t take the time to clean-up after each meal.

At the end of six months, George Cantcook gives proper notice and moves. However, Hungry Arms Villa has to replace the food-stained carpet, repair the walls and fumigate the unit. Hungry Arms hires Peachy Keehns Cleaning Service, which takes one month to restore the unit to rent-ready condition.

Hungry Arms sues and receives an additional month’s rent from the Judge Mary Gold Flower.

By Andrew M. Hull Hull, Holliday & Holliday www.doctorevictor.com

VALL

EUGENE • SALEM • ALBANY • CORV

Rental Housing March Valley • March 2014