Professional Publishing, Inc
Vol. 5 Issue 8
www.TheLandlordTimes.com
August 2013
COLORADO
DENVER METRO • COLORADO SPRINGS • BOULDER Monthly Circulation To More Than 7,000 Apartment Owners, Property Managers, On-Site & Maintenance Personnel
HUD AWARDS COLORADO HOUSING AUTHORITIES $9,948,853 TO IMPROVE, PRESERVE NATION’S PUBLIC HOUSING STOCK Housing authorities across the U.S., territories use funding to maintain housing for families, seniors
WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today awarded public housing authorities in Colorado $9,948,853 that will be used to make major large-scale improvements to their public housing units.
The following housing authorities in Colorado will receive this funding. Adams County H.A. $76,110 Aurora H.A. $119,780 Boulder Housing Partners $405,504 Burlington H.A. $37,513 Center H.A. $35,854 Conejos County H.A. 53,077 Costilla County H.A. $70,693 Delta H.A. $102,673 Englewood H.A. $119,762 Fort Collins H.A. $182,170 Fort Morgan H.A. $95,405 Holyoke H.A. $33,797 H.A. for the Town of Cheyenne Wells $32,349 H.A. of Antonito $36,108 H.A. of the City & County of Denver $4,650,878
H.A. of the City of Alamosa $253,737 H.A. of the City of Brighton $48,091 H.A. of the City of Brush $33,930 H.A. of the City of Colorado Springs $768,421 H.A. of the City of Fort Lupton $87,003 H.A. of the City of Fountain $39,305 H.A. of the City of Greeley $107,889 H.A. of the City of Lamar $33,544 H.A. of the City of Pueblo $1,023,468 H.A. of the City of Salida $54,451 H.A. of the City of Sterling $124,613 H.A. of the City of Walsenburg $168,558 H.A. of the City of Wray $46,975 H.A. of the County of Montezuma $38,029 H.A. of the Town of Aguilar $21,853
H.A. of the Town of Haxtun $24,013 H.A. of the Town of Holly $18,694 H.A. of the Town of Keenesburg $20,011 H.A. of the Town of Kersey $19,993 H.A. of the Town of Limon $45,323 H.A. of the Town of Yuma $54,168 Julesburg H.A. $65,016 La Junta H.A. $108,305 Lakewood H.A. $207,246 Littleton H.A. $166,624 Louisville H.A. $16,324 Trinidad H.A. $253,426 Wellington H.A. $48,170 Colorado Total $9,948,853 *H.A. = Housing Authority Continued on page 3
Dear Maintenance Men: By Jerry L’Ecuyer & Frank Alvarez
Dear Maintenance Men: I manage a number of properties that use a master key system. Do you have a plan or solution to prevent vendors from losing master keys? This is becoming a problem and an expensive risk. Janet Dear Janet: Never, ever, ever give a master key to a vendor or anyone else not employed by your company. If the building is on a budget and cannot afford state of the art systems for key control or access, try this simple and cost effective approach: Install a temporary lockbox with the unit key inside and hang the lockbox on the door knob or a water pipe near the unit. Any locksmith and even some hardware stores sell these boxes. If a vendor needs access to a unit, give him access to the lockbox only. Should they lose the key, you are only out the cost of a key. Save yourself a trip and install the lockbox when you visit the property for the move out inspection. Note: The locks should be changed or re keyed after completion of work.
If your vendors need access to a unit where on site personnel is available, the unit must be opened by your employee or provide the vendor with the unit key only, not the master. If your main office is centralized and your portfolio is dispersed throughout a particular region with buildings under 16 units (which do not require onsite managers) appointments should be made in advance and coordinated between the vendor and the resident (keeping you in the loop). This will put the burden of entry, missed appointments, etc. on the resident and the vendor, freeing up your valuable time. If entry is needed due to an emergency, you should respond to the building to assess damages or necessary mitigation at the same time allow entry. Take a lock box with you and a unit key incase the repairs will be prolonged and access will be needed by others. Never give a master key to a vendor!
my new residents. (Of course, after executing a fully signed disclosure with the new resident at the time of contract signing.) The issue has arisen because when a resident moves, they expect their cleaning deposit to be returned if they clean the unit. However, I find I must clean again at my expense as the unit is really never clean enough. Is the automatic cleaning deposit a good idea or will the residents just leave the unit in far worst conditions, since they feel they have already paid for the cleaning? Kelly Dear Kelly: Due to the fact that individual units may differ in the size, construction, appliances, finishes amenities etc., establishing a one size fits all cost or fee may hurt you in the long run. People have different ideas of what “clean” is and this is why property owners and managers must set the standard of how clean the unit must be. Give the resident a description of what management considers a clean unit to be Dear Maintenance Men: and have the new resident fill out and I have a conundrum! I am thinking of sign a move-in inspection form as to the charging an automatic cleaning fee to Continued on page 2
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Top reasons to use rental payment history data Experian® RentBureau®, the leading provider of rental payment history data to the multifamily industry, recently released the findings of an analysis examining the financial risk posed by residents and the most effective screening metrics to employ to avoid lost revenue from risky residents. The analysis, Risk versus reward: identifying the highest-quality resident using rental payment history, provides unique, industry-specific insights regarding the use of rental payment data in conjunction with credit scores in screening to produce a superior prediction of a resident’s propensity to default. The analysis also includes firstof-its-kind data regarding late payments, nonsufficient funds (NSF), write-offs and rental collections. Here’s a look at the top seven takeaways from the analysis that offer multifamily owners and property managers a look into the best applications of resident payment history data:
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