Metro ( Portland ) RHJ March 2018

March 2018

Rental Housing Journal Metro

2. 6 Insights about Rental Property Owners and Property Managers 3. Almost 4,000 Jobs Available in the Rental Housing Industry 5. RHAO President’s Message 6. Dear Maintenance Men 7. Mold Preventative Maintenance for Kitchens, Basements and Bathrooms

8. Millennials' Expectations Driving Maintenance Changes 12. Property Management Cyberattack Risks Overlooked, Underestimated 13. 6 Types of Fencing for Your Rental Property 14. Rent Control Does More Harm Than Good New Study Says 17. The Outdoor Furniture Market is Booming!

Portland/Vancouver

www.rentalhousingjournal.com • Professional Publishing, Inc

Published in association with: Multifamily NW; Rental Housing Association of Oregon; IREM & Clark County Association

7 Types of Kitchen Countertops for Your Apartments

by Keepe.com

Two Portland Landlords Resign from Rental Services Commission

T

wo Portland landlords have resigned from the Rental Services Commission in protest after that can make or break an Mayor Ted Wheeler flip-flopped on his apartment property’s kitchen: countertops take up the majority of position about small landlords and Portthe kitchen space, affecting the look and feel of the room but also its functionality.

A

ppliances aren’t the only thing

In most cases, property managers and landlords tend to opt for countertop materials that either look appealing or that are most affordable or easy to repair. While this is understandable, it is important to keep in mind that the best kind of home design - from furnishing and decor to basic construction - should aim to thoughtfully combine aesthetics, practicality and affordability. The following guide reviews the qualities of common countertop materials and their pros and cons to help you choose the best material for your kitchen countertops.

Quartz (or Engineered Stone) According to the National Kitchen and Bath Association, man made quartz (not to be confused with natural Quartzite) is now the top selling material for kitchen surfaces. This is likely due to the fact that it is more stain and scratch-resistant than granite, the second most commonly utilized material. Quartz is made by combining mineral fragments with heavy-duty resins. It is durable and chip resistant, and it’s fairly priced at slightly above granite but still below marble. It’s also considered to be environmentallyfriendly as it is created by combining waste stones and not mined. Overall, quartz is functional, affordable and practical. The only downside to note is that some people find the look of quartz to be too uniform, which can miss the mark for those who like the natural irregularity of marble; this being said, new improvements in manufacturing technologies have actually allowed quartz production to ...continued on page 7 Professional Publishing Inc., PO Box 6244 Beaverton, OR 97007

land’s relocation ordinance, according to reports.

Wheeler now wants to remove the current exemption for small landlords who own only one property. The relocation ordinance requires landlords to pay moving expenses

if they evict a tenant for no-cause or increase rent more than 10 percent.

One of the landlords who resigned, according to the Portland Tribune, is ...continued on page 12

Can a Landlord Say no Guns in My Apartments?

By John Triplett

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enerally a private landlord can make a decision about whether to say "no guns in my apartments," unless a state forbids landlords from banning guns in apartments or rental property, according to Denny Dobbins, general legal counsel and vice president of CrimShield, Inc. State laws vary on the issue of what landlords can mandate regarding saying “no guns in my apartments,” and gun possession in general by tenants in privately owned rental properties.

Landlords and property managers need to be aware of whether their state or local government has specific laws, Dobbins said in an interview with Rental Housing Journal.

Only four states have specific statutes laws regarding guns in apartments and rental properties: • Minnesota says a landlord cannot restrict the lawful carry or possession of firearms by tenants or their guests Minnesota Statute 624.714• T e n nessee: A private landlord can prohibit tenants, including those who hold handgun carry permits, from possessing firearms within a leased premises.

Such a prohibition may be imposed through a clause in the lease. Tennes-

PRSRT STD US Postage PAID Portland, OR Permit #5460

see Statute § 39-17-1307(b).

• Virginia public housing prohibits landlords from restrictions on gun possession for tenants – Virginia Rental Housing Act 1974 Tennessee 55248.9.6.

• Wisconsin has a complicated maze of where a weapon can and cannot be possessed. Wis. Stat. § 175.60(21)(b).

All the other states are generally silent on the issue, Dobbins said, meaning that private housing providers can choose what they want to do on the issue. California, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Washington are five of the states that are silent.

For instance, Virginia law says public ...continued on page 15

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Rental Housing Journal Metro

6 Insights about Rental Property Owners and Property Managers

by Buildium.com

W

hat 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.

• Rental owners fall into two distinct categories but share many of the same concerns • Maintenance and tenant management are the biggest areas of owner pain • Communication is the #1 reason owners love a property manager. Poor service is why they leave.

• Most rental owners find their property managers by searching online • Cost is the #1 reason self-managing rental owners don’t use a property manager • 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

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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.

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, ...continued on page 11

Rental Housing Journal Metro · March 2018

Rental Housing Journal Metro

Almost 4,000 Jobs Available in the Rental Housing Industry

by John Triplett, Rental Housing Journal

Statistics (BLS). We looked at that and thought we could do something that is really going to help the industry and help benchmark job titles and trends as we go forward.”

T

he rental housing industry had

almost 4,000 jobs available across the county In January, according to a new apartment jobs report that will be coming out regularly from the National Apartment Association.

Property management jobs in the rental housing industry are the most in demand right now, according to a new apartment jobs report from the National Apartment Association Education Institute.

The new report, which will be coming out monthly in the future, shows almost 4,000 apartment jobs were available in January. The report shows the need for all job types and skills in the high-demand rental housing industry. And, it shows job growth in the industry is going to be strong in the future.

Jobs in property management, maintenance and leasing will continue to grow and “we’re not seeing that change any time soon,” said Paula Munger, Director, Industry Research and Analysis, for the National Apartment Association (NAA).

“Construction has leveled off a bit and I'm sure you've heard that starts are down.

But I see that as more of a normalizing thing than anything. More and more people are making a choice to live in apartments,” she said in an interview with Rental Housing Journal.

“Our education institute is a credentialing body for the apartment industry. They hear often that one of the biggest problems keeping our industry

Rental Housing Journal Metro · March 2018

leaders up at night is the difficulty in finding talent, attracting talent and retaining talent,” Munger said. “Labormarket issues are happening in a lot of industries, certainly with the tight labor market we have.”

So the NAA decided to partner with Burning Glass Technologies. “They have a labor-job posting database that is proprietary,” she said, and they can “layer on data from the Bureau of Labor

First month of new jobs report in the rental housing industry Apartment jobs are listed as a percentage of the total real estate jobs in top metropolitan statistical areas. The new national report shows 3,943 total job postings in the rental housing industry in the last 30 days, including 1,028 for property managers, 921 for maintenance and 721 for leasing. The new report shows Phoenix and Denver topping the percentage of apartment jobs across the country, with the following percentage of apartment jobs vs. total real estate jobs.

• Phoenix – 47% • Denver – 44% • Houston – 42% • Seattle – 40% • Atlanta – 39% • Portland – 30% • Salt Lake City – 25% “So if I am a human resources executive at one of our apartment operators, I can ...continued on page 10

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Rental Housing Journal Metro

Upcoming Events 3/7/2018

Landlord Study Hall: Balances Owing: Pros/Cons of Installment Agreements

3/9/2018

It's the Law: Fair Housing Issues Simplified

3/13/2018

Landlord/Tenant Part I

3/14/2018

CAM: Risk Management

3/14/2018

HR Issues: Creating a Learning Culture

3/21/2018

Confessions of a Millennial Mind: Intro to Leading Millennials

3/22/2018

Unit Inspections and Turnover Techniques

3/23/2018

Fair Housing 101

3/29/2018

Maintenance Fair 2018

4/4/2018

Landlord Study Hall: Move-In Forms and Electronic Access

4/10/2018

Landlord/Tenant Part II

4/11/2018

HR Issues: Equal Pay

4/13/2018

It's the Law: Habitability Issues: The Grand Chess Game With Unreasonable Tenants

4/17/2018

CAM: Financial Management & Industry Essentials

Form of the Month of Violation Form M040 Holding tenants responsible for violations of the Rental Agreement is one of the most critical roles of a landlord or property manager. The Notice of Violation form provides an easy template to take the initiative to enforce the rules to help maintain peace and order to your property. Although this form does not terminate the tenancy, it does assertively and politely remind the tenant of the violation and creates a useful written record your response.

Advertise in Oregon, Advertise in Rental Housing Journal Metro / Valley.

Rental Housing

Rental Housing

Journal Metro

2. 4 Reasons Rental Housing Journal Metro May Look a Rental Property 2. 4 Reasons a Beat-Up Rental December 2017 May Look Beat-Up Property 4. Top Trends 7. 4 Ways 2. 4 Reasons a Rental Property 7. 4 Ways to Be to December 2017 7. 4 Ways to Be Proactive in Rental in HOA & 13. Dear Proactive Property Be Proactive in in Rental May Look Beat-Up Maintenance Property COA Men 4. Top Trends in 5. Ask Property Propertie Maintenance Maintena Rental 13.

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18. 9 Insights Market Report Heading into 2018 for Property Managers 18. 9 Insights Heading into 2018 Heading for Property Manager into 2018 s Journal Metro

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Rental Housing Journal Metro · March 2018

President: Ron Garcia • Vice President: Phil Owen President Elect: Mark Passannante • Past President: John Sage Secretary: Lynne Whitney • Treasurer: Sandra Landis • Office Manager: Cari Pierce

RHAO President’s Message A Letter to Mayor Wheeler

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s your current President, I want to provide you with insight to one of my recent actions. As you know, I was appointed to Mayor Wheeler’s Residential Services Commission in November. In February, however, I chose to resign. I would like to share with you my reasoning. My hope is this may motivate you and other members to rally into a concentrated effort to fight the new heavy-handed, un-fair and self-defeating policies the mayor and other politicians in our state are now adopting. Following is my letter to the Mayor’s office:

10520 NE Weidler, Portland, OR 97220 -503-254-4723 • Fax 503-254-4821 info@rhaoregon.com www.rhaoregon.org

Mayor Wheeler, This letter is to confirm my termination as a Commissioner from your newly formed Residential Services Commission, (RSC) effective immediately.

As an appointee, I was honored to be a participant in what I understood was an advisory body to help shape policies to address the Portland housing crisis.

During my short time on the commission, however, I found it resulted in little more than a megaphone for antiproperty owners’ advocacy and protest groups, including me being personally “hissed” at while speaking during session. Public testimony has been staged primarily with members from PTU; of the 13 people who testified during 2 sessions, only 1 person spoke on behalf of property owners’ rights.

Most disappointing of all has been your lack of direction outside of proposing an agenda that includes limiting screening criteria, lowering security deposits, registering all landlords and regionalizing further Portland antilandlord policies. There has been no discussion (or room to allow for the opportunity to discuss) any practical land-use policies and/or owner incentives for protections that might spur investment or rapid growth of housing units to help increase supply and ease rising rents.

Now, with your announcement to repeal the single family exemption without any prior notice to the RSC, it shows a disregard for any valued input that might have (even a remote) chance of being presented before making sweeping legislation. Additionally, I submit that this single decision will do more to remove a large supply of rental properties faster than any other policy or directive, as it only serves to motivate small landlords to get out of the rental business and sell to new owner occupants.

As such, being the president of the Rental Housing Alliance of Oregon (RHA Oregon), in good conscious, I can no longer support this commission’s momentum in any way.

I appreciate the opportunity to have served, and I hope my replacement finds more opportunities for success.

Sincerely, Ron Garcia Principal Broker, The Garcia Group 2017-2018 President, RHA Oregon

am Jack GraLh aw Attorney at

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Rental Housing Journal Metro · March 2018

5

Rental Housing Journal Metro

Dear Maintenance Men:

By Jerry L'Ecuyer & Frank Alvarez

or vinyl track insert or rail cap (Brand name: EZ-Slide) and replace the wheels to match the new insert. The inserts can be found at local hardware stores or at a company called Prime-Line Products. or Blaine Window Hardware Inc.. These companies carry replacement parts for most windows. It might be best to call the company and tell them what brand windows you have and they might be able to get you exactly what you need.

Dear Maintenance Men: I have a toilet that runs every ten or twenty minutes. I have replaced the fill valve, the flapper valve and I have even scrubbed under the rim! In other words, all the items I can think of that are replaceable in the tank are new. What else should I be looking at?

Sam Dear Sam: You replaced all the easy ones!! When all else fails on a toilet leak down issue; it is time to put on your rubber gloves and get an adjustable wrench. Chances are the problem lies with the Flush Valve Seat.

The rubber flapper valve seals against the flush valve seat (the big hole at the bottom of the tank.) to either keep the water in the tank or let the water out of the tank.

The seat may have a burr, crack or calcium deposits that allow a small amount of water to seep past the rubber flush valve.

Sanding the seat to remove the burr or calcium deposit is a short-term solution and rarely solves the problem for long. A permanent solution is to replace the flush valve. Start by turning off the water supply, completely empty the tank and remove the water line. Remove the two or three bolts holding the tank to the toilet bowl.

Turn the tank upside down and remove the large nylon or brass nut that holds the flush valve to the tank. Install the new flush valve. Be sure the tank bottom is clean and no debris gets between the new valve’s rubber gasket and the tank.

Tighten the large nut on the outside of the tank and you are ready to reassemble the tank and bowl and put the toilet back into action. When reassembling the tank to the bowl, install new rubber washers and bolts.

Dear Maintenance Men: I have a number of buildings that have

old sliding windows and glass doors where the track is ground down to the point where the slider drops and barely maintains its position in the frame. Is there an insert or rollers that attach to the slider that elevates it and maybe even makes it easier to open and close? With the age of these buildings, I’m finding this is becoming a common problem.

Craig Dear Craig: The best solution would be to replace the window assembly, but that can be costly. What we do is install a nylon

Dear Maintenance Men: While walking around my building, I found white powdery stuff growing on the surface of the building’s concrete foundation. What is this and do I need to worry about it?

Fred Dear Fred: The effect is called efflorescence and it is a natural occurring condition on wall or floor material such as concrete, brick and stucco. These porous materials absorb water and when the water evaporates, it leaves behind an alkaline salt. The efflorescence appears as a white, crystalline powder. Water is always the culprit. First thing to check would be sprinkler locations and if the spray hits the wall, relocate the sprinkler. Another ...continued on page 11

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Rental Housing Journal Metro · March 2018

Rental Housing Journal Metro

M

Mold Preventative Maintenance for Kitchens, Basements and Bathrooms

old preventative maintenance for your rental property is the maintenance checkup this week, provided by Keepe. Knowledge about what causes mold growth and mold preventative maintenance is key to guaranteeing a safe, healthy living environment for tenants.

Property managers need to know not only causes of mold growth, but how to prevent it in certain parts of the property.

What makes a room mold-friendly?

Mold only grows and thrives in spaces that present its ideal living conditions, especially basements, bathrooms and

kitchens.

To prevent mold from forming and continue growing, it’s fundamental to address the elements causing a certain environment to become mold-friendly.

• Simply cleaning up a moldy area won’t be effective on the long run. Mold will eventually grow back.

• Mold that is easy to see and smell (molds generally smell musty and earthy) indicates an advanced state of mold growth. Living spaces where mold is easily visible must be treated as soon as possible.

• Moisture and ventilation are the factors

to consider first when aiming to eradicate a mold problem. Piping, HVAC and insulation should then become some of the first elements to inspect upon discovering mold.

• Preventive maintenance projects can help you achieve a safe and mold-proof space while also addressing lingering maintenance issues that you might be overlooking.

7 basement mold preventative maintenance steps Basements provide ideal living conditions for mold to grow and thrive.

They are dark, humid and not ventilated.

Low air flow and high moisture are the main culprits aiding mold to form.

1. Monitoring humidity levels.

The more humid a basement is, the more mold-friendly it becomes. Our experts recommend utilizing a hygrometer to measure humidity levels. Make sure they do not surpass readings of 45% or higher, which can indicate excessive humidity.

2. Reducing high humidity levels via insulation.

It is important to check the insulation of all piping located in proximity of the basement. Make sure to have a professional ...continued on page 13

7 Types of Kitchen Couter tops ...continued from 1

become more advanced and create more sophisticated patterns.

Granite Granite is a natural stone, which is appealing for those preferring its naturally occurring, more variegated look. Granite is not as durable as quartz, but it is still scratch, stain and chip resistant. Manufacturers explain that darker-colored granite is denser, which increases its durability due to the fact that it is less permeable. For this reason, lighter-colored varieties might require sealing procedures, which also means that those varieties are going to be more demanding when it comes to upkeep over the years.

Marble Marble is a timeless favorite when it comes to kitchen countertops because of the way it adds a unique touch of elegance.

Marble is also fairly affordable - often being considerably cheaper than quartz and granite - and is widely available, which makes repairs and maintenance easy. Additionally, those who are passionate about cooking, baking and particularly pastry-making are drawn to marble’s naturally cool temperature.

Unfortunately, marble is quite porous, which makes it vulnerable to scratches and permanent staining. Opting for marble countertops means having to be very careful and mindful of which foods and condiments one might want to avoid exposing marble to, and always ensuring that surfaces are thoroughly cleaned.

Solid Surface Solid surface is specifically made to resemble natural stone while being actually composed of artificial polymers and resins that are mixed with mineral dusts. This makes solid surface affordable and easy to maintain, requiring no sealing procedures and with most technicians having access to readily available materials

for replacements and patch-repairs.

Unfortunately, solid surface countertops are vulnerable to high heat and scratches: manufacturers encourage paying close attention to what the countertops are exposed to, especially when it comes to sharp tools or hot cookware. Generally, scratches and surface damages can be repaired by buffing the surface, but this implies having to hire a technician on quite the regular basis.

Tile Ceramic tiles are easy to replace when broken or damaged, and allow for plenty of customization. One of the main downsides to ceramic tiles is the grout in between them, which tends to easily collects dirt and stains that are often hard to successfully clean off. While they’re easy to replace, it can be easy for tiles to exhibit chipping and cracking over time as a result of accidental impacts. Tiles are generally covered with a glossy protective enamel that can rub, chip or fade off over time, which is why it’s best to avoid aggressively scrubbing the tiles.

Laminate Laminate became quite popular during the 1960’s and 70’s, when the idea of “plastic everything” started taking over.

Laminate is created by layering sheets of paper and resins, with pressed Kraft paper layers (the same paper material as grocery bags) being the most common: it is inexpensive and extremely easy to replace on a tight budget. However, the advantages of low costs come with a series of disadvantages: laminate melts and scratches easily, and overall, opting for laminate countertops does not add value to the property. Laminate cannot be recycled and its production features the use of numerous chemicals, making laminate not very “green”.

Butcher Block Butcher block

Rental Housing Journal Metro · March 2018

the warm and rustic look of natural wood to the kitchen. To make butcher block countertops, thick slabs of wood - generally maple, bamboo, cherry or red oak - are assembled with heavy-duty glue, and their different arrangements create different surface patterns. Butcher block is very difficult to care for as experts recommend avoiding covering the wood with sealant, to both maintain the natural look of the wood but also to avoid exposing food to the chemicals used for sealing. The issue with having unsealed wood is that discoloration and even rotting can be very likely to happen due to water and moisture exposure. To best protect the wood, butcher block surfaces

need to be oiled every six months: manufacturers warn against taking the “DIY” route as many have damaged their countertops by opting for cooking oils, instead encouraging the scheduling of regular oiling procedures by professional technicians. Even when oiled, wooden countertops are not scratch or heat proof: very minor damages can be fixed by sanding the wood and re-oiling the area - again, a procedure that is best left to professionals. Over time, they will develop a natural patina: some really enjoy the look of “aged” wood while others do not, so it’s important to keep this aspect in mind.

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Rental Housing Journal Metro

Millennials' Expectations Driving Maintenance Changes

by John Triplett, Rental Housing Journal

H

igh turnover in the maintenance ranks is a problem in multifamily housing, especially among millennial maintenance personnel. They like easy-to-use technology applications on their smart phones and not old paperbased maintenance processes. That is why the company, Facilgo, did the study to research these questions.

• How do millennials' expectations for faster maintenance affect property management maintenance organizations?

• Are millennial maintenance personnel leaving multifamily due to the lack of technology solutions available in their day-to-day jobs? What can be done to retain them?

• What strategies are companies using to make their maintenance processes more efficient?

• How will these new strategies help retain millennial maintenance personnel and satisfy millennial residents?

• What will happen if companies don't do anything to cater to millennials' needs?

In an interview with Rental Housing Journal, Ken Murai, founder and CEO of FacilGo said, “There is a greater degree of expectation that we respond faster, we communicate better, and we get things fixed quickly.

“And if we don't, then they're going to shout from the mountaintops through social media to let us know about that, and that's really putting the pressure on making sure that we do a good job the first time,” Murai said.

Fighting turnover among millennial maintenance employees “There's so much turnover in the maintenance ranks right now that executing company processes needs to be really easy for staff to do. In fact, they almost need to be trained as a part of doing the process.

“Paper and pencil and running back to the maintenance shop to log something on the computer, it's just not going to cut it,” Murai said which is why he founded the company.

“The thing I'm hearing from a lot of the larger owners whenever we talk about maintenance and turnover, is that staff turnover is so high and that makes them frustrated. The thing that's really astounding is that they'll hire someone and train them but after six months, they'll quit and move to a different industry because the work environment is paperbased. They're using their phone for social stuff, communicating, entertaining, getting things done, and then they get to their job and they're handed a clipboard.

It's really demoralizing and frustrating for them,” he said.

Millennials’ expectations driving

maintenance change To be a successful and continual improve, there needs to be “support for the entire process from start to finish. You need to use mobile devices or computers within the process to capture pictures and comments in order to get the job done,” Murai said.

“Use that documentation to communicate with your residents because it's not just fixing the problem that's important. You have to fix it and communicate well about it, or else nobody's going to be happy,” he said.

“The problem that we're seeing with other solutions out there today is that they may solve one piece of the puzzle. If you don't build a process that leverages one step to the next, it becomes disjointed and is tough. You're having to redo things and not do things efficiently. Even if you stitch together a bunch of solutions, it will be far from optimal. Even if you use one of the large property management solutions and they have some of the functionality needed to manage maintenance, they still may lack the ability to “help” your employees follow your process from one step to the next; it’s still a problem.

Lack of innovation was most surprising find in the study Murai said the most surprising lesson from the study was “the lack of innovation.”

“After I left Realpage and was doing

other consulting work, I hadn't paid attention to all the different efforts that were happening with maintenance and procurement systems. When I was asked to look at the maintenance and procurement market once again, I saw that there really hadn't been much evolution in the systems since I left the space.

“I think we've seen a lot more evolution on the leasing side of the business, but on maintenance and operations, it's been a part of the business that has been left behind. There is so much more that can be done. In FacilGo®, we have a great system, and we're finding that by supporting the entire operational process, we can really help people get things done more efficiently and get the right things done.”

Most maintenance transactions are service related “What I found from analyzing multifamily data is more of the transactions are service-related than product-related, especially for turns,” Murai said.

“We've built our platform to work with services in a way that other platforms do not.

“For example, with floor covering, we handle not only scheduling the service, but also include pricing, your negotiated price per square yard, your floor plan measurements, the amount of carpet ...continued on page 18

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4,000 Jobs Available ...continued from 3 look at this and if they have maintenance postings in, say, Phoenix, they know that they're going to have a lot of competition out there because that's where a lot of these positions are in demand right now,” Munger said.

“Right now it’s the first month of data.

We don't have a lot of context yet for that number. But if you look at the whole real estate sector – what is called ‘real estate’ actually includes commercial real estate firms, rental and leasing - so it actually includes things like car rental companies.

That number is around 12,000 jobs and about a third, the 3,943 in January for example, are in the multifamily industry.

“So really, what we did with this is to hone in on just the apartment industry.

So I think seeing that's a third of a pretty large sector is pretty impressive,” Munger said.

Breakdown of some of the 3,943 job postings in the rental housing industry in January • Maintenance technician – 528 • Leasing consultant – 452 • Community manager – 335 • Property manager – 324 • Assistant property manager – 186 • Maintenance supervisor - 108 Property management jobs in demand With 1,028 property management job postings, it is clear there is a need for more property managers in the rental housing industry.

Munger confirmed that, saying, “Exactly. That's also what the education institute is doing. They're trying to form

10

the next generation of leaders in this industry.

“So if there are that many property management jobs vacant right now, and they actually partner with local universities, it will really help get the word out. They are talking about going even as young as high school because there are a lot of potential applicants out there who might not even know that this is the job for them,” Munger said.

What is the turnover rate like?

Munger was asked how turnover contributes to these current job openings.

“Certainly, new construction contributes to more jobs, but there is turnover in the existing categories in property management and in maintenance,” Munger said. “It certainly varies by market and individual company.

“I know it's something that most companies aren't willing to share that figure, for obvious reasons. With the labor market this tight, turnover is usually higher. If I can leave because there's a job across the street - it’s maybe an extra week of vacation or $10 an hour more - I'm going to go across the street. So it's very high,” Munger said.

where the job growth is. This is where population growth is. Where you have more apartments, you're going to have more of these positions. So basically, it's driven by general job growth and then certainly the apartment industry growth,” Munger said.

Munger said they will put out a new jobs report regularly.

“We're going to run this every month from this database. We will use our own cleaning, getting rid of some of the noise in the data, and analyzing it and see how those numbers progress over time.

“But also at the end of each quarter we will be doing a little more analysis. I think at the end of each quarter, it will be nice to have, "Well, what am I supposed to be looking at here and what are the trends and what are we seeing?"

Resources: NAA Education Institute, National Apartment Association, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Burning Glass Technologies, Residential Property Management – Real Communities Real Careers The NAA Education Institute provides broadbased education, training and recruitment programs that attract, nurture and retain high-quality professionals and develop tomorrow’s Residential Property Management industry leaders.

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

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West and Northwest have high demand In the West and Northwest markets, and others where there is a higher concentration of growth in the apartment industry and new construction, there is a demand for jobs.

“So you have the West and then the South and then it goes up into the Southeast where you hit Atlanta. This is

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Rental Housing Journal Metro · March 2018

Rental Housing Journal Metro

6 Insights about Rental Property Owners ...continued from 2 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.

No. 5 – Cost is the reason owners do not hire property managers As you might expect, reluctance to spend money is the top reason selfmanaging 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

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

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 you need help with content marketing , e-mail marketing or social media?

Maintenance Men ...continued from 6 problem is moisture wicking up into the stucco from the ground. Older buildings built before 1974 probably do not have a “weep screed” at the bottom of the wall. A weep screed is a metal flashing designed to act as a vapor barrier and transition between the concrete slab or stem wall & wood framing. Installing a weep screed after the fact is not feasible. A solution would be to locate the transition between the slab or stem wall and the wood framing. Saw cut through the stucco to the base plate. Now fill the saw cut with a bead of silicone sealant. The silicone will act as a vapor barrier, effectively stopping the moisture from wicking up into the stucco. Refinish your stucco and paint to suit.

WE NEED Maintenance Questions!!! If you would like to see your maintenance question in the “Dear Maintenance Men:” column, please send in your questions to: DearMaintenanceMen@gmail.com

free to contact us. We are available throughout Southern California. For an appointment please call Buffalo Maintenance, Inc. at 714 956-8371 Frank Alvarez is licensed contractor and the Operations Director and co-owner of Buffalo Maintenance, Inc. He has been involved with apartment maintenance & construction for over 20 years. He is also a lecturer & educational instructor and Co-Chair of the Education Committee of the Apartment Association of Orange County as well as being Chairman of the Product Service Counsel. Frank can be reached at (714) 956-8371 Frankie@BuffaloMaintenance. com For more info please go to: www.BuffaloMaintenance.com Jerry L'Ecuyer is a licensed contractor & real estate broker. He is currently on the Board of Directors and Past President and past Chairman of the Education Committee of the Apartment Association of Orange County. Jerry has been involved with apartments as a professional since 1988.

If you need maintenance work or consultation for your building or project, please feel

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Contact us at info@rentalhousingjournal.com Rental Housing Journal Metro · March 2018

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Rental Housing Journal Metro

Property Management Cyberattack Risks Overlooked, Underestimated

by Ellen Clark

T

he Grace Hill training tip of the week focuses on the issue of property management cyberattack which is often overlooked and underestimated.

Due to lack of federal oversight and regulation, property management companies’ cybersecurity programs may be relatively less developed and less sophisticated than in other industries.

This could make them a more attractive target for cybercriminals looking for an easy way to steal personal data.

We hear a lot in the news about data being exposed or stolen by cyberattacks in healthcare, banking and retail industries.

But we tend to hear less about such attacks in the property management industry, even though they have happened before and will likely happen again.

As a result, the risk of cyberattacks in the property management industry may be overlooked and underestimated.

Property management cyberattack risks overlooked, underestimated The risk of property management cyberattack is just as real as in other areas.

Unlike for institutions like banks and hospitals, there is no federal law requiring real estate and property management companies to implement cybersecurity programs to protect information and systems.

Because of this general lack of oversight and regulation, property management companies’ cybersecurity programs may be relatively less developed and less sophisticated than in other industries, making them a more attractive target for cybercriminals looking for an easy way to steal personal data.

Why would a property management cyberattack happen at your apartments?

What could property management companies have that cybercriminals want?

Isn’t the most desired data credit card numbers and financial information? That turns out not to be the case. As Ryan Byrd, Vice President of Engineering for Entrata said, “There’s this myth that hackers are really interested in credit card numbers because you can buy stuff with them. The most commonly stolen information is not credit card numbers, but personally identifiable information (PII).”

If sensitive personal data falls into the wrong hands, it can lead to fraud and identity theft, which in 2016 was the most common reason for hackers to carry out a cyberattack.

Think of all the data you collect on any given day from a resident or prospective resident and the financial transactions you process—rent payments, deposits, and vendor payments. This is a treasure trove of personally identifiable information and a goldmine for cybercriminals who can use it to commit identity theft and fraud.

With its lack of sophisticated security measures and lots of valuable PII, the property management industry is the perfect target for cybercriminals. If sensitive data falls into the wrong hands, it can lead to fraud and identity theft, which in 2016 was the most common reason for hackers to carry out a cyberattack.

Think about cybersecurity risks Given the cost of a security breach — losing your customers’ trust and perhaps even defending yourself against a lawsuit— safeguarding personal information is

critical. That risk doesn’t just come as a hit to your brand or reputation, either. With the average legal and other associated costs of a data breach at around $150 per record, losing your residents’ data could have a significant impact on your bottom line as well.

As we rely more and more on digital data and interconnectivity, property management cyberattack and security is an issue to think hard about as you plan policies, processes and training for the year.

• It is crucial to have systems in place to prevent, prepare for and withstand cyberattacks.

• Train employees and managers on the risk of data breaches, and what they can do to prevent them.

Just like wearing your seatbelt, or locking your car, good habits are the building blocks of cybersecurity and are the best way to keep your residents’ information safe.

Ellen Clark is the Director of Assessment at Grace Hill. Her work has spanned the entire learner life-cycle, 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.

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Two Portland Landlords Resign ...continued from 1 professional property manager Ron Garcia.

He is also president of Rental Housing Alliance Oregon. It represents approximately 1,900 landlords, 62 percent of whom own one to four units.

"The people I represent feel betrayed. I can't continue to serve on the commission in good conscience. That would make it look like the landlord point of view is being considered, which it isn't," Garcia told the newspaper. "In

today's housing market, landlords are going to say, now is the time to cash out.”

Landlords resign saying commission premise is that tenants are victims Nick Cook, of Sleep Sound Property Management, also resigned from the Rental Services Commission according to the Portland Mercury and saying in a statement, "The premise guiding the agenda and terminology is that tenants are victims

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who need more protection," Cook wrote. "There have been zero ideas or discussions on how to relieve the hardships, liability, and risk landlords face every day. This is not to suggest we have a perfect system, but that absence of concern for both the landlord and tenant is disconcerting.”

Cook also wrote in his resignation statement to the mayor that “instead of being able to share and debate ideas that could be presented for review to the City Council, Portland Housing Bureau and your office, we have been spoon fed what appears to be an already ironed out agenda.

“The city portrayed ‘ideas’ as if they are under review, when in fact they have already started implementation,” he wrote.

Also he said he was “shocked and alarmed at the gross lack of knowledge” by commissioners on how tenant screening works “in the real world.”

Last month a new research study recommended Portland remove the exception for small landlords who own only one property and require them to pay moving expenses if they evict a tenant for no-cause or

rent increases over 10 percent, according to reports.

C h a r i o t Wheel Research Consultants authored the study which says, “This single-unit exemption not only undermines the spirit of the law, it leaves nearly 20% of renter households vulnerable to the same double-digit rent increases and no-cause evictions which precipitated the housing state of emergency to begin with, thus perpetuating and exacerbating the very hardships the RELO ordinance seeks to mitigate. Furthermore, this exemption effectually creates two classes of renters – those who are protected and those who are excluded – by virtue of the size of their landlord’s local real estate investment portfolio.”

Resources: Wheeler's Change of Heart on Renter Protections Has Property Managers Ditching a City Committee Wheeler's reversal prompts rental manager to quit commission

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RHJ_PDX_0318

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Rental Housing Journal Metro · March 2018

Rental Housing Journal Metro

6 Types of Fencing for Your Rental Property

F Wood fence a traditional favorite requiring maintenance

Vinyl easy to install but can be damaged

Wrought iron strong and saves on maintenance

encing for your rental property is the maintenance checkup this week, provided by Keepe, who reports getting a record number of repair requests from property managers and tenants about weather-damaged and broken fences this winter.

When it comes to installing a fence on your rental property the kind of fencing you choose can make a serious difference on your finances, maintenance and most ...continued on page 19

Mold Preventative Maintenance ...continued from 7 recommend hiring an HVAC specialist.

The specialist can perform an evaluation of the property’s ventilation capacities and suggest necessary improvements.

plumber repair any loose insulation or leaks. Second, exposed pipes - which typically exhibit condensation during the cold seasons - should be insulated by a professional, which removes extra moisture.

and air conditioners should have their exhaust systems be checked to guarantee that they are properly functioning. They should be directing exhaust away from the property’s interiors and pushing moisture outside.

3. Reducing high humidity levels via water drainage.

It is fundamental to have an effective water drainage system. Direct water away from the property: if your property is already experiencing flooding and poor drainage after rain and seasonal weather, it is a clear sign that the property’s drainage system is ineffective, which could lead to even more severe structural issues.

5. Avoid moisture-absorbing flooring.

Carpet and wooden flooring absorb moisture and remain damp. This creates the perfect living condition for mold. It also contributes to the overall humidity of the space. It is best to substitute carpet and wooden flooring with more impermeable flooring, such as tiles, linoleum, or natural stone.

7. Bonus Tip. Inform tenants about why being mindful of humidity and ventilation is essential to ensure optimal mold prevention. Very simple steps can be taken by tenants to avoid creating moldfriendly conditions. Our mold experts suggest avoiding drying clothes and growing houseplants in the basement, which contributes to raising humidity levels and welcoming mold growth.

6. Improve ventilation.

Having an exhaust fan installed allows to proper ventilation of basements. It is also recommended to open windows regularly to air out the space. Our experts

Summary Mold preventative maintenance is a serious issue. Mold can compromise the health of tenants and the overall safety, appeal and look of a property. Molds and

4. Reducing high humidity levels from appliances.

Appliances like washers, dryers, heaters

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fungi can develop into parasitic growths harmful to humans in their indoor living spaces. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warn about the dangers of mold exposure.

Mold can significantly worsen respiratory conditions and cause severe rashes, irritation and infections for those with weakened immune systems or respiratory conditions. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) similarly linked indoor mold exposure to the development of coughing, wheezing and reported difficulty with breathing by otherwise healthy people.

Not only is this harmful, but it can quickly get out of hand: mold can grow rapidly when it is not addressed immediately.

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Rental Housing Journal Metro

A

Rent Control Does More Harm Than Good New Study Says

new study by Stanford University professors of rent control in San Francisco concludes that it does more harm than good and can cause housing shortages that reduce the number of low-income people who can live in a city.

Economists Rebecca Diamond, Timothy McQuade and Franklin Qian did the study, “The Effects of Rent Control Expansion on Tenants, Landlords, and Inequality: Evidence from San Francisco.”

“Steadily rising housing rents in many of the U.S.’s large, productive cities has brought the issue of affordable housing to the forefront of the policy debate and reignited the discussion over expanding or enacting rent control provisions,” the report states.

Several states consider removing rent control limits “State lawmakers in Illinois, Oregon, and California are considering repealing laws that limit cities’ ability to pass or

expand rent control. Already extremely popular around the San Francisco Bay Area, with seven cities having imposed rent control regulations, five additional Bay Area cities placed rent control measures on the November 2016 ballot, with two passing. Rent control in the Bay Area consists of regulated price increases within the duration of a tenancy, but no price restrictions between tenants.

Rent control also places restrictions on evictions,” the researchers write.

“Right now, the government already provides lots of different insurance — unemployment insurance, disability insurance, and insurance to help securitize mortgages,” Diamond notes.

“But we don’t provide any formal insurance against rent increases.”

Rent control does more harm than good Diamond, McQuade and Qian examine the effects of rent control in traditionally rent expensive San Francisco in the paper. They find that the effects of rent control are pretty much what economics textbooks would predict.

“Rent control, the Econ 101 student learns, helps a few people, but overall does more harm than good,” writes Noah Smith in Bloomberg View. “According to the basic theory of supply and demand, rent control causes housing shortages that reduce the number of low-income people who can live in a city. Even worse,

14

rent control will tend to raise demand for housing — and therefore, rents — in other areas,” Smith writes.

“It just dramatically limited the supply of rental housing. On top of that, it pushed landlords to supply owner-occupied housing and new housing—both of which are really the types of housing consumed by rich people,” Diamond said. “So we’re creating a policy that tells landlords, ‘It's much more profitable to cater to highincome housing taste than low-income housing tastes.’”

The report states, “We find that rent control offered large benefits to impacted tenants during the 1995-2012 period, averaging between $2,300 and $6,600 per person each year, with aggregate benefits totaling over $214 million annually. Over the entire period, tenants received a discounted value of around $2.9 billion.

We find that most of these benefits came from protection against rent increases and transfer payments from landlords.

However, we find losses to all renters of $2.9 billion due to rent control’s effect on decreasing the rental housing and raising market rents. Further, 42% of these losses are born by future residents of San Francisco, making them worse off, while incumbent residents benefit on net.

“These results highlight that forcing landlords to provide insurance against rent increases leads to large losses to ...continued on page 16

Rental Housing Journal Metro · March 2018

Rental Housing Journal Metro

Guns...continued from 1 landlords cannot use a prohibition clause in their lease, and it does not require that a gun-free zone sign be applied or at the property.

“Now in Minnesota they have a different law. Generally, private landlords may not restrict the lawful carry of firearms by tenants. All the other states are silent on whether private landlords can prohibit tenants from carrying weapons or possessing weapons on the property,” Dobbins said.

Unless your landlord is a governmental entity, like a city, or state, agency, public housing or receives state or federal funding for rental assistance on your property, the 2nd Amendment is unlikely to apply.

However, private housing providers who say 'no guns my my apartments' and prohibit tenants from possessing firearms in a residential rental unit, raises other constitutional and insurance issues.

Can a landlord say ‘no guns in my apartments’?

“Generally, the answer is yes" that a landlord can say 'no guns in my apartments.' But, I think we need to take the most practical approaches we can for all the issues surrounding the question such as having something in our lease that says, ‘Keep your weapons inside, and if you bring them onto the common areas we will evict you. If you keep them to yourself, safely tucked away in the private confines of your apartment unit, that's fine. We don't care.’

“For me, I would simply say to private landlords, ‘Look, the real issue here that you want to protect against is for tenants having guns willy-nilly, or just being carried around and shown off on the property common area.

“You can stop that kind of behavior cold in the common areas altogether so go ahead and put something in your lease to stop it. Prohibiting that kind of behavior will help protect against liability issues, insurance issues and 2nd Amendment challenges. What about prohibiting tenants from having guns in their apartment unit? Generally, a private landlord can do that too, but there are a wide variety of issues to think about when you do so.”

“Most states have not made a decision whether or not to prohibit the constitutional rights of someone who wants to have a weapon in their apartment unit for their own protection. What that means is that leaves it up to the private landlord to make a decision,” Dobbins said.

“Yes, a private landlord can say, ‘We prohibit all tenants from possessing a gun anywhere on the property.’ The private landlord can make that decision because there hasn't been a case yet that draws the 2nd Amendment into the private landlord decision-making process on the issue as has happened with Fair Housing issues like race, color, national origin, familial status, religion, gender, age, military status and Americans with disabilities.”

“That's going to pit the private landlord who says, ‘No guns in my apartments’ or weapon possession in the rented apartment unit against the tenant who says, ‘Well, I have a constitutional right to a weapon to protect myself.’ That case has not been heard yet.” Dobbins said he thinks we will eventually hear that issue because “someone is going to finally get that case to the Supreme Court.”

“From a practical point of view on the liability issue, let's say a landlord says, ‘No weapons possession in the rented apartment unit.’ The tenant moves in

and he wants to possess a weapon in the rented apartment unit but he decides to live there without possessing a weapon.

Now somebody breaks into his home and kills his wife and his kids and he didn't have a weapon to protect himself and his family. I don't want to be that landlord who says ‘No guns in my apartments’ because I don't want to get sued because I took that personal constitutional right away.

“The landlord is going to say, ‘He agreed to it and he moved in.’ Of course, the person who had their family killed is going to say, ‘Yeah, but I still had a right and you made me not have a gun and took away my 2nd Amendment constitutional rights to protect my family.’

“I don't want to be that landlord,” Dobbins said.

On the other side, if weapons are allowed on the property and someone gets killed or injured by a tenant intentionally, or even negligently, from a discharge of a weapon on the property, even while inside their own apartment unit, you know the attorney for the injured is going to go after the deep pockets of the landlord and manager and their insurance companies. It is an ugly Catch 22.”

Issues on how ‘no guns in my apartments’ would be applied “You run into a few issues in terms of how that is applied in actual practice. For instance, where you have a law that says landlords can prohibit gun possession in an apartment unit in a lease, well, how are you possibly going to enforce that? You don't know what a tenant brings into the property,” Dobbins said.

“You don't know what they're going to have in their home. You don't know if they have weapons in their apartment unit. You can't really go in and inspect for weapons. If they have a safe you can't go look in the safe to see if they have weapons. Even if a state has a rule that says you can prohibit weapons, there's no practical way to enforce that rule.

“The second issue then becomes really important, ‘Do you really want to be the case of first impression?’ Meaning, do you really want to be the landlord who takes on some attorney and a 2nd Amendments rights person because the landlord says you can't have a gun in your own apartment unit to protect yourself?

We have all seen lately that the crazy people, mentally ill people, criminals and terrorists can get guns. So, why should a private landlord have a rule where concerned tenants cannot possess a gun in their rented apartment unit? A private landlord does not want to become the trial case for a tenant who says, ‘Wait a second. I have a 2nd Amendment right to carry and to have weapons to protect myself and my family.’

“The landlord says, ‘Well, having a weapon on a private property is not a protected class like the protected classes listed above. Having a right to possess a weapon in one’s apartment unit is not a current enumerated protected class,”

Rental Housing Journal Metro · March 2018

Dobbins said.

“But, I tend to disagree with those people who say it's not a protected class because there is a constitutional personal right to bear arms - period. The protected classes in the housing arena listed above are all federal mandates. Well, an enumerated constitutional right in my mind is the same thing. A court case will determine that issue at some point.”

Let’s back up and look at the issue if a landlord wants to say 'no guns in my apartments' If a landlord says "no guns in my apartments," Dobbins suggested looking at two 2nd Amendment cases he thinks makes the tenant’s right to a weapon in the tenant’s apartment unit a personal right, and thus, a protected class.

“Here's what we know. The federal government can impose some restrictions on guns.

There have been a lot of debates over time as to what the 2nd Amendment means because it has a phrase in it regarding militias and it also talks about “the people’ right” as opposed to a “person’s right”.

There's been this idea that the ability or the right to bear arms is not a personal right.

Rather, that it is a right of the people for a prepared militia.

“This issue came up in a case in the U.S. Supreme Court in 2008. It's called the Heller Case. It dealt with individual rights to possess weapons. The Heller case made it very clear that there is an individual right to possess weapons as opposed to just a right of the people for the purposes of maintaining a militia.

“The restrictions, Heller goes on to say, deals with felons and the mentally ill. Such people have no personal rights because those rights are stripped for the mentally ill and felons. There still remained a question after Heller. The question after Heller was, ‘Well, that's great but what about the states? How does the Federal law impact state laws on the subject? ‘ “In 2010, the McDonald case went before the Supreme Court and that dealt with the 14th Amendment, which forbids states from passing rules to the contrary of the federal law. There were basically four elements in McDonald that they dealt with: whether there could be a state prohibition against handgun ownership, whether a state could force an annual gun registration and impose a fee for annual registration, require that guns be registered prior to acquisition, and whether a gun could be forever unable to be registered if the registration lapsed.

Those laws were struck down in the McDonald case. Basically the opinion stated that the 14th Amendment applies as to the individual right to possess guns and that states cannot pass laws that infringe upon that federal constitutional right.

“So it seems to me that private landlords forbidding tenants from possessing firearms in their apartment unit could be successfully challenged based on the 2nd Amendment, I think, because Heller and McDonald make it a personal right, which I think makes it a protected class,”

Dobbins said.

“I guess the simple answer is in those five states that we mentioned…private landlords in those states can choose what they want to do, but when a private landlord chooses to ban tenants’ ability to possess a firearm in their apartment unit they face the ugly music of liability issues and constitutional infringement,” he said.

A proposed lease clause on how landlords might walk the fine line of dealing with tenants’ possession of guns in their apartment units Dobbins said he would propose the following lease clause for landlords to consider.

“For me, as a landlord, I would say ‘No weapons in the common area.’ This is something that I put in my leases and in my client leases. It provides reason, accountability and protections for the Landlord, the tenants and staff. It's a section called ‘Weapons’ for the lease and this is what it says: “Weapons of any kind, including, but not limited to, dart guns, air guns, BB guns, slingshots, handguns, rifles, or any mechanism that could be used to propel an object that could cause harm to person or property are not allowed in the common areas, are not allowed in the office, are not allowed anywhere on the premises outside of the actual unit, and are not allowed to be displayed, shown, exposed, demonstrated, or exhibited anywhere in the community premises, except in case of self-defense or the need for imminent and immediate protection of residents’ life or property, or for self-defense or immediate and imminent protection of resident, resident’s occupants, guests or invitees life, or property. If a resident desires to possess a legal weapon in resident’s unit in that case the resident must safely and inconspicuously carry said legal weapon to and from the resident’s unit in a manner that resident ensures other residents and staff do not see said weapon. Illegal weapons are never allowed visibly on the property outside of the unit. If resident or resident's occupants do possess a legal weapon in the unit, resident shall be responsible for the proper and safe possession, handling and storage of said weapon. Landlord is not and shall not be responsible in any way to resident, occupants, guests, or invitees for any accidental, negligent, or intentional act involving any weapon or discharge thereof on, near, or off the property."

“That's my clause,” Dobbins said. “It covers a lot of ground because I don't want to take away tenants’ the right under the 2nd Amendment after the Heller and McDonald cases yet we need to make sure that tenants understand, in the common areas especially, if they brandish or show a weapon they will be evicted.

However, I do not think it is a good idea to take away a tenant’s right to possession in their own apartment unit. That is just how I personally look at it. Each private landlord has to make a decision on this subject based on an analysis of all the factors set forth in this article. I suggest you talk to your attorney and your insurance broker to make your own decision on the subject,” Dobbins said.

What about restrictions on ammunition in apartments?

If a private landlord says 'no guns in my apartments' can the landlord say you can only have so much ammunition? Or no ammunition? ...continued on page 16 15

Rental Housing Journal Metro

Guns...continued from 16 “Yeah, private landlords can if they want to, but the same factors are at issue as for gun possession in a tenant-rented unit.”

“Here's another issue to think about.

Let's say a private landlord prohibits the possession of firearms and the private landlord calls their property now a ‘gunfree zone’ or a ‘weapon-free zone.’ In my mind, they've done exactly what the schools have done when you call a school a gun-free zone. You've just opened it up to the crazy people and you've said, ‘Hey, nobody here has weapons. Come over here and break in. Come over here and cause havoc to our property because no one is allowed to have weapons here and cannot defend themselves. Come in and steal from them, rob them, do whatever you want to do with them.’

“I think that sets a very bad precedent and as a premises liability expert, I would say that by doing that you've now opened yourself up to say you called yourself a gun-free zone, when it is just not true.

You've invited bad guys to your property and you intentionally, unknowingly maybe, but still intentionally put your residents at risk of harm. That's how I look at it.

“Once you invade someone's privacy in their home for their own protection and their own desires regarding the 2nd Amendment, now you're creating some issues that you don't really need to create.

Even if a landlord has a prohibition for tenants regarding guns or ammo, it's not going to stop someone from having weapons if they want them in

their apartment unit. So why have the rule at all? Why take on extra liability and extra problems when we know that possessing a weapon in one’s apartment unit is practically unenforceable. A tenant should be able to possess a firearm if they want one, but if the tenant goes around bragging about it, or showing it off, that tenant needs to go.

“Now if a management company maintenance employee goes in and he sees a stockpile of ammunition or weapons I would immediately contact the authorities and let them deal with it as they will,” Dobbins said.

Should property managers have guns?

Two property managers in Portland were shot by a tenant following an eviction last year. Should property managers have guns?

“Well, I think we're getting into that debate a little bit with one of the remedies that's been brought up about possibly arming teachers. In Israel the government trains and allows trained teachers to be armed for many years now. Israel has no problem with gun violence in schools because everyone knows the teachers are not only armed but they're trained.

“Now that's something for management companies to decide because they're put in the pickle of, ‘Okay, if my managers and staff have a weapon and they use it, am I going to be sued?’ If they don't have a weapon and can't use it, am I going to be sued? They're in a real pickle because if they do allow staff to carry they need to make sure those staff members are

very well-trained and don't misuse that weapon.”

“For me as a property owner I would not mandate my staff to possess weapons.

However, I would not take my staff’s constitution right to protection away either. If the staff lawfully carries a concealed weapon, that is their choice.

However, I would not want them to carry openly. Again, you have to decide as a landlord how to handle this issue after consultation with your attorney and your insurance carrier.”

Summary: “There's something to the deterrent factor, whether you have a liberal slant on guns or a conservative slant on guns.

The facts are the facts. We just have to deal with them in a practical way. There are no easy answers as to what private landlords should do about whether or not they allow their tenants to possess a legal firearm in their own apartment unit in the face of constitutional rights, liability issues, insurance coverage and individual feeling about weapon possession. But, it is an issue that needs deep thought and consultation with professionals.

“I think we need to take the most practical approaches we can for all of these issues, having something in our lease that says, ‘keep your weapons inside’ and if you bring a weapon in the common area we're going to evict you.

Or, no weapon possession allowed period and if we learn you possess a weapon on the property, we are going to evict you.

Whatever your chose, make sure that it in writing and cannot be misunderstood. If

you have something in your lease on the subject, make it crystal clear.”

Resources: What Was At Issue In District Of Columbia V. Heller?, Minnesota Gun Laws: Banning Weapons at Private Establishments, Concealed Carry Laws and Property Management, Can My Landlord Ban Gun Ownership?

About Denny Dobbins: J.D. “Denny” Dobbins, Jr. is CrimShield’s general legal counsel. He brings more than 20 years of experience and a passion for protecting businesses, their customers and their bottom lines. Dobbins works with company attorneys to develop pertinent criteria to assess risk factors for granting access by individuals to customers and facilities. He also testifies as an expert on negligence, negligent hiring and negligent retention, especially relating to non-delegable duties. His job is to help CrimShield investigators understand the laws of every state, as each state has different statutes and legal terminology.

About CrimShield: CrimShield is a company devoted to protecting companies from negligent hiring and negligent retention as well as providing tools to stop management headaches, reduce customer complaints and eliminate lawsuits. This unique preventative approach to reducing criminal activity transforms the way companies hire and monitor employees, contractors, vendors and volunteers.

CrimShield helps companies assess potential risk and implement easy-to-use solutions.

•

Rent Control ...continued from 16 tenants,” the report states.

Summary In the end, the strongest argument against controlling rents is that there are better ways to protect vulnerable renters.

“Diamond and her coauthors suggest an idea that I’ve also endorsed in the past — a citywide system of government social insurance for renters. “ Households that see their rents go up could be eligible for tax credits or welfare payments to offset rent hikes, and vouchers to help pay the cost of moving.

The money for the system would come from taxes on landlords, which would effectively spread the cost among all renters and landowners instead of laying

the burden on the vulnerable few,” writes Noah Smith in Bloomberg.

Rent Control’s Winners and Losers, The Effects of Rent Control Expansion on Tenants, Landlords, and Inequality: Evidence from San Francisco, Yup, Rent Control Does More Harm Than Good, Rent Control: a Reckoning, Rent Control Could Be Making Income Inequality Worse In Gentrified Cities, 3 Big Problems with Rent Control And A Property Management Alternative, Noah Smith is a Bloomberg View columnist. He was an assistant professor of finance at Stony Brook University, and he blogs at Noahpinion.

•

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Rental Housing Journal Metro · March 2018

Rental Housing Journal Metro

The Outdoor Furniture Market is Booming!

Chaise Lounges And Heaters Are Leading The Way

by Jeannie Flynn

U

nseasonably warm weather in the Southwest and below zero temperatures in the Midwest is keeping outdoor furniture an patio accessories on the minds of apartment managers and rental property owners across the country. Trends and popular styles are ever changing, but the in-fashion patio furniture look for this year is Nantucket, cool, carefree and comfy. We’re seeing navy blues, and cool grays popped with reds and yellows as the popular color pallet for many new projects.

Chairs Adirondack chairs, a classic look for Summer furniture, are more popular than ever. The 2018 version is no longer made from clunky, heavy wood. Instead these popular chairs are now manufactured in a long lasting “faux wood” -- a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) product. Available in traditional and contemporary designs, Adirondack chairs are comfortable, colorful and add additional seating to your pool, deck and other outdoor public areas.

Eco-friendly “faux wood” products are typically made of recycled plastic. This durable, long lasting material is easy to

clean and will withstand the extreme elements, proving to be a smart amenity investment for your properties.

Whether Adirondack chairs are you’re choice or not, make sure that you always ask for commercial rated products that offer commercial liability insurance and warranties when purchasing patio furniture and accessories for your apartment community or commercial buildings.

Heaters There are many outdoor heaters available on the market today. How to find the best product for your patio is the key.

Whether it be electric, natural or liquid propane, there are a variety of options.

Heaters are not always about heat.

Fire is alluring and draws attention to a location. Sometimes they are designed for ambiance or to be used as outdoor signage at night.

When shopping for heater, I suggest that you keep these questions in mind: • How many BTU's (British Thermal Units) does a heater offer? The lower the BTU's the less heat output?

• Does the heater come with a replacement parts program?

• Does the heater come with a commercial warranty?

• If so how many years and what does it cover?

• Is there a local representative or dealer that can help you with any issues that may arise?

Ask about the frames and finishes. Are they stainless steel? If they are steel with a painted finish, are they powder coated or just painted.

When it comes to commercial rated heaters, price plays a huge part on the difference between something that is built to last or something that will need to be replaced after one season. You definitely get what you pay for when it comes to really inexpensive products. In this case, if you are using a heater that is not up to code or considered to be commercial rated, you could be setting yourself up for a liability situation that could cost you much more in the long run.

CMS Commercial Furniture offers the finest selection in commercial rated outdoor furniture and accessories. We've worked with many hospitality and multi-family housing properties to create revenue generating spaces and provide custom designed products to offer that one of a kind feel. All of the above combined with flexible price points, has allowed us to find our niche in this industry. www.cmsfurniture.com 480-892-3212 info@cmsfurniture.com

•

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Ultimate Cleaning Solutions can make a vacant apartment, or office “move-in” ready by cleaning everything from top to bottom. You can feel confident that we are busy returning your rental to showcase condition. We are ready to help you!

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You can contact us at: 503-521-7458 or office@ultimatecleaninginc.com Rental Housing Journal Metro · March 2018

Now 4 Convenient Ways to Get Forms 1. Visit www.rhaoregon.org, go to the “tools” page for hard copy forms mailed to you 2. Visit www.rhaoregon.org, go to the tools page for individual fillable forms that you can download in PDF directly to your computer.

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Rental Housing Journal Metro

Millenials'... Driving Change...continued from 8 needed for a given floor plan by room, seaming diagrams, and you can order by the room with accurate measurements rather than having to do a full replacement.

Everybody else does estimates. We have your company’s flooring information accurate, down to the room,” he said. And the applicable flooring can be purchased directly through his company’s app. “We have a mobile-enabled website and a web application. So, we have everything you need, wherever you need it, to get the job done.

Describing his pricing, Murai said, “Our pricing model is unit-based pricing, and very dependent on what solution modules our clients utilize. Some solution modules can be used very cost-effectively, or you can use our entire suite.

“We have several mid-sized multifamily and single-family home customers, and we're actually on track to start part pilots with several larger multifamily customers this quarter. We also have some of the largest suppliers in the industry on the platform,” Murai said.

Question and answer with Ken Murai Q: How do millennials’ expectations for faster maintenance affect property management maintenance organizations?

A: Our challenge is to get maintenance issues solved more quickly and efficiently than ever before. If not, we are going to hear about it on social media. How do you speed up you processes and improve communication with your residents? You need to have the people and tools to help you track, document, assign, and get the right products/services/work done, and you need to help them collaborate.

“People need to know what to do, when and how, as well as get access to the right help when the time is appropriate.

Instead, maintenance staff often spend a lot of time figuring out what they need to do or buy.

“This is heightened when you have new employees, since they don't know what to do. By providing them with tools that guide them to work with the right people, buy the right things, document problems and solutions with pictures, etc. it will help them get the work get done faster.

“They’ll be able to get help from vendors or other staff, leverage past solutions, plan for the future, and ensure that customer issues are not lost or fixed too slowly. In addition, you'll be able to provide better communication with your residents.

Remember, it's not just the solving of the problem that matters, but also the communication of the resolution.

Q: Are millennial maintenance personnel leaving the multifamily

industry due to the lack of technology solutions available in their day-to-day jobs? What can be done to retain them?

A: Millennials use their phones to socialize, communicate, entertain themselves, and get things done.

Millennials are the top smart phone users with Facebook, Facebook Messenger and YouTube (according to Nielson) being the top 3 apps. The Bank of America Trends in Consumer Mobility report interviewed 1,000 adults and found that smartphones were more important to millennials than deodorant. These devices are an integral part of millennials' daily lives.

In speaking to various management companies, we have anecdotally heard that many recently hired millennials quit their jobs to move into jobs in other industries. Why? Because, they were frustrated by the lack of tools on their smartphones that the property management companies provided to get things done. They hate using paper and property management is full of paper processes. Who is going to hire them in the future based upon their expertise in running a paper based process? As a result, the millennial workforce will continue to migrate to other industries that have tools that allow them to do their jobs more efficiently unless we as an industry evolve.

As a starting step, many companies are starting to adopt “bring your own phone policies.” While this means that pictures and texting are being used for communication and tracking, the lack of integration of this information into their property management systems means that information is isolated, collaboration is difficult, and tasks are left undone. In other words, it’s a good baby step, but this like any other siloed system doesn’t provide nearly as much help as a collaboration platform.

Q: What strategies are companies using to make their maintenance processes more efficient?

A: The best companies are focusing on supporting an entire business process instead of providing point solutions that help solve a sliver of that process. That means they need to be able to support multiple processes (not just ordering or invoice processing or inspections or work orders).

For example, one company we spoke to talked about using an application to do due diligence inspections. At the end of the process they had a lot of great pictures and data, but then didn't know what to do next, since the data resided in their app, and didn't support any of their other processes or work with their property management system.

Advertise in Rental Housing Journal Metro Circulated to over 6,000 apartment owners, on-site and maintenance personnel monthly.

Call 503-221-1260 for more information www.rentalhousingjournal.com 18

The most efficient companies are using software platforms that support the entire maintenance process where they collaborate with their staff and suppliers, and leverage past data to make the process more efficient.

Inspections lead to work orders, quote requests or orders and everything is tied together. Being easy-to-use, they require less training and support, and guide the staff through the process. So, you’re getting the benefit of requiring little training on the application and the process! That’s something that not just millennials want, but all people in the organization.

Another comment on mobile. Given that real estate is a distributed operation, mobile applications are required so people can get the work done at the location where the issue exists. With mobile, staff and suppliers are able to record notes, take pictures and record them in a system where the information can be shared, trigger additional actions and used for reporting.

Some of the baby steps we are seeing companies take are policies that allow staff to text each other and their vendors with messages and pictures. It’s a start, but the information is isolated on a person’s phone and isn’t leveraged for future actions by the entire organization.

We're also seeing some companies adopt virtual turn boards using Google Spreadsheets or Microsoft Sharepoint.

Again, it’s a great solution that solves one piece of the pie, but often falls short around updates and scheduling. We believe that it’s most efficient to have virtual turn boards that tie into your turn schedule, inspections, work orders, quotes, contracts, orders, and invoices, which allows you to support your entire process.

We’ve also seen a trend for companies having maintenance personnel handle more units than before and they aren’t necessarily outsourcing more work to vendors. Unless they provide tools and software that makes them more efficient, they will both slip on their quality of service and lose residents.

We’ve also seen some outsourcing tasks to key vendor partners, but those who are doing so tend to be smaller property management companies with smaller properties.

Q: How will these new strategies help to retain millennial maintenance personnel and satisfy millennial residents?

A: Nielsen reports that 97-98% of millennials have smart phones. They are using them for social media, messaging, YouTube, maps, search and more. They are constantly on their phones and can’t stand using paper or the dusty old PC in the maintenance shop.

“If you are thinking of allowing them to use their phones to text and take pictures, just remember that if their phones are not connected to the rest of the property maintenance platform, they’re going to have to use some paper and transpose that data into a computer. It’s wasteful, they know it, and it’s frustrating. Plus, it doesn’t help them gain the skills to help them be competitive with future jobs.

By using mobile and web software that helps support the entire maintenance process, you’re able to help your staff get things done faster and more efficiently and communicate much more effectively.

Who doesn’t want have the satisfaction of getting things done. And, if they’re happy, they’ll stay.

Q: What will happen if companies don't do anything to cater to millennials' needs?

A: Millennial staff become frustrated when using antiquated methods. Tools that support their entire process and help them collaborate not only allow the maintenance personnel to have more job satisfaction, they are more efficient, collaborative and social, and learn faster.

Just using their phones is the first step, but being able to use their phones to work with existing processes is what they are looking for, and what will keep them from running away to other industries that use more technology. Continuous improvement leveraging tools is key to retention Q: How does FacilGo® help property management companies and their suppliers not only operate more efficiently, but also help improve maintenance personnel's job satisfaction?

A: “FacilGo® is built to support the entire turn and maintenance process from when you identify a problem, figure out how to solve it, get the work done (with internal or external staff) and order parts, process the invoice and payment, and then charge back residents.

“We believe that a platform must do more than one step of a process. In fact, your software should leverage one step of the process to help you with the next step, so your staff does the right thing quickly and efficiently.

“We find that companies initially adopt some of our easier-to-implement solutions like inspections and move out closing statements, then start adding on work orders, contract management, procurement, invoice processing, fixed asset, and inventory management. We also have functionality such as budgets, supplier ratings, job cost and CAM charges, so we offer a very robust set of features and functions to support your operations and maintenance processes.”

Ken was the Vice President of Product Development and Client Management at OpsTechnology, where he was responsible for designing and developing the OpsTechnology product and oversaw its client management team from initial deployment to acquisition by RealPage and beyond. Ken has experience creating procurement organizations and managing strategic technology initiatives for executive teams in the multifamily industry. Ken graduated from the University of California, Davis with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business. He has been working in the technology industry for 25 years, in areas including product development, sales, marketing and management.

FacilGo® provides a solution to property management organizations who are frustrated by their turn and maintenance processes. Our property maintenance platform and private marketplace streamlines operations and saves money by offering an integrated inspection to invoice process through which you manage your turns and maintenance processes. Unlike other software that provide piece-meal solutions, FacilGo® offers an integrated process where your staff is presented with what to do and buy based upon their inspection and work order results. Instead of spending time figuring out what to do, staff can spend time collaborating with suppliers to get things done.

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Rental Housing Journal Metro · March 2018

Rental Housing Journal Metro

6 Types of Fencing ...continued from 13 of all, the safety of your tenants and your property.

Broken fencing can be an inconvenient and time-consuming expense. Being prepared against costly last-minute repairs is possible, and it begins with knowing how to best protect your investment.

Different kinds of fencing materials have different maintenance needs, which are fundamental to explore for the purpose of selecting which fencing option really is best for both your needs and expectations.

Wooden fences are a traditional favorite and have historically been an iconic component of American homes everywhere.

This is likely due to the fact that wood is a widely available material, and a great number of varieties - especially pine and cedar, two of the most commonly used for fencing - are rather inexpensive. Different cuts, grains, colorations, staining treatments and painting styles make wooden fences very versatile as they are easy to customize to match homes and gardens as desired.

The main downside with wooden fencing is the fact that it requires regular maintenance work to both last and look appealing: it can be severely damaged by weather, vegetation and parasites. The best available way of protecting wooden fencing is ensuring that the wood is regularly treated by a professional, who can apply sealants, stains and preservative coatings.

A pricier option, “Pressure Treated” (PT) fences, are made with wood that has been thoroughly treated with preservative chemicals when manufactured, and generally come with special warranties.

Overall, our experts suggest to avoid letting vegetation to grow on the wood to protect it from excessive moisture, and to have it regularly treated to protect it against parasites, like termites. It’s important to keep in mind that very wet and very hot and dry climates can cause the wood to damage rapidly and crack, warp and splinter.

A man-made material, vinyl (also called PVC) does not rot, splinter, crack or warp.

The synthetic plastics utilized to craft this kind of fencing are inexpensive, and unlike wood, Vinyl can be manufactured, thus making it so that its standard market price is controlled and not likely to suddenly become more expensive.

Another benefit to vinyl is that it is often made to be extremely easy to install, consisting of lightweight pieces that can be simply snapped together. Vinyl does cost slightly more than wood, but in contrast, it is not so easily damageable and it is not demanding when it comes to maintenance.

Manufacturers claim that the only maintenance issue that is likely to affect Vinyl over time is discoloration, but this can be easily resolved by simply re-painting the fence.

While those characteristics are certainly appealing, our experts point out that vinyl is not as strong as wood, and it can easily collapse due to harsh weather or impact.

The plastics utilized are cold temperaturesensitive and can become brittle, which is why vinyl is not ideal for areas where cold and harsh weather is common. One last issue is that the manufacturing processes behind vinyl production are not very environmentally friendly.

Aluminum ideal for decorative fencing for your rental property Aluminum is known for its malleability, which is indeed why it is widely utilized to craft decorative and elegant fencing.

Also, it is lightweight and easy to clean.

Aluminum fencing is generally similarly priced to vinyl, but it is important to keep in mind that this bargain could be offset by repair costs: Aluminum is delicate, and

while they’re fairly easy to repair, our experts find that bends and dents are common.

Aluminum is ideal for beautiful decorative fencing, but it is not the best option for privacy and safety as it is not made to provide significant shielding.

Chain-Link fencing for your rental property Chain-link is a very simple and inexpensive kind of fencing, making it ideal for very large spaces or pens, especially for pets. Installing chain-link fencing is also simple and fast.

Chain-link is not very sturdy and does not offer much privacy, which is why it is not the best choice for residential properties where tenants and/or property managers are wanting a fence that offers protection and privacy.

When it comes to maintenance, the thin links of the fence and their junctions are vulnerable to rusting and corrosion. Vinyl coating can extend the life of chain-link, but

Rental Housing Journal Metro · March 2018

chips as soon as one notices them.

Brick and stone a serious investment Having a fence built with cement and bricks or stones is going to be one of the much pricier options available for fencing.

While those fences are unaffected by weather and most other common sources of tear and wear, they require quite a lengthy and work-intensive installation process, and they can’t be easily modified, making expansions or alterations an issue.

Our maintenance professionals point out that opting for brick and stone fencing is a lengthy commitment and a serious investment.

most people opt for a complete replacement when wear and tear becomes evident.

Wrought iron is made to be durable while looking beautiful.

It can be molded to create elegant styles, and the natural strength of the iron makes it a good option for a secure fence that won’t need much maintenance over the years.

Wrought iron can develop a patina as it ages and oxidizes, which some find appealing and some do not: if desired, this can be addressed by having a professional restore the iron with appropriate treatments.

While wrought iron makes it possible to save money on regular maintenance, in most cases it is the most expensive fencing option available. Installing heavy-duty iron fencing is also a work-intensive project that should be left to a professional.

Wrought iron can rust easily in regions where the weather climate is wet. Rust develops where the iron is most worn down, which makes it essential to fix scratches and

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Rental Housing Journal Metro · March 2018