The Landlord Times Valley July 2013

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VALLEY

Professional Publishing, Inc www.TheLandlordTimes.com

Vol. 17 Issue 7

July 2013

Get Social With The Landlord Times

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MONTHLY CIRCULATION TO MORE THAN 5,000 APARTMENT OWNERS, PROPERTY MANAGERS, ON-SITE & MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL Published in association with: METRO Multifamily Housing Association & Rental Owners Association

National Rent Growth Slows for Eighth Consecutive Quarter Axiometrics Inc., the leading provider of apartment data and market research, reports that at the national level annual effective rent growth slowed to 3.2% in the second quarter of 2013. For comparison, annual effective rent growth in the second quarter of 2012 measured 4.0%. Further, Axiometrics’ data indicates that the effective rent growth rate has slowed for eight consecutive quarters as many Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) are decelerating from very strong growth the previous three years. Peak annual rent growth at the national level during this current cycle was 5.3% in July 2011. Despite the slowdown nationally, many individual markets are still generating very strong rent growth rates, with 20 of the top 88 MSAs reporting annual effective rent rowth Continued on page 5

HUD Announces First-Ever Same Sex Housing Discrimination Study Research seen as important first step in identifying possible patterns of discrimination in rental housing The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently released the nation’s firstever national study examining housing discrimination against same-sex couples in the private rental market. The study, An Estimate of Housing Discrimination Against Same-Sex Couples, measures the treatment same-sex couples receive from rental agents when inquiring about apartments advertised online, as compared to how otherwise similar heterosexual couples are treated. According to HUD’s study, samesex couples experience unequal treatment more often than heterosexual

Professional Publishing, Inc PO Box 30327 Portland, OR 972943327

couples when responding to internet ads for rental units, and findings show that gay male couples experience more discrimination than lesbian couples. “President Obama and this administration have been unmatched in our efforts to ensure equal and fair treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons and communities,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “Following the president’s lead, HUD has taken historic steps in the area of fair housing to ensure that we fulfill our nation’s commitment to equality. As this study shows, we need to continue

Current Resident or

PRSRT STD US Postage PAID Portland, OR Permit #5460

our efforts to ensure that everyone is treated the same when it comes to finding a home to call their own, regardless of their sexual orientation.” “A person’s sexual orientation or gender identity should not be a reason to receive unfavorable treatment when searching for housing,” said Bryan Greene, HUD Acting Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “HUD is committed to making sure that LGBT individuals have equal access to housing opportunities.” HUD’s study is based on nearly 7,000 email tests conducted in 50 metropolitan markets across the country between June and October of 2011. For each paired test, two emails were sent to the housing provider regarding the unit advertised online. The only difference between the emails was whether the couple was samesex or heterosexual. Unfavorable treatment was measured by whether Continued on page 3

Rental Housing Managers Can Recycle Electronics for Free! As a rental housing manager you probably get “stuck” occasionally with old PC’s, computer monitors or TVs from former tenants. You may have paid to recycle them in the past or maybe you have dumped them in the trash (hopefully only if it is legal to do so in your area). There is a better option. Recycle them – for free. You can save money and do the right thing by recycling TVs, computers and monitors in Washington and Oregon through state regulated “E-Cycling” programs. The E-Cycle Washington program and the Oregon E-Cycles program provide free recycling for electronics including any abandoned TVs, computers and monitors that rental housing managers may have to deal with. Here are links to each program’s website including how to find free drop-off locations in your area: Washington residents www.ecyclewashington.org Oregon residents www.deq.state.or.us/lq/ecycle/ index.htm If saving money isn’t reason enough to recycle, think about what we are throwing “away” when we trash our electronics. TVs, computers and monitors contain reusable Continued on page 7 Page 2

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Page 4

A MESSAGE FROM YOUR PRESIDENT …

spectrumtradeshow_2013_brochure_v1.indd 1

6/21/13 2:09 PM

MULTIFAMILY NW 0RESIDENT s Paul Hoevet 0AST 0RESIDENT s Jeff Denson 6ICE 0RESIDENT s Pam McKenna 3ECRETARY s Kirsten Bailey 4REASURER s Chris Hermanski

PAUL HOEVET Multifamily NW President

Hello Everyone. July 1st marked the day that Fair Housing testing was to begin within the City of Portland. The City has signed a contract with the Fair Housing Center of Washington to oversee testing by the Fair Housing Council of Oregon. The Center has until end of 2014 to conduct a maximum of 50 rental tests and no more than 20 follow up tests. Multifamily NW and its members pride themselves in the Promotion of Quality Rental Housing. Compliance with Fair Housing regulations is a large focus of our educational offerings and outreach programs. If you have new hires, it is very important that you get them signed up for a fair housing fundamentals class. Did you know that the most frequent Fair Housing complaint in the country is for the failure to consider a request for a Reasonable Accommodation? All requests must be considered! Ideally the requests would be centralized with one or two individuals that understand both the complexity and importance of the request. Although we train people to use the Reasonable Accommodation form you cannot require the form if they hand you a piece of paper that substantially covers the same infor-

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

President's Message mation. You may ask for the form to be completed if the disability, and its connection to the request, is not readily recognizable to a reasonable person. Other types of Fair Housing complaints that occur with frequency are: National Origin, Familial Status, Race and Color. Other things to consider are: Does your company have an e-mail policy regarding length of time for reply? Are your leasing agents instructed to use the same route each time they show a unit? Do you document all pricing specials? When someone calls with an inquiry about the community, does your leasing agent attempt to prescreen the individual for level of interest rather than encouraging all callers to come in and tour the property? All of these issues, and many more, can expose you to a possible Fair Housing complaint. Remember, there are three words to keep in mind for your company to successfully comply with Fair Housing: Consistency, Consistency, Consistency! Multifamily NW will keep you abreast of Fair Housing issues, testing, and enforcement. All while continuing to advocate strongly for transparency in the process and the

need for testing to be done by an independent third party with no philosophical or monetary interest in the outcome. For more information regarding our educational offerings and/or ad-

vocacy efforts, please visit our website at www.multifamilynw.org or call us at 503-213-1281

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Multifamily NW 2013 Events: MARK YOUR CALENDAR! July 17, 2013 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM ELEVATE: New Hire Class July 22, 2013 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM ELEVATE: Lease Renewals and Expirations July 24, 2013 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM ELEVATE: Sales & Leasing July 25, 2013 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM ELEVATE: Maintenance & Customer Service

August 6, 2013 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM ELEVATE: Oregon Landlord/ Tenant Law Part I August 9, 2013 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM It's the Law Lunchtime Series: Crazy But True: Stories From a Full Moon August 13, 2013 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM ELEVATE: Telephone Techniques August 14, 2013 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM Landlord Study Hall - Take Control of Utility Costs and other Methods to Improve Cash Flow

visit www.multifamilynw.org for more dates

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VALLEY HUD ...continued from front page the tester was told the unit was available, asked to contact the landlord, invited to the see the apartment, or received any response at all. Key findings of the study showed that: Ă˜ Same-sex couples experience discrimination in the online rental housing market, relative to heterosexual couples. Ă˜ Adverse treatment is found primarily in the form of same-sex couples receiving fewer responses to the email inquiry than heterosexual couples. Ă˜ States with legislative protections show slightly more adverse treatment for gays and lesbians than in states without protections. Ă˜ Adverse treatment of same-sex couples is present in every metropolitan area where tests were conducted, but no clear-cut pattern exists in the magnitude of adverse treatment by metropolitan size.

hibit discrimination against LGBT individuals. Recently, HUD issued new guidance that treats discrimination based on gender nonconformity or sex stereotyping as sex discrimination under the Fair Housing Act, and instructs HUD staff to inform individuals filing complaints about state and local agencies that have LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination laws. In addition, on February 3, 2012, HUD published a final rule, “Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs Regardless of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity�, which requires HUDfunded and HUD-insured housing providers and FHA-approved lenders to provide equal access without regard to sexual orientation, gender identity, and marital status.

This study, which was done in collaboration with the University of Albany, State University of New York, serves as the initial step toward future research on same-sex housing disThe Fair Housing Act makes it ille- crimination. Recommendations for gal to discriminate in rental, sales and upcoming studies include in-person testing, examination of legislative lending on the basis of race, color, 9$//(< 0(752 $5,=21$ national origin, religion, sex, disabili- protections at the local jurisdictional ty and familial status, however it does level (rather than only at the state not include sexual orientation or gen- level), and tests for discrimination der identity as protected classes. against transgender people to further Nonetheless, 20 states and the District examine difference in treatment of Columbia, and more than 150 cit- between same-sex and heterosexual )HE $SU -XQ $XJ 2FW 'HF ies, towns and counties across the couples in states without legislative nation have laws that specifically pro- protections.

HUD’s mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes; utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and

More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and http://espanol.hud. gov. You can also follow HUD on twitter @HUDnews, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HUD, or sign up for news alerts on HUD’s Email List

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CORRECTION The June edition of The Landlord Times - Valley featured an interview with Joseph Chaplik, President of Joseph Bernard Investment Real Estate. The headline should have read “6 Questions with Joseph Chaplik.�

transform the way HUD does business.

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Serving the Eugene, Salem, Albany, and Corvallis Multifamily Housing Industry More than 6,000 Distributed Monthly www. %5'%.% s 3!,%- s !,"!.9 s #/26!,,)3 TheLandlordTimes.com The statements and representations made in advertising and news articles contained in this publication are those of the advertiser and authors and Âľ Âľ EZ as such do not necessarily reflect the views Publisher or opinions of Professional Publishing, Inc. The inclusion of advertising in this publicaWill Johnson s will@propubinc.com Editor tions does not, in any way, omport an Andrea Coulter s andrea@propubinc.com endorsement of or support for the prodCirculation Manager ucts or services offered. The LandlordTimes - Valley is produced Andrea Coulter s andrea@propubinc.com monthly and is published by Professional Designer Andrea Coulter s andrea@propubinc. Publishing Inc. com Advertising Sales An Oregon Corporation. PO Box 30327 Will Johnson s will@propubinc.com Portland, OR 97294-3327. (503) 221-1260 Terry Hokenson s terry@propubinc.com s

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Eugene - 541-485-5325 Salem - 503-363-5325

Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

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3

RENTAL OWNERS ASSOCIATION

205 W. 10th Avenue, Eugene OR 97401 (541) 485-7368 (541) 284-4052 info@ laneroa.com

0RESIDENT s Jim Straub 6ICE 0RESIDENT s Michael Steffen 3ECRETARY s Scott Smith 4REASURER s Pat Costello Board Members: Christy Albin, Mitch Allen, Dennis Casady, Dennis Chappa, Robei Ellis, Devin Gates, Eric Hall, John Morrison, Tia Politi

A Message from Your President … As you’ve noticed on the front cover of the Bulletin, this is your July/August issue. To save costs with printing and mailing, and with so many members away during August, we’ve combined the July and August Bulletin into one. Have you attended an ROA Workshop lately? Both July and August Workshops are included in this issue. Information on each of these Workshops is located on page 5 (in our newsletter).

As I stated in our last bulletin, the Senate Bill 91A, the Landlord Tenant Coalition “Omnibus” Bill, passed the Oregon Senate on a 27 to 1 vote. In the Legislative Update on page 21, House Bill 2639, the Section 8 “Housing Choice” Bill, is still working its way through the Legislature. Keep your eyes on future Legislative Updates for more information. To read the full text of legislative bills, be sure to log-on to the State of Oregon’s Legislative website at

www.leg.state.or.us. Click on “Measure Search” to find full information about any 2013 legislative bill. Our form of the month (pages 10-13 in our newsletter) is ORHA #53 – Reasonable Accommodation Request and Verification. Information included explains what this form is for, when to use it, when NOT to use it, and how the form should be filled in. You’ll find part three of my threepart series on pets, page 17(in our newsletter). “Should I Allow Pets? But Aid Animals Are Not Pets”, is focused on dealing with Assistance Animals and how it effects your “no pet” policy. If you have questions about this specific issue, please contact the Helpline at 541-242-2850. A big “Thank You” to Brian Cox, Attorney at Law, who is always an entertaining speaker. Brian gave us great advice on how to actually get the money owed to us! A thank you also goes out to our Affiliate Spotlight speaker, Jamie Chimpky, of Willamette Rental Guide, for the

great meeting raffle gift! We value your membership. In order to allocate ROA resources to provide the most effective assistance to you, we would like to know which benefits are most valuable to you. If you haven’t completed your ROA Survey, located in the June Bulletin, you can also complete it online at surveymonkey.com/s/laneroa. As we do each year, we’ll take a one-month general meeting break and will not hold a general meeting for the month of August. The ROA Office will be closed Thursday, July 4th and Friday, July 5th. Please have a safe and happy Fourth of July holiday, and we’ll see you for the next general meeting on Thursday, September 26th! Jim Straub, President

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Advertise in the Landlord Times Valley Circulated to over 5,000 Apartment owners, On-site, and Maintenance personnel monthly. Call 503-221-1260 for more information. 4

The LandlordTimes - Valley s *ULY

VALLEY National ...continued from front page of greater than 4.0%. While the national growth rate has been slowly decelerating over the past eight quarters, it should also be noted that the current growth rate is still above the long-term average of 2.1%. Occupancy at the national level remained strong, measuring 94.7% in the second quarter of 2013. A year ago the occupancy rate stood at 94.3%. The improvement in occupancy has occurred despite an increasing wave of new apartment supply. During the second quarter, 40,739 new apartment units were delivered, up from 18,861 units delivered in the second quarter of 2012. Apartment deliveries have totaled 124,500 over the trailing 12 months. With the pace of new deliveries increasing, the total for new deliveries in 2013 should reach 185,348 units by the end of the year. Fewer Concessions Mean Higher Rents As the market has tightened over the past few years, it has become increasingly difficult for renters to find rental concessions, at least in most MSAs. At the national level, concessions lowered asking rents 1.4% in the second quarter, which is the equivalent of five days free rent on a 12-month lease. For comparison, Axiometrics reported that concessions lowered asking rents 2.4% a year ago and 3.7% two years ago.

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

The peak for concession values was in December 2009 when asking rents were lowered 7.5% by the use of concessions. Asset Class Performance Class C properties continued to outperform Class A and B properties for effective rent growth in the second quarter of 2013, a trend that began in October 2012. Over the prior year, effective rents increased 4.1% for Class C properties, compared to 2.9% and 3.4% for Class A and B, respectively. Class C properties have an average occupancy rate of 93.3%, which is the lowest of the three groups, but they do show the best year-over-year occupancy growth. Class A properties have the highest occupancy rate at 95.2%, however this rate is 23 basis points lower than a year ago.

states: California, Colorado, Florida, and Texas. The top MSAs for effective rent growth in the second quarter of 2013 are outlined below: In addition to having all 11 of the top rent growth markets, California, Colorado, Florida, and Texas also had several other high-ranking MSAs for rent growth: 14. Austin-Round Rock, TX (4.5%), 16. Jacksonville, FL (4.3%), 17. Miami-Miami BeachKendall, FL (4.2%), 22. Dallas-PlanoIrving, TX (3.9%), and 24. TampaSaint Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (3.8%). Top Markets for New Construction Axiometrics also reports that the strong apartment performance the past three years has spurred a rebound in construction activity in many MSAs. Specifically, new units

National Performance by Asset Class Annual Effective Rent Growth 2Q12 2Q13 4.6% 2.9% 3.8% 3.4% 3.8% 4.1%

Class A B C

Top Performing Markets For the second quarter, 11 MSAs had annual effective rent growth of 6.0% or greater, and all 11 of those markets were located in just four

Annual Effective Rent Growth 9.8% 9.6% 8.9% 8.4% 6.9% 6.8% 6.8% 6.6% 6.5% 6.4% 6.0% 3.2%

MSA Boulder, CO Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Corpus Christi, TX North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL Denver-Aurora, CO Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL Naples-Marco Island, FL San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, TX National

Advertise in the Landlord Times - Valley Circulated to over 5,000

Occupancy Rate 2Q12 95.5% 94.9% 92.4%

Texas had three of the top five MSAs in the nation for units delivered during the second quarter. Axiometrics notes that even with the escalated delivery numbers from last year, the Texas MSAs still show some of the best effective rent growth rates in the country as demand is maintaining pace with supply. Axiometrics is the only multifamily research provider to survey every property in its database at the floor plan level every month. Every property. Every month. Only Axiometrics. Learn more at www.axiometrics.com or by calling 214-953-2242.

2Q13 95.2% 95.1% 93.3%

will be delivered in 182 MSAs around the country in 2013, and national deliveries will increase from 87,077 units in 2012 to 185,348 units in 2013.

Apartment owners, Onsite, and Maintenance personnel monthly. Call 503-221-1260 for more information.

Occupancy Rate 96.1% 96.4% 95.0% 95.9% 94.9% 95.5% 94.9% 98.0% 96.3% 95.8% 94.3% 94.7%

*Rank based on annual effective rent growth out of 88 MSAs

Rank*

MSAs Delivering the Most New Units in Second Quarter 2013 Number of Units Delivered Within Quarter Full Year 2Q12 2Q13 2012 2013

1 2 3

Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, TX Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

1,303 1,098 1,149

3,203 2,593 2,479

5,882 4,522 6,173

11,104 8,932 11,318

4 5

Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL Austin-Round Rock, TX

393 428

2,079 1,692

1,373 2,763

4,448 7,489

6

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA

81

1,563

781

5,038

7

Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA

618

1,464

2,821

7,458

8 9

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA Raleigh-Cary, NC

185 171

1,448 1,170

1,537 698

5,157 5,101

10

San Antonio, TX National

535 18,861

1,138 40,739

2,205 87,077

4,021 185,348

*Rank based on number of units delivered within the second quarter. The LandlordTimes - Valley s *ULY

5

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veryone knows you only get one chance to make a good first impression. What you communicate from the curb, carries over into the office environment and beyond. Paying attention to professional office attire is important year round, but especially during the warmer summer months. Now that the weather is heating up and everyone is trying to stay cool and comfortable, some employees may be presenting more than just their apartments! This can be a distraction to co-workers and residents, and disrupt the sales process. Here is a topic that continues to be a concern based on the question below:

Q: The staffs at some of our communities tend to “dress down,� especially at our smaller buildings where they have responsibilities in and outside the office. I have noticed that this sometimes carries over into their personal grooming as they transition from working outside and then come back into the office to assist clients. However, as the weather has warmed up and many of my managers have even more responsibilities outside the office, I have noticed an increase in inappropriate/ unprofessional attire and a decrease in attention to personal grooming. I am

concerned about the impression my managers are making on our residents, as well as prospective renters. Other than instituting a “uniform and personal grooming policy� or mandating a strict dress code, what can we do?

A: These are some very valid concerns, and this issue needs to be addressed. However, it’s an extremely sensitive subject because how people dress and present themselves is very personal. Also, there is the financial aspect, as not everyone can afford to make a quality fashion statement! When you throw “gender� into the mix, this issue becomes even more complicated, as it’s tough for a male supervisor to approach a female employee on this issue and vice versa. Typically when a confrontation does occur, someone is embarrassed, offended or both. Then you end up right back where you started and nothing is resolved. For those companies who have been able to budget and implement a “uniform� standard of dress: Congratulations! You do not have any of the above headaches any more. Probably the only issue you have to deal with now on this subject is getting your employees to actually WEAR their uniforms!

For everyone else, the answer is “education.� You must have a “standard of dress,� and expectations regarding personal grooming for all employees, no matter what type/size of community they work at. When a new employee is hired, they can be given information on what the dress code is. If this information is provided up front, employees will know how they are expected to present themselves. For existing employees who are not in compliance with the expectations because there was nothing in writing at the time they were hired, you can institute a “new company policy� and create a dress code. Of course you must remember one very important thing: Everything in life has a “trickle down� effect. Your efforts to get your employees to comply with a dress code standard will only work to the degree in which you comply with the dress code yourself. A leasing consultant does not have much motivation to dress up a notch if the assistant or resident manager is “dressing down.� On the other hand, an on site manager will not be inspired to comply with a dress code if the property supervisor or owner visits wearing casual attire. When employees working together dress inconsistently, this sends a mixed

message to the residents and prospects that visit their office. Until people really get to know you, all they have to go on is “appearances.â€? The employees who are dressed in business attire will “appearâ€? to be professional, organized and prepared to serve their clients. Those dressed otherwise will not. As in every area of life, perception is reality. While you can’t judge a book by its cover, the next person who walks through your door could make a rental decision based upon what’s covering (or not covering) you! Having a standard of dress for all employees, no matter what community they work at, will consistently communicate a sense of pride and professionalism. If you have a question or concern that you would like to see addressed next month, please ASK THE SECRET SHOPPER by making contact via e-mail or fax. Your questions, comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome! ASK THE SECRET SHOPPER Provided by: SHOPTALK SERVICE EVALUATIONS Phone: 425-424-8870 E-mail: joyce@shoptalkservice.com Website: www.shoptalkservice.com Copyright Š Shoptalk Service Evaluations

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VALLEY Rental ...continued from front page metals such as copper, aluminum and steel as well as hazardous materials that need to be kept out of our environment. There are several pounds of lead, cadmium and mercury in every old “tube� type TV or computer monitor that are toxic to humans and animals. Recycling electronics keeps these toxic materials out of the environment and our food chain.

If you would like to receive information you can distribute to your tenants so they know where to take their old electronics when the time comes or if you have questions about recycling electronics, contact Miles Kuntz (360) 4077157, Miles.Kuntz@ecy.wa.gov, in Washington or Michelle Shepperd (503) 229-6724, Shepperd.Michelle@deq.state. or.us in Oregon.

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Sweat The Small Stuff You’ve entered into the rental agreement, the residents signed all fifty-seven addendums, and it appears that everyone understands the expectations. Yet, as time goes on, your tenants aren’t quite meeting their obligations. Month after month you turn a blind eye to what’s eating away at you and their behaviors, or lack thereof, have begun to cause you an eye twitch, tightening of the jaw, and possibly a pain in your side. I’m not talking about any of the obvious major breaches, but mainly the “micro” breaches that we question if they’re worth making a stink about or not. I believe you owe it to yourself and your business to question: “Why am I not addressing what’s bothering me with my tenants?” Is the answer laziness, fear, or simply because you don’t have the information needed to feel confident in order to do so? I am personally guilty of all charges. For example, like when rent shows up a day or two late every month because your tenants interpret the due date as postmarked by the 4th, rather than in your hand by the 4th. Why not send a letter

thanking them for their rent, letting them know that because it was received after the grace period there is a fee associated, and that you expect that the fee be paid with the following months rent? In doing so, not only are you asking for what you’re entitled to, but you’re also not waiving your rights to collect unpaid late fees in the future by setting a precedence in attempting to collect the fee. In the past you may have done nothing for fear of causing an undue hardship upon your tenants. My guess is that it will only take one or two late fee letters before your tenants realize that there is a great incentive on making sure that the rent is paid as the contract dictates. Or what about the classic scenario of tenants failing to take care of their yard? Your relatives are in town so you decide to drive them by your rentals to show off how well you’re doing. To your surprise, and embarrassment, your property happens to be the one property in the neighborhood with 2 ½ feet tall grass, dandelions filling the flower beds, blackberries taking over the ivy, and

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shrubs so unruly that you can barely see the path to the front door? Instead of issuing a breach of contract notice to the tenants demanding that the landscape be maintained as agreed, you either hire a landscaper first thing Monday morning to take care of it and you pay the bill, or you do nothing and cross your fingers that the next time you drive by that they would have at least mowed the grass. Do you justify their lack of care, because you know they have busy schedules? Or, are you afraid that confronting them about their ways could possibly offend them or cause a rift in the relationship? Instead, send either a Warning Notice or With Cause Notice as soon as you’re aware that there is an issue. Time is of the essence on this one because the neighbors are likely disgruntled. The work that you had done on the yard prior to them moving in is all going to waste and will most likely have to be done again once they vacate which could be costly. My point is that by addressing the unsettling habits of your tenants promptly, you can minimize, if not eliminate, any potential feelings of disappointment, frustration, and resentment towards your tenants as you would if you were to let things slide. I believe it is natural for us to

want to avoid conflict and confrontation in life. However, when it comes to managing your properties, this continual avoidance could come at the expense of your business and property. Most of us have had some form of training on being a landlord, whether we’ve taken classes on our own time or have been in property management in a professional setting. Unfortunately, there is no training of the sorts for tenants. I’ve always had the opinion that if both landlords and tenants know what the rules are, exactly what is expected of them, and what improved performance will look like then everyone involved will mutually benefit from the business relationship. Katie Poole – Hussa is a Licensed Property Manager, Continuing Education Provider and Principal at Smart Property Management in Portland, OR. She can be reached with questions or comments at Katie@SmartPM.co.

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