Apartment Owner responds to complaints about tenants

the TimesDaily.com had an article from Sheffield, Alabama today about an apartment complex owner responding to complaints about his tenants alleged drug use, shots being fired and other incidents that occurred at his complex, the Colbert Square Apartments, over the past nine years.  The owner was forced to appear before the city council to address the complaints. 

In response to residents’ complaints, the city will forward (the owner) reports of serious incidents so he can follow through with the tenants, including evicting them if necessary. 

More than ever we are seeing communities starting to crack down on apartment complexes that seem to have a large amount of police responses.   While the efforts of the community to reduce crime are noble, it seems possible that some apartment complex owners could be scapegoated based on one or two problem tenants.  The lesson here is to avoid becoming the scapegoat bad apartment owner no matter what the actual facts are. 

Don’t want until the city council calls to you respond to complaints.  Make moves now to shore up your public relations by implementing and enforcing an effective tenant screening program that not only includes credit history checks but also a criminal history search and employment verification.  Make your efforts visible and clear to the surrounding community.  If necessary, hire security guards or install cameras to monitor activity in potential problem areas, like the parking lot, stairwells, and anywhere tenants will likely loiter.  Publicize your efforts and your community public relations will improve.  You might even be rewarded for your efforts to clean up the community.   

tenant screening
credit history reports
public relations
criminal records