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Crime Doctor

Making Places Safe

Criminals Want Housing in Your Apartment Community

March 18, 2018 Chris McGoey

Criminals Want Housing and they will try to infiltrate your apartment property.

  • Career criminals will try to move into an apartment without permission.
  • What can you do to spot them and enforce tenancy rules?
criminals want housing

Fair Housing Law Limits Criminal Background Checks

Rental housing crime studies have repeatedly shown that moderate to high-crime problems can usually be traced back to a small percentage of residents. Those causing the crime problems are often the acquaintances, ex-spouses, or boyfriends of a legal resident who decided to move in without your permission.

Criminals Want Housing: Resident Screening

The best way to head off this problem is to practice resident screening and enforce clearly defined and articulated community rules that are emphasized during the lease application process. The resident needs to know that their tenancy may be in jeopardy if they bring in an unauthorized (and unscreened) occupant.

Proof of this method is well documented in apartment properties all over the country, as police call for service seem to fluctuate proportionally as resident screening standards and rule enforcement vary following management changes.

Good resident screening involves proof of identity, proof of employment, credit check, rental history, and criminal background, if available.

A good screening plan should call for all non-dependent occupants to be included in the lease and subject to the same resident qualifications. All children should be identified on the lease along with maximum occupancy limits.

In this day and age, resident screening is more than just establishing the ability to pay rent. In my experience, properties that tend to have a higher percentage of unauthorized occupants don’t enforce occupancy rules and have lowered their screening standards on credit, rental, and employment history, and don’t do available criminal background checks.

A policy of collecting higher security deposits or getting co-signers for an otherwise unqualified applicant is asking for trouble down the road and is unfair to the other good residents.

Criminals Want Housing: How they Infiltrate

When career criminals (usually males) cannot qualify to rent, they will try to infiltrate your property by secretly moving in with a legal resident.

As you might expect, these undesirable occupants tend to attract other unsavory friends. The character of your property can change dramatically if left unchecked.

The problem becomes acute when these unauthorized occupants are unemployed criminal types who hang out all day and all night and begin to ply their trade within your community.

A symptom of criminal infiltration is people hanging out drinking in the parking lot at all hours and high foot-traffic in and out of a unit or group of units.

To fix serious illegal occupancy problems, sometimes you have to clean-house and evict residents for non-compliance with your residency requirements or local rules. You need to re-emphasize your occupancy standards and then fairly, but firmly, enforce the rules.

The Crime Free Multi-Housing Program lease addendum is a good example of community rules that can be legally enforced. Eviction rates as high as 60-percent have been necessary to regain control over seriously troubled properties.

Although financially painful in the short term, landlords soon get paid back in increased net operating income. It is common to see a property return to profitability after a few months with 96-percent occupancy rates and a waiting list.

Criminals Want Housing: How to Spot Unauthorized Occupants

A fair question often asked is how do you identify an unauthorized occupant versus a short-term social guest? The answer is to “know your residents”.

This may seem like an impossible task, especially when your community exceeds one hundred units. Your community rules should have a written procedure for notifying management when a social guest has an extended stay and to arrange for a parking space.

To solve this identity crisis, property managers around the country have found creative ways to get to know their residents.

Criminals Want Housing: Ideas to Think About:

  • Establish written community rules for visiting social guests
  • Add new occupants/roommates to the lease only if they pass the screening
  • Regularly audit units for unauthorized occupants (formally and informally)
  • Photograph each resident for the lease file for ID purposes (helpful for unit lockouts)
  • Assign coded parking spaces and record vehicle information (easy to spot new cars)
  • Require parking permit decals on cars and motorcycles
  • Require overnight guests to park in designated guest spaces only (get vehicle info)
  • Train staff to be alert for illegal occupants, new vehicles, and new children
  • Periodically, inspect units (smoke detectors, A/C filters, furnace ventilators, lock checks)
  • Always follow up all verbal occupancy warnings with a letter
  • Serve non-compliance notices for every rule violation. Be consistent
  • Evict residents who violate community rules and house illegal occupants
  • Be fair, firm, consistent, and document, document, document.

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Tagged With: apartment security, crime free multihousing, premises liability, security plan

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About Chris McGoey

My biography spans 53 years of studying, evaluating, and developing security plans worldwide. I'm a habitual skeptic, a chronic people watcher, a golf fanatic, and a relentless traveler.
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Podcast Reviews

  • Great information and insight
    June 13, 2018 by djpoland from United States

    I have been listening to this podcast now for several months. It is one of the best sources of information concerning crime, security, and ways of making your home and business safe. Keep up the good work. Thank you for all you do to help so many people. DJ in Scottsburg, IN

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    This is a very valuable service and I appreciate this high level of expertise to keep me knowledgeable, safe and sound. Everyone should subscribe and stay well-informed. Thanks Chris!

  • 10 reasons why burglars might choose your home
    July 28, 2017 by binwoodside from United States

    I am not one of those people who believes there is a bad guy behind every bush but Chris offers good advice that can be very useful to all of us. His tips can prevent us experiencing a home robbery due to our own carelessness. It amazes me that people use social media to advertise their absence from their homes. There are plenty of other points of carelessness Chris describes that also advertises to burglars. His voice is easy to understand and listen.

  • Educational eye-opening strategies for crime prevention
    October 22, 2015 by taylor826 from United States

    He pretty much covers the gamut of high-risk scenario from personal safety to commercial property security. He provides insights to how criminals could perceive potential victims as vulnerable. I don't own commercial property or a business, but the security best practices he outlines which mitigate potential crimes in multiple industries, also increases my awareness to avoid such businesses/locations that don't implement those policies. You don't want to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  • Excellent content
    July 1, 2015 by Ken Burgin from Australia

    Chris has been the ‘crime doctor’ for many businesses over the years - not much he hasn’t seen and fixed! Great to have his expertise coming to us directly through his podcast interviews. Highly recommended!

  • Crime School Radio is a Winner!
    June 18, 2015 by Liquor License Advisor from United States

    As a security expert, Chris McGoey was and continues to be a trailblazer. First, his informative website and book. Now this convenient, cutting-edge and educational podcast. Chris has an uncanny knack for knowing just what the world needs. With this show, he delivers vital information on safety and security in plain language that everyone can benefit from.

  • Helpful Content for Retail and LEO
    May 21, 2015 by StandardOfTruth from United States

    Chris is an industry expert with real world experience. It is also refreshing to hear a security podcast with crystal clear audio and presented in a professional way.

  • Fantastic! Informative and relevant.
    May 13, 2015 by isntrocketscience from United States

    I have seen Chris McGoey several times as a security expert on TV so I was curious to hear his Crime School podcast. As expected the podcast provides valuable information for keeping us safe and useful ideas for everyday life. I plan to listen to every episode. Keep 'em coming Chris.

  • Home Security Safe Room
    May 13, 2015 by TimInArizona from United States

    Outstanding! Very thorough. I would like to see police departments link to this audio as part of their crime prevention education of their citizens.

  • Great show about crime and loss prevention
    May 12, 2015 by CrimeRx from United States

    A great resource for new and veteran crime prevention practitioners. I have subscribed so I won't miss and episode.

Chris E. McGoey CPP, CSP, ICPS, CAM
McGoey Security Consulting
Jonesborough, Tennessee
951-461-8950
Chris@CrimeDoctor.com

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