rental housing journal on-site september 2015

WWW.RENTALHOUSINGJOURNAL.COM

Advertise in Rental Housing Journal UtahCirculated to over 6,000 apartment owners, on-site and

maintenance personnel monthly.

Call 503-221-1260 for more information.

2. President’s Message

Ask the Attorney

3. Director’s Message

O� cial Publication of The Utah Apartment Association Utah’s Leading Advocate for the Rental Housing Industry – 888-244-0401 – WWW.UAAHQ.ORG

www.rentalhousingjournal.com • Professional Publishing, Inc

Rental Housing Journal Utah September 2015 - Vol. 7 Issue 9Pr

ofes

siona

l Pub

lishi

ng In

c.,

PO B

ox 6

244

Beav

erto

n, O

R 97

007

PRSR

T ST

DU

S Po

stag

eP

AI

DSo

und

Publ

ishin

g In

c98

204

EVENTS

Topics:Carpet, Pest Control and Inspections

Annual Meeting“Legal Seminar” ............................... Nov. 10th

Economic ForecastingConference Reveals

Strength of Rental Market

Sandy Utah – On September 15th, the UAA held its annual Economic Forecasting conference, in conjunction with IREM (the Institute of Real Estate Management). Speakers included Dr. James Wood, Director of the Bureau of Economic Research at the University of

Utah and Greg Ratliff , Principle Broker of ARA Realty Advisors Utah.

New ConstructionDr. Wood, an expert on the housing

market in Utah talked about the record breaking numbers of new apartment

units that have been built in Utah and specifi cally Salt Lake County in the last 5 years. “Still, he said – it’s not enough and we see the vacancy rate continuing to fall.” Woods says new apartments are fi lled as fast as they are built due to pent up demand, strong job growth which creates households, and our strong population growth. According to Wood there are approximately 5,000 units just completed or under construction right now with another 5,700 in the pipeline.

Homeownership RatesAnother factor in the quick absorp-

tion of new construction is that the

Top 5 Communities forOnline Reputation Released

Multifamily Executive Maga-zine has released the results from the Online Reputation

Assessment, powered by J. Turner re-search, which lists the top fi ve apart-ment communities in Utah for online reputation. Th ree of the top fi ve are managed by Utah based Management company Wasatch Premier Commu-nities. One Utah Property, Sky Harbor Apartments, was also a top 50 com-munity in the country, coming in 49th highest in the Nation.

The fi ve highest in Utah are:

• Four Seasons, Wasatch Premier Communities, Logan

• Devonshire Court, Wasatch Premier Communities, Logan

• Talavera at the Junction, Wasatch Premier Communities, Midvale

• Highland Pointe, Pentalon Manage-ment, Salt Lake City

• Sky Harbor Apartments, NALS, Salt Lake City

So, where are the happiest residents? According to the research, against a na-

tional average of 52, the highest score was found in Washington, D.C., where the district-wide average was 57. Th e lowest state-wide average was found in North Dakota with 41.

Jon Eichner Wins UAA

Member-Get-a-Member

Grand Prize

John Eichner, A UAA member since 2014, won the $1,000 Grand Prize in our Member-Get-a-Member contest.

Th e program, rewards members who re-fer a friend with a $25 UAA credit that can be used towards anything, and also gives the friend a $25 credit.

It’s been a very successful program,” says Gavin Gilbert, UAA Membership Coordinator. “Since we started in Janu-ary we have had nearly 100 new mem-bers referred by members,” he says.

According to Jon, “I actually had no idea I could win $1,000.” Jon says he is a recent investor in rental property, and

continued on page 4

continued on page 4

continued on page 6

5. A 10-Step Action Plan to Suppress Crime at Apartments

7. Dealing With Rental Deposits

UPCOMING EVENTSGeneral Membership MeetingsAll meetings 7PM - for addresses go towww.uaageneralmembershipmeetings.com

Ogden .......................................... Oct 27thOrem ............................................. Oct 28thSalt Lake City ............................ Oct 29th

2016 Slate of Candidates Each year the Apartment Association Nominating Committee, comprised of three past board chairs, presents a slate of candidates for the upcoming year’s board and executive committee. This year the nominating committee was comprised of Steve Randall, Gloria Froerer, and Kirk Cullimore. In addition Peter Harradine, the 2015 Vice Chair of the Board, was heavily involved.

As always, we are very excited about the quality of individuals who volunteer to serve on the UAA board and direct your association. The candidates will be ratified at the annual meeting on November 10th at 7:00 PM at the UAA Office. Below is the Slate of Candidates who have been nominated:

*UAA bylaws term limit board members to no more than two consecutive 2-year terms. However, members serving on the executive committee are exempt from term limits.

** The Associate Member Committee Chair is elected for a one year term.

In 2016 there will be 29 board members – 10 represent apartment management companies, 9 are vendors and 10 are independent owners or single family residential property managers.

Current 2015-2016 Terms

Carol Morris, Trition Investments

Cheri Goss, Mission Rock

Chris Williamson, The Sellers Group

DJ Bruhn, UTPMA

Gloria Froerer, Century 21/ Gage Froerer

Holly Sanford, Cowboy Properties

Jeremey Palmer, For Rent Media Solutions

Jeremy Shorts, Utah Eviction Law

Judi Morrell, United Bond

Kirk Cullimore, Law Offices of Kirk A. Cullimore

Leslie Carroll, Apartments.com

Lindsay Millet, Peak View Properties

Perry Bolyard, Real Property Mgmt.

Sheri Martin, Cornerstone

Troy Burnett, ManageCo

Wid Covey, Rentler

Associate Members Chair 2016 Chair

Kelly Hunsaker, FitLogistics**

Proposed 2016-2017 Terms

Brad Randall, Welch Randall

Courtney Schneider, Utah Disaster Kleenup

Danae Mollerup, TREO

Dawn Sandberg, Apartment Guide

Jayme Buhlman, Greystar*

Jean Smith, Staker Property Mgmt.*

Joe Berger, BMG

Matthew Ledingham, Ledingham Properties

Nikki Meadows, Action Property Mgmt

Pat Morse, Wasatch Premier Communities

Peter Harradine, Harman Property Mgmt.*

Robert Watson, WSI

Travis Baker, Alliance Residential

2016 Executive Committee

Past Chair: Cheri Goss, Mission Rock

2016 Chair: Peter Harradine, Harman Property Management

Vice Chair: Jayme Buhlman, Greystar

Treasurer: Matthew Ledingham, Ledingham Properties

Secretary: Jean Smith, Staker Properties Management

Legacy Member: Gloria Froerer, Century 21/ Gage Froerer

Government Kirk Cullimore, Law Offices of Kirk A. Affairs Chair: Cullimore

2 Rental Housing Journal Utah · September 2015

Utah Apartment Association

448 E Winchester St Ste. 460Salt Lake City, UT 84107

Ph: (801) 487-5619Fax: (801) 484-8649

www.uaahq.orgPresident’s Message

which supports, serves and protects apartment communities and their owners/managers.

Letter to Independent Rental Owners

Without you, the Utah Apartment Association would not be the successful and highly regarded association it is. So as a special thank you for supporting the UAA, we are going to give you the following GIFTS with your renewal. Th ese are in addition to the many regu-lar benefi ts of membership:

• Coupon for 5 free UAA carbon copy paper forms

• Free UAA t-shirt (pick-up only)

• A coupon for $10 off 2016 Educa-tional Conference and Trade Show (April 27th, 2016)

UAA’s guides and publication. Th is year, there are even more excit-

ing resources and tools included with membership:

• Updated Landlord Guide with each renewal

• Coupon for $10 off Lunch at the 2016 Educational Conference and Trade Show (April 28th, 2016)

• A coupon for $10 off any “Good Landlord Class”

• $75 off the 32 hour “Utah Profes-sional Rental Operator” designation program

• Admission to the 2016 Apartment All-stars (January, 2016)

• Monthly industry publications from the UAA and the National Apart-ment Association

We hope you that whether you have been a member for many years or are just learning about the UAA that you will support the organization

• $10 off any “Good Landlord Class”

• $75 off the 32 hour “Utah Profes-sional Rental Operator” designation program

• Free 30 minute private consultation with UAA staff (by appointment)

Soon, both the National Apartment Association and the Utah Apartment Association will be sending members a discount card that entitles them to substantial discounts with dozens of service providers and suppliers. As a UAA/NAA member you will be given “preferential” treatment and pricing to help you keep more of your hard earned money and be even more successful.

Letter to Apartment CommunitiesTh ere is no apartment association in

the country that provides more value and benefi t for apartment communi-ties than the Utah Apartment Associa-tion. In recent years the UAA has saved each apartment community thousands of dollars in fees and many hours in reduced government regulations. We have helped protect you from litigation and liability. We have limited the pow-ers and tools of cities to unreasonably regulate you. Apartment managers and their staff benefi t from hours of free UAA training, and can look up and reference laws and best practices in the

Ask the Attorney

By Jeremy ShortsEsq.

Cheri Goss,Board Chair, UtahApartment Association

Dear Attorney,

Q:I need to evict my tenant, but they

keep threatening bankruptcy.Should I start the eviction process?

A:Typically yes. If your tenant is try-

ing to work with you to get payments resolved, it may sometimes be benefi -cial to work with them to avoid dealing with an eviction and bankruptcy issue. However, most oft en a tenant will use this as a delay tactic to get you to hold off on going through the process. If you proceed and your tenant does fi le bank-ruptcy, it can delay the process and cost more time and money to get them out. Th e alternative, is to hold off on the eviction, which also benefi ts the tenant, to see if your tenant will follow through. Th e problem with that option is if your tenant does not follow through, you have already lost more time and may be dealing with the bankruptcy issue anyway. I would most always suggest moving forward with the eviction and calling the tenant’s bluff . If they fi le for bankruptcy, you have at least started the process and don’t run the risk of losing out on more time because you felt like you could trust the tenant. Th e tenant has not followed through before and I would bet on them not following through again. Our offi ce can help you navigate any bankruptcy issue that may arise.

Attorney Jeremy M. Shorts

3Rental Housing Journal Utah · September 2015

448 E Winchester St Ste. 460Salt Lake City, UT 84107Ph: (801) 487-5619Fax: (801) 484-8649www.uaahq.org

Utah Apartment Association

Director’s Message

One of the best things the UAA has going for our members is our exceptional staff .

RileeJo Stone is our Events Director. We re-cruited Rilee on an air-plane to Washington, D.C. Rilee was attending a conference for student

government. As the Vice President for student activities at Utah Valley Uni-versity, Rilee supervised a budget of $170,000 a year and planned 40 major activities. She also supervised dozens of student clubs. With that background, we realized she was a perfect fi t to be our event coordinator and supervise our committee process. In her fi rst year, Rilee increased revenue to our golf tournament, economic forecasting conference and reverse trade show by as much as 50%. She infuses fun into our committees and events. We are lucky to have her energy and people skills.

When she’s not working she loves the outdoors and is usually on a boat or wa-terskiing behind it.

James Sidwell is our communication coor-dinator. In addition to maintaining our data-base, website, supervising production of our rental

housing journal, James is the main con-tact for members who call and come in to get support. He spends hours a day reassuring members who are struggling with issues and helping coach them through their struggles. James has been with us for four years and is an expert in landlord laws and best practices. Many members have learned to ask for James, as his no nonsense approach to problems calms them down and helps them solve them. He is a pilot and air-plane junkie. Don’t try to come see him during the annual Wendover air races. Th at’s his signature spectator event.

Michelle Wood-Peckis our offi ce coordinator. Michelle enters payments and handles accounts re-ceivable. She is the fi rst contact for new members

and processes membership applications and renewals. Michelle is very creative at organizing the offi ce. If you ever

come in for a free uaa t-shirt you’ll fi nd whatever size shirt you get rolled up in a colored rubber band designating its size. Michelle always has a infectious smile and works hard to make sure ev-erything and everyone is in order. She makes sure UAA never runs out of any-thing important and makes sure the rest of the staff all knows what needs to be done next. She is a recent transplant from California and loves the moun-tains and her husband Mike.

Taylor Smith is the ed-ucation coordinator every student loves to have. Tay-lor has nearly completed his masters degree in his-tory and loves all forms

of training and education. He has been integral in designing UAA education curriculum and loves to be in front of a class teaching or designing a class. His enthusiasm is contagious and his di-verse experience and interest as well as knowledge always comes in handy. One of the few male education directors in the National Apartment Association, he is a master at presentation design and delivery and helps UAA exceed its education income every year. He loves to knit, backpack and travel. He has worked for UAA for three years.

Gavin Gilbert is our membership director and government aff airs assis-tant. Raised with an asso-ciation executive as a fa-ther, and interning for our

lobbyists at Capitol Hill before coming on board, Gavin is a natural at associ-ation operations and a people pleaser. If you think Gavin looks young it’s be-cause he is - yet wise beyond his years and quite an overachiever. He works full time for the association while also attending college full time. He is re-sponsible for membership growth and helps us with government aff airs. In his free time (does he really have any - yes because he rarely sleeps), Gavin loves to golf and talk to anyone he can.

All of our staff attend outside train-ing courses on business and association management from such entities as Fred Pryor and USAE (Utah Society of As-sociation Executives) as well as many hours a month training in Utah land-lord tenant issues and best practices.

We are lucky to have such a com-petent and helpful staff . If you need them, rest assured they will take good care of you.

L. Paul Smith, CAEExecutive Director,Utah ApartmentAssociation

UAA has excellent sta� to serve you

Foundation Repair & Concrete Lifting

Foundation Repair:• Foundation cracks?• Sheetrock and stucco cracks?• Sticky doors and windows?• Uneven molding?• Leaking foundation cracks?• Sloping floors?

Our foundation piers can fix and prevent

structure settlement

We have your permanent solution

We can lift sunken:• Sidewalks• Patios• Driveways • Garage floors• Porch steps• Basement floors

801-492-3503CALL NOW FOR FALL SPECIALS

www.LiftBest.com4

Rental Housing Journal Utah

Rental Housing Journal Utah · September 2015

while researching property manage-ment found the apartment association online and joined. He was so pleased with all the resources and tools he had access to that he told a friend. “One of my good friends is also a landlord and I thought he too could benefit as a member. I didn’t even know til after he signed up that we’d both get a $25 voucher and I was even more shocked when I found out I had won $1,000 just for helping a friend,” he says.

In addition to the vouchers and the grand prize, the UAA is having a “ap-preciation movie night” where every-one that has referred a new member this year get together for a sneak peek at as an yet unreleased movie. This year, we will be seeing Spectre, the new James Bond movie, on November 5th, before it officially opens.

“There’s still time to get tickets,” Gavin says. “Just refer someone to the UAA before tickets are all gone!”

John Eichner Wins...continued from page 1

US homeownership rate is at 63.5%, its lowest level since the Census bureau began seasonally adjusting the data in 1980. In the past year, the 1.2% drop in homeownership in the US created 1.4 million new renter household. Based on percentage of US population that would amount to almost 13,000 new renter households in Utah.

Renter DemographicsAccording to Ratliff, today’s renter is

a different from what we traditionally expected. Many are:

• Renters by choice

• Individuals seeking flexibility (ac-cording to Wood, 25% of Utah rent-ers live alone)

• They are shifting to city cores and like walkability and transit availabil-ity

• Desire convenience, security and amenities

• The term “pride of rentership” has become commonplace for those re-siding at well managed, well main-tained properties

• 43% are over age 45, a dramatic shift from the past

Wood agrees and offered even more statistics on renter house-holds:

• Avg. household size is 2.82 persons

• 53% of renter households are 1 and 2 person households, only 16% have 5 persons or more

• 60% are families, 40% nonfamily

• 82% white, 18% minority with a large share of minority renters being Hispanic. About one is six renters are Hispanic

• 19% of renters are seniors (55 +)

Expense TrendingMichael Fazio, Western Liaison for

the National Apartment Association, presented expense trending data for apartment communities. According to Fazio:

• Salaries/personnel costs were 10.4 % of expenses. In Utah, they averaged $1,208 per unit, slightly down from 2012

• Capital expenses were 8.5% of ex-penses. Utah’s come in at $971 per unit

• Maintenance costs have actually been going down and are only 3.5% of expenses. In Utah the per unit maintenance cost is $383, down from $498 two years ago

• Contract services (like carpet instal-lation and use of outside vendors) is 2.9% of expenses and have stayed flat in Utah for two years at $364 a unit

• Insurance costs are also falling. At 2.25 of expenses they fell from $212 in 2012 to $178 per unit last year.

Economic Forecasting ...continued from page 1

24 HOUR EMERGENCY SERVICE – 801-546-0522 • www.speirsplumbing.com

To celebrate 50 years in business, we are offering

discounts ... visit our website.

How much does the job pay?

How much should it pay?Be a part of the answer!

Take the Rental Housing Journal Salary Study survey today!

www.RHJsalary.com

How much does the job pay?

How much should it pay?Be a part of the answer!

Take the Rental Housing Journal Salary Study survey today!

www.RHJsalary.com



Call 503-221-1260 for more information.

S U R F A C E T E C H Redefining Resurfacing!

T u b s • C o u n t e r s • T i l e • S i n k s • C a b i n e t s

Don’t replace... REPAIR or RESURFACE!

SPOT REPAIRS: We can repair burns, chips or cracks in tubs (porcelain or fiber-glass), on your counter tops, or sinks.

CALL MAT TODAY! PH: (801) 676-5275 or Cell: (801) 915-3337 www.surfacetechutah.com • [email protected]

RESURFACING: We can resurface outdated or worn tubs, counter tops, tile, cabinets or sinks for 1/3 of the cost of replace-ment.

OR

5



A 10-Step Action Plan to Suppress Crime at Apartments

by Brent Sobol, originally published in the February 2010 issue of Units

Following is a 10-step plan for crime reduction in rental housing

1. Know who is living in your apart-ments. If they aren’t on the lease, politely ask them to leave; most of the time they oblige. Have a police officer assist you when informing the unauthorized occupant that they are criminally trespassing. This is known in the law enforcement are-na as a “knock and talk” and is very effective. This action step is essential because a large percentage of trou-blemakers are people who weren’t named on leases, but who were on the property when they decided to cause trouble. Walk 100 percent of your apartments at least twice a year, looking for unauthorized oc-cupants and criminal activity. A per-son should accompany the owner or manager when he or she does this, for safety reasons.

2. Determine which units troublemak-ers are visiting, and then swiftly evict those apartments. As long as a lease-holder allows troublemakers to visit his or her apartment, the root prob-lem will not go away. These trou-blemaking visitors rarely share the same respect for the lease agreement

as leaseholders. The lease should de-fine the number of days visitors are allowed to stay in an apartment be-fore they either must be added to the lease or are considered trespassers.

3. Don’t tolerate parents who don’t parent their kids. Teens today have easy access to hard drugs, weap-ons and other illegal and immoral temptations. Some parents today be-lieve that they aren’t responsible for watching and mentoring their kids. Some even think it’s the property manager’s job to be the parent. That’s

not how the law is written—way-ward parents must be evicted from their apartments if their kids cause too much trouble. It is not against Fair Housing regulations to evict parents who cannot or do not want to curb their children’s repeated, in-appropriate conduct.

4. Enforce community rules. Sim-ple rules such as “No Littering” for items such as cigarette butts, bottle caps, candy wrappers, etc., not stor-ing trash on balconies; not allowing unlicensed autos; not allowing ban-

danas (which could be gang identi-fiers); and not allowing residents to consume alcohol outside their apart-ment contribute to creating a re-spectful and obedient resident base. Well-behaved residents appreciate these rules while the unruly often ultimately choose to move out. En-forcing discipline daily and showing respect for the lease agreement pays huge quality-of-life dividends for the entire community.

5. Fix graffiti and vandalism on the same day they are discovered. Don’t let the troublemakers think they can win. By fixing vandalism promptly upon discovery, vandalism eventu-ally ceases. An effective remedy to chronic fence-cutting or fence- hop-ping is to apply gooey axle grease to the fence or to plant pointy Chinese Hollies at the cut-through points as a deterrent.

6. Befriend real estate neighbors. The chances are that the type of bad be-havior one community experiences carries over to neighboring proper-ties or businesses. Counter that by striking a cordial relationship with neighbors over lunch or hold peri-odic community meetings so that

continued on page 6

I would like: PRINT E-MAIL Editions: ARIZONA COLORADO PORTLAND OR

SALEM/EUGENE OR SEATTLE/TACOMA UTAH

NAME

ADDRESS

CITY STATE ZIP

VISA MASTER CARD

CARD NUMBER EXP. CVV

NAME ON CARD

BILLING ADDRESS

*Print subscriptions $25/year $15 each additional market E-mail subscriptions $15/year$8 each additional market

I am an: OWNER INVESTOR PROPERTY MANAGER VENDOR OTHER

Or mail a check to: Rental Housing Journal PO Box 30327Portland, OR 97294-3327



Call 503-221-1260 for more information

1/8 Page4 7/8” x 3 5/8” bwOn-Site4

ON-SITE-NW SEATTLEVALLEY, METRO, ARIZONA APT. NEWSSalsbury IndustriesFeb, Apr, Jun, Aug, Oct, Dec

1010 East 62nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90001-1598Phone: 1-800-624-5269 • Fax: 1-800-624-5299

1/8 Page4 7/8” x 3 5/8” bwOn-Site3a

ON-SITEVALLEY, METRO, ARIZONA APT. NEWSSalsbury Industries

Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov,

The Industry Leader in Quality

Order Factory Direct!Contact Us Today for a Free Catalog!

1010 East 62nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90001-1598Phone: 1-800-624-5269 • Fax: 1-800-624-5299

Octoberp September

pSalt Lake County’s Lead Safe Housing Program can add VALUE and SAFETY to your property

AT NO COST TO YOU!

Your property may qualify for repainting and possible window replacement

CALL CAROL AT 385-468-4892email: [email protected] http://saltlakecountyleadsafe.org

if your rental property is located in Salt Lake County was built before 1978

is rented to low/moderate income tenantshas at least one bedroom (no studios)

6



owners can bond. Use that time to talk about the shared issues so both parties can determine how to be vig-ilant in identifying and preventing crime. Also, consider splitting the cost for hiring security or off -duty police patrols or issuing multi-prop-erty “No Trespassing” warning signs. Th is requires writing simple letters of authority from the ownership that allows rule enforcers to issue crim-inal trespassing notices across mul-tiple parcels of real estate, and is al-lowable by law.

7. Work hand-in-hand with law en-forcement. Th e legal process is con-fusing because it jointly involves people’s homes and criminal behav-ior. Add to it that laws in locales dif-fer. Sometimes, what is legal does not seem right and what is right does not seem legal. Local prosecutors and members of police departments are good sources to use when develop-ing strategies to deal with the worst off enders for your locale. Th ey want to work with you to solve crimes. To do so, owners must be persistent in requesting assistance and must pro-vide specifi c details about circum-stances that are believed to have led to illegal activity. One way to doc-ument this activity is with a digital camera. When troublemakers no-tice that they have had their pictures taken, they usually won’t come back because they know evidence exists to implicate them in a crime. As vic-tims of criminal trespassing or loi-tering, owners have the right to take such pictures.

8. Review the lease agreement thor-oughly with leaseholders when they move-in. By doing so, it is much less likely that rule-breaking residents will make excuses to police offi cers and property managers, such as, “I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to move-in my unemployed, drug-ad-dicted, recently evicted, second cousin without my landlord’s per-mission.” Excellent property man-agers will ask that the leaseholders initial each paragraph of the lease at lease signing. Yes, this can be time

consuming, but it will convey the importance of following community rules in accordance with the lease.

9. Don’t allow “hanging out” at the community. Th is oft en leads to oth-er things, especially when teenagers are involved. Inform visitors that they always must be in a leasehold-er’s home during the visit and should not be loitering about the real estate. If you confront such an interloper, off er to safely accompany visitors to the leaseholder’s home. By doing so, many times they will choose in-stead to simply walk off the property because they weren’t there to visit a leaseholder in the fi rst place.

10. Hire off -duty police for occasional and random enforcement. Th ough the going rate for an off -duty po-lice offi cer can be as much as $50 an hour, this is a worthwhile investment for owners who experience chronic problems. Ask the captain at your local police precinct to recommend an offi cer who might be interested in an off -duty, extra job assignment. Screen off -duty police offi cers to de-termine their tendencies to make ar-rests because some offi cers prefer to simply talk to off enders rather than arrest them. Communities experi-encing tough crime activity require offi cers who are more likely to make arrests. Some avoid making arrests to avoid fi lling out the required pa-perwork that accompanies an arrest. Also note: Although security patrol offi cers who work with for-profi t companies have the ability to detain crime suspects, only an offi cer of the law can legally make an arrest and create a criminal charge. Security offi cers can be excellent at deterring crime, but oft en aren’t able to solve root crime causes.

Combating crime and promoting community safety is a passion of Brent Sobol, who operates 1,100 apartment units for TORO Properties; he was awarded the 2009 Citizen of the Year Award by the Atlanta Police Depart-ment for his commitment to crime prevention.

10 Step Plan to Surpress ...continued from page 5

Regionally, East coast states tended to be on the higher end of the scale with Midwest and Southwest states, includ-ing Utah and Colorado, on the lower end of the spectrum.

Wasatch Property ManagementWhat is the real secret to Wasatch’s

ongoing success? According to Pat Morse, Regional Manager of Wasatch, “Managing our online reputation has never been easier thanks to the help of Rent Dynamics.” Morse continues, “Th e Rent Dynamics Online Repu-tation Management platform has a unique blend of engaging the silent ma-jority of our residents and mediating resident concerns.” Rent Dynamics is a company that, among other things, helps communities manage their repu-tations.

Jarvis reinforced this by saying, “Our partnership with Rent Dynamics has been instrumental in our ongoing suc-cess. Wasatch has made it a priority to listen carefully to the voice of our res-idents allowing us to build a positive reputation both online and offl ine.”

NALSAccording to NALS District Manager

Julie Koch, “Online reviews are key to our marketing strategy, both to attract prospects and to retain current resi-dents. We use reviews to listen, engage, improve, and to promote. We consider them our “digital drive-by,” and have had many prospects mention their in-fl uence.”

Koch says the importance of asking for reviews has been ingrained in their leasing process for years, and they’re getting better and better about proac-tively responding online and off . She adds, ”Why? First, it’s free. Second, in just the past 6 months, the closing ra-tio for our Online Social Traffi c (Yelp, Facebook, etc.) was 50% higher than for our traditional marketing mix. Offl ine Personal Referrals still yield the highest closing ratio, but as online reviews con-tinue to gain momentum and review sites require more transparency from their reviewers, we expect this gap to narrow. “

Top 5 Communities ...continued from page 1

Toll Free: (800) 526-0955www.hainsworth.biz

HAINSWORTHLAUNDRY COMPANY

Increase Your Laundry Room Capacity by as much as 50%And Save Up To 50% on Utility Costs

Coin • CardRent • Lease

Life’s Good

7



Dealing with Rental DepositsBy Kirk. A Cullimore, Law offices of Kirk A. Cullimore

Your resident just vacated. You check the unit and no surprise, the unit is a mess. Fortunate-

ly, resident paid a security depos-it. Now what?

Whether your resident gave proper written notice at the end of the lease or skipped before the lease expired, your obligations as a landlord under Utah law on how you handle the security de-posit are the same. What then are those obligations?

Under Utah law, upon termination of a resident’s tenancy, you may ap-ply money held as a deposit “toward the payment of rent, damages to the premises beyond reasonable wear and tear, other costs and fees provided for in the contract, or cleaning of the unit.” (Utah Code § 57-17-3(1)) This means you can apply the resident’s security deposit towards any monies owed pursuant to the lease, including cleaning and damages. If your resident signed a Cleaning and Damages Ad-dendum (or something similar), any of the applicable charges can be deducted from the security deposit.

If your resident did not sign an ap-plicable Addendum, then charges for cleaning, carpet cleaning, painting, plus anything damaged that must be either repaired/replaced (all subject to normal wear and tear), can be deduct-ed from the security deposit. In cases where there is no applicable Addendum,

documentation, including receipts, in-voices, and pictures, is crucial. It is not uncommon for former residents to dis-pute charges for cleaning/damage; hav-ing documentation, especially pictures, only bolsters the likelihood of those charges being awarded if contested in court.

In addition to deducting amounts for cleaning/damages from the security de-posit, you can also include any future rent owed, subject to your obligation to mitigate damages. Look for a future article that will discuss in more detail mitigation and future rent.

After applying resident’s security de-posit towards monies owed, then what? Under Utah law, you then have an obli-gation to send to the resident a written accounting reflecting how you applied the security deposit. When must you provide this written accounting and where do you send it?

Utah law specifically requires that “no later than 30 days after the day on

which a renter vacates and returns pos-session of a rental property,” you “shall deliver to the renter at the renter’s last known address: (a) the balance of any deposit; (b) the balance of any prepaid rent; and (c) if the owner or owner’s agent made any deductions from the deposit or prepaid rent, a written notice that itemizes and explains the reason for each deduction.” (Utah Code § 57-17-3(2))

What if you fail to deliver the written accounting within 30 days of your rent-er vacating and returning possession of the unit back to you? If that were to happen, all is not lost, as Utah law then shifts obligations upon the renter.

The renter may then serve you written notice. The renter’s written notice must substantially comply with the form pro-vided in the applicable statute and must be served in the same manner as you are required to serve eviction notices, i.e. either (1) personally to the owner/owner’s agent at the address provided in

the lease agreement; (2) leaving a copy with a person of reasonable age and discretion if owner/owner’s agent is ab-sent at the address provided in the lease agreement; (3) if no one can be found at the address provided in the lease agree-ment, affixing a copy in a conspicuous place at the address provided in the lease agreement; or (4) sending a copy through registered/certified mail to the owner/owner’s agent at the address pro-vided in the lease agreement. (See Utah Code § 57-17-3(4))

If the tenant’s written notice complies with the law and is properly served, you must provide the written accounting within five (5) business days of ser-vice. Otherwise, if you fail to do so, the former tenant can initiate litiga-tion where your failure to comply with former resident’s written notice would require you to refund the entire securi-ty deposit, a penalty of $100.00, as well as the possibility of being responsible for resident’s court costs and attorney fees. (See Utah Code § 57-17-3(3)(b))

Best practice is obviously to send the written accounting sooner than lat-er. However, should that not happen within 30 days, get it done as soon as you can, as there is no real concern un-less or until resident properly serves you the required written notice by law.

To contact the law offices of Kirk A Cullimore go to www.cullimore.net or call 801-571-4477

LOWER MAINTENANCE COSTS AND LESS TENANT TURNOVER. GO SMOKE-FREE.

www.tobaccofreeutah.org/muh-intro.html

8



rental housing journal on-site september 2015

Documents