How to be a socially responsible landlord

[Megan S.]

Hi BP community!

I'm just starting out in REI. I'm looking for thoughts or feedback for me on what it means to be "socially responsible" when it comes to REI and property management.

Anyone think I'm being naive? :)

I put together a list of best practices for socially responsible landlords. Here are the highlights:

1. Know the landlord-tenant laws in your city/state and follow them.

2. Inform yourself about organizations and programs in your community offering housing assistance to people who need it, even if you’re not providing “affordable housing.”

3. When posting a vacancy, be explicit about who is welcome to apply.

4. Post vacancies where people who may have a hard time finding housing will see them.

5. Keep your yard looking awesome (and landscape sustainably).

6. Meet your neighbors! And make sure they know how to get in touch with you if they need to.

7. Help your tenants get involved in their new community.

8. Consider setting policies that empower tenants, going above-and-beyond legal requirements.

Would love your thoughts! 

[Alex Craig]

@Megan S. Not naive at all, but you should be careful as some tenants will take advantage of over the top kindness. Been there, done that. Your ideas and thoughts are good and genuine. If all landlords thought this way, there would be less slumlords. I caution not to overthink the business. The most successful landlords are ones with long term tenants, which is accomplished by some of the things you listed.

Further thoughts below.

1.  Agree. Not knowing this can cost you big in the long run as some tenants could call building code. Any PM or landlord not following the laws will not be successful in the long run with tenant retention. 

2. Every city/state/county differs. We do not offer section 8 in Memphis anymore for several reason, namely the way the office operates and the amount of work needed to be done each year can be high to renew the program. Some programs can get cut too or are just temporary. We rented to a person who had been a victim of domestic abuse.  She moved in and had the first 4 months of her rent paid until she got on her feet.  She never made another payment after the  4 months. Sh  I have found the best tenants are the ones who qualify the best.  That is my Memphis opinion. In LIttle Rock, we utilize section 8 and it works great.  

3. Be careful here.  There are fair housing laws that come into play here. To be safe, I would leave this out and assume anyone is welcome to apply. Now if you have something like a handicap ramp, I would include that in your property description. I believe you can say Section 8 welcome, but if you do that, I am thinking you should probably include that in all your listings so that you could not be accused of segregating section 8 only to certain areas.

4. Never a bad idea. The more marketing the better. Last time I checked, something like 70% of our move in's found our property through online marketing.  Even our low income housing tenants have smart phones.  Be socially responsible, but don't ignore what works and that is online marketing. 

5. 100% agree when vacant.  I never understand why landlords do not spend $150 to lay some mulch and plant some bushes. When the place is occupied, most markets for single family homes require the tenant to do. MF, the landlord does. I have a few MF and always make sure the grounds look good as I want tenant retention. 

6. 100% agree here too. Give them your email or emergency phone # in case  they need to contact you. They can be your eyes and ears. 

7. I would create a flyer that list things they can get involved, but I wold not go beyond that. Keep the relationship professional. Always be nice, but you are not their friend, you are their landlord.  You may have to evict this person one day and do not want personal feelings getting in the way. You can be socially responsible without turning your for profit business into a charity. 

8. Not sure what you mean here. Can you elaborate? As a landlord, your responsibility here is to provide a nice place to live, maintain that place and be responsive to maintenance needs within the guidelines of your lease. In return, they pay the rent and get to say. That is the nature of the business and that is a Win-Win.  All a tenant wants is place to live that is maintained.  The response we get the most of why tenants left their last place is "bad PM/landlord." Second is dissatisfaction with the unit/found nicer place to live.  That is something like 60% of why people move. You can control those 2 reason why people move.