American Apartment Owners Association's (aaoa) Blog

With vacancies high, you may not get the chance to sift through a pile of qualified applicants to pick the cherry tenant.   That makes it even more important to spot the ones who are more likely to cause damage or leave you with unpaid rent to collect.    While there is no sure-fire formula for p...

Police Offer Crime Prevention Certificate Training for Property Managers, Landlords   When a tenant commits crimes on your property, it's a nightmare for you and for the entire neighborhood.  The Mesa, Arizona Police Department decided to do something about the number of crime reports generated f...

Boulder, Colorado is poised to pass a series of green regulations that place the onus on landlords to cut tenants' utility bills.  Dubbed "SmartRegs",  these provisions require upgrades to a rental property as a condition to renewing a rental license.  But while neighboring homeowners and even te...

Headache, nausea, fatigue — symptoms of the flu, right? Could be. Or, it may be something even deadlier. Carbon monoxide poisoning mimics the flu. Many victims crawl into bed, and fall asleep. Legislators in Baltimore announced today they are enacting rules requiring landlords to provide carbon m...

November 13, 2009 TWO SEPARATE AUCTION SITES: AUCTIONS in MONT ALTO, PA 17237 @ 10AM 3 DUPLEXES: EACH duplex has 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, kitchen, living room, dining room & all are within walking distance to Penn State Mont Alto Campus NEW TOWNHOUSE DUPLEX To be offered: Offered separately & as a who...

Some Landlords Choosing Surety Bonds Over Security Deposits: But Will It Work for You? by Bill Gray As with all of my articles, this one is from the perspective of a landlord collecting tenant debt. Remember, I am on the back end of the deal, looking at damaged rental units and unpaid rent. I wil...

So much for property rights.   A councilman in Prince George's County, Maryland has come up with a way to stick it to landlords, by making them responsible for law enforcement against their tenants.    The proposed law is part of the county's new crime reduction program.  Under the rules, landlor...

 Vacancy Numbers May Be 2.2 Times Worse Than Reported   On Wednesday, July 8, 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported that apartment vacancies had risen significantly, to a 22 year high.  This report used statistics furnished by independent research firm Reis, Inc.   But a different research compa...

Performing regular maintenance on your cooling and heating systems saves energy and extends the useful life of these expensive appliances.   Energy efficiency expert David Lowe offers these tips to keep your systems in top condition:  Outdoor condensing units (the part of the cooling systems wher...

Easter Bunny Tenant to Appear on Colbert?   You may remember our eviction story, Landlord Gives Easter Bunny the Boot.  When a tenant set up a display of Easter Bunny Peeps on her interior door, no one bothered her.  But, when she left it there for a couple weeks past Easter, the landlord became ...