Property Managers and Owners

How to Deal with Difficult Tenants and Their Complaints

DURATION: 60 MINUTES

Webinar Description

Common Tenant Problems and How to deal with them!

As a landlord or property manager, it might feel like your tenants are always complaining about something. Yes, you’re legally obligated to abide by certain tenant rights laws, but you still have the opportunity to resolve tenant complaints peacefully and diplomatically. To start, let’s cover what renters care about when it comes to their home or apartment. Along with the top-requested amenities renters want, they also don’t want to deal with the following:

Noisy Neighbors
Pests
Appliance/Maintenance Issues
Safety Concerns
Ask yourself if this is the type of person who raises unreasonable complaints all the time, or has this person historically been reasonable in his or her requests?
If the latter’s the case, you might want to try working with the person to solve the problem for the sake of maintaining the relationship.
One “unreasonable” request, if isolated, isn’t a big deal in the long run. But if this is part of a pattern of unreasonable complaints, you’ll want to find an alternative resolution.

Webinar Objectives

Terrible tenants can make your job as a landlord tough. Some of them pay rent late every month, while others are careless and damage your property. Most property owners face the hassle of dealing with difficult tenants at some point, and it is not easy.

Applicant screening is excellent for weeding out many tenants that may become an issue down the road. However, it does not account for changes in a tenant’s financial circumstances, emotional state, or personal situations. This webinar will review these common problem tenants so you can recognize them early and respond accordingly.

During this information-packed webinar, Industry expert Paul Flogstad will discuss the best practices on how to deal effectively with these tenants. Also, Paul will provide proactive steps that landlords can take to deal with them. Moreover, a number of strategies will be brought forth to ensure your success during the webinar.

Webinar Highlights:

During the webinar, Paul will cover the following types of tenants and how to work with them:

Late or partial-paying payers
Wrecking balls
Hosts to all
Whiners
Indulgent pet owners
A Bull in a China Shop
Day Late and A Dollar Short
How to Deal with Tenants Who Break the Law
How to Deal With Tenants Who Complain Constantly

There are a number of common tenant problems and we will discus solutions. These problems are:

Pest Problems
Roofing Issues
Broken Appliances
Security Deposit Issues
Violation of Rules
Past-Due Utilities
Purposeful Damage
Illegal Use of the Home
Eviction

Creating a Fair Housing Friendly Customer Experience with Your Maintenance Team

DURATION: 60 MINUTES

Webinar Description

The maintenance team typically has more interactions with residents - and prospects - daily than any other on-site staff – yet they typically receive the least fair housing training! When our maintenance professionals aren’t trained to effectively and appropriately answer the most common questions asked by those residents and prospects, they can easily get us into fair housing trouble simply by being helpful.

Whether it is a prospect asking about availability or a resident wondering why their new neighbor has a reserved parking space at the community when reserved parking spaces are not offered, knowing what can and cannot be said in response is critical to maintaining compliance while also interacting in a non-confrontational manner.

To ensure fair housing compliance, and a customer-friendly experience, it is essential that everyone on the maintenance team can respond to the most asked questions with a fair housing compliant answer, even if that answer is simply to direct the question to someone in the management office.!

In this session, our expert speaker will review the basics of fair housing compliance, the basics of effective communication and then examine the most common situations the service team encounters and offer appropriate responses.

Webinar Objectives:

The “post-COVID” era seems to be one of increased impatience, heightened intolerance and reliance of litigation to solve what previously were thought to me issues that didn’t require a law degree to sort out! In this environment, even well-intentioned comments can be misconstrued and in the extreme, taken to be discriminatory.

It is therefore essential that all team members who interact with the public be trained in the basics of communication and how fair housing compliance must inform their listening and speaking. Whether speaking to a resident in their apartment home or running into them in the grocery store after hours, we must remember that in the resident’s mind, we are always on the clock and must conduct ourselves in a professional, polite, and respectful manner.

Webinar Agenda:

Ensure awareness of current Fair Housing requirements and suggested strategies for effective compliance.
Learn how to effectively answer the most asked questions heard by maintenance professionals.
Understand special considerations required for the effective practice of fair housing by maintenance staff.

Webinar Highlights:

Review of basic fair housing compliance elements.
How being too helpful can backfire.
Effective communication protocols.
How to answer the questions like “Why can’t I do favors?”; “Why can’t I help residents with personal tasks?”; “Why can’t I do “side jobs” for residents?” and “Why does my neighbor have an animal on this no-pet community?”
Recognizing the distinction of accommodations and modifications vs special treatment.
A summary of best practices to support compliance.

"Two Persons Per Bedroom Is the Law" - and Other Fair Housing Compliance Myths!

DURATION: 60 MINUTES

Webinar Description

As we celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, let’s make certain that our compliance efforts are focused on what is really required as opposed to some widely accepted misconceptions of what fair housing compliance consists of.

Since the requirements of fair housing compliance change with the establishment of additional protected classes, court decisions and guidance issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), it is essential we know what is fact and what is fiction.

With the proliferation of social media sites, many unsuspecting multifamily professionals are posting questions and relying on answers posted by well-meaning individual who may not have the training, experience or knowledge to offer a factual response.

In addition, certain myths such as “Treat everyone the same”; “Two persons per bedroom will always be OK”; “Persons under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian” persist and continue to be the source of fair housing complaints and lawsuits.

This webinar will debunk those and other myths and will give participants some resources to be able to tell fact from fiction.

Webinar Objectives

This session will address the eight most common myths or misconceptions about fair housing compliance as well as provide participants with some resources that they can utilize to stay up to date with compliance requirements as well as test the veracity of fair housing compliance advice they may receive.

Webinar Highlights

What does national origin have to do with occupancy standards?
What can two animals do that one animal can’t?
Who can park in a handicap parking space?
What is a reliable source for disability verification?
Why can’t I refuse to lease to a convicted felon?
Why can’t I refuse to accept Section 8 vouchers?
Do I have to change the rental due date as an accommodation?
What age will serve as “Safe Harbor” under the FHA?
Where can I go to get the facts about fair housing compliance?

Who Should Attend?

Owners
Property managers
Maintenance staff
Housing authority staff
Developers
Property Owners
Management Executives
OnSite Team Members
Managers, Regionals
Leasing Consultants
training professionals
service managers
leasing professionals
compliance professionals.