Feature

by Chris M. Kelly

The war against terrorism appears to have a new front line—one that may have to be toed by rental property owners and managers. Many within the rental property community may be aware by now of the last May’s warning passed on by the Federal Bureau of Investigation: terrorists may be attempting to obtain rentals with the intention of placing and detonating explosives in the units.

In early May, the F.B.I. passed information along evidence to their Field Offices and Terrorism Task Force Partners that Al Qaeda leaders had talked about renting apartments and rigging them with explosives. “The information is uncorroborated and unspecific,” said F.B.I. Spokesperson Debbie Weierman. “There is no evidence that it went beyond the discussion phases.”

Though only a few weeks have passed since the F.B.I. alert, owners and managers of rental property have already taken precautions. In fact, the industry had taken action before the warning was issued, conducting thorough background and credit checks of all prospective tenants and establishing consistent policies on sublets. Adopting a more thorough screening policies could help weed out potential terrorists, but property managers and owners must also balance their vigilance with adherence to California’s fair housing guidelines regarding discrimination. Toward that end, the California Department of Fair Housing and Employment recently released a bulletin reiterating the department’s anti-discrimination guidelines.

In November, 2001, major property owners, local police and F.B.I. agents gathered in Sacramento for a summit on property and tenant security. According to Jennifer Strawn, vice president of communications at the California Apartment Association (CAA), the meeting was a primer for the Feds. “It turned out that the federal agencies were not well-versed in state and local law,” said Strawn. “For example, they didn’t know that they need either consent from a tenant or a warrant in order to gain access to a tenant’s file or residence.” Strawn went on to say that since the summit was held close to the height of the anthrax attacks and subsequent deaths, much of the time was spent on “package security.” Interest was expressed in a follow-up summit, but at this time, there are no plans for another one. Still, she felt the meeting had a lot of value. “We didn’t have all the answers, but we certainly asked the right questions.” According to local F.B.I. spokesperson, Andy Black, the threat is nothing new. “This is an old threat that was put out in Washington, DC a while back”, he said a few days after the May 16th announcement.

Chris McGoey, a security consultant with over 30 years of managing security for rental properties and related businesses, believes the security precautions practiced by landlords and devised prior to the recent terrorist attacks should be enough—as long as they are thoroughly pursued by an owner or manager. “A good manager will contact every previous landlord a prospective tenant has on their application, not just the most recent one,” said McGoey. “They will also confirm, independently, that previous landlords are just that, and not just friends of the prospective tenant. They will also look for any gaps in time—any period in which residence isn’t listed—and ask where the prospective tenant was.” The same goes for employment and credit checks he adds. Nonetheless, pitfalls remain he warns. Absentee landlords, inconsistent policies in allowing sublets (particularly in large properties), and property owners willing to take large sums of cash in lieu of background checks continue to be risk factors, McGoey warned.

A recent article in the Washington Post echoes what McGoey advises and takes it further by recommending that student tenants provide documentation from the college they are attending that states they are attending full time. The article goes on to say that some management companies fear that a tenant could sign up for one course and, though never attending it, still use his or her address to prove US residency.

The Los Angeles Police Department has recently issued specific guidelines to the F.B.I. threat advisory. Many of the guidelines detail keeping an eye on certain things tenants might do after moving in, such as changing locks on their rentals without approval, or claiming to operate non-zoned businesses such as jewelry, industrial art, chemical or metal work or electric repair.

Regardless of the different points of view property owners and managers may have on how to increase awareness of a potential terrorists, there appears to be agreement on one point: their jobs are harder than they were before September 11th. “There’s a balance to achieve—to make sure properties and tenants are safe, but that people’s rights under the Fair Housing Act are preserved,” says Michael Michaud, owner of Michaud & Associates, a local property management firm.

Christopher Polacci, senior vice president of residential services at the 3,500-unit Park Merced Properties, agrees: “Everyone is approved or denied on the same basis, and we plan to continue that. He adds that Park Merced posted the F.B.I.’s May 16th warning for current residents and has asked them to work with managers by reporting suspicious activities in or around the properties. “Residents have reacted positively to our outreach on this,” he said.

Jennifer Strawn of CAA has picked up the tension from managers and owners alike, “Everybody’s walking a fine line now,” says Strawn. “They’re caught between making sure the property and its tenants are secure, and providing fair housing to everybody.”

Editor’s Note: For more information on Homeland Security, please visit website.