In the US a break-in happens every 13 seconds and the highest percentage of burglaries occur during the summer months. It's the middle of summer, so we decided to share with you some tips that might help protect your tenant, your rental and save some money along the way.
1. IT’S TIME FOR A CHANGE
When switching tenants make sure to do an inspection that looks at all the locks on windows, doors and other entrances into the home. Check door hinges and peep holes to ensure they are working properly. Replace locks on all exterior doors, so the tenant knows they are the only one with a key to their rental. Garage door locks should have the code changed for every tenant, so previous tenants don’t have the code on a new remote.
2. ANYONE HOME?
Keep your properties illuminated and noisy when out. Motion-activated LED floodlights on the corners of the house help in lighting up dark areas and are low cost to operate. Landscaping lights can be cheap and easy way to keep your yard lit up and help in making it look like your tenants are home when they are not. Talk to your tenants about leaving a radio and light on when they are gone as this will give the appearance that someone is home. There are even some great dog barking channels if your tenants have Sonos, so a dog is randomly barking through the night - hint: not too loud for the neighbors.
Related: Tenant Rights And Landlord Responsibilities: What Should You Do After Home Burglary
3. IT'S LIKE STEALING CANDY FROM A BABY...
Don’t make it easy and keep honest people honest. Talk to your tenants about locking their doors and windows. Your doors and windows are the first point of entry and the most obvious place to enter. In the event the someone does enter without permission it will most likely be through an open door or window. In fact, 30% of unwelcome visitors enter through a door or window of which was left unlocked. It seems simple, but hard in practice. Create a ritual for walking through the house to check all doors and windows before leaving and then it becomes second nature. In fact if you have kids and do this before leaving they eventually start reminding you - if you forget:) Also, don’t forget about the garage or back door.
4. RENTERS INSURANCE
Most tenants don’t know that in the event of a break in the tenant is not covered under the landlord's insurance policy. After such an event the tenant often feels the landlord cheated as they didn’t know they needed their own insurance. Tenant’s do require their own insurance and landlords can help by requiring it at their rental. Most renters insurance only runs between $10-15 month and can cover all of the tenants belongs inside the home in the event of a break-in, fire or more. At the least landlords should inform the tenant that they are not covered and need to get their own insurance.
We hope these tips will be helpful for you. If you know some more tips and tricks on how to keep your tenants safe, share in comments!
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