INC NEWS - Old West Durham Neighborhood Association: Recommended Property Management Criteria

[kjj1 at duke.edu]

Old West Durham Neighborhood Association: Apple Realty is first OWD 
Recommended Property Management Company

With an active neighborhood association committed to "diversity, harmony, 
community," a great location near Duke and Ninth Street, a large stock of 
starter homes, and a high volume of rental properties, Old West Durham is 
one of Durham's most desirable and welcoming neighborhoods for both 
homeowners and renters. Several of OWDNA's founding and current Board 
Members came to the neighborhood as renters, and OWDNA continues to value 
the contributions of renters to the neighborhood and the association. We 
want to preserve the charms that draw many to purchase and settle 
permanently in the neighborhood and to continue to be a pleasant and 
welcoming place for those who rent as well. We believe that renters have a 
right to live in safe, well-maintained properties that meet Durham housing 
code standards and that landlords and property managers are responsible for 
seeing that their properties meet those standards. They should also address 
problems with their properties or tenants that have a negative impact on 
the quality of life in our neighborhood (such as criminal behavior, failure 
to maintain yards, or excessive noise and disturbances).

The Board of Old West Durham Neighborhood Association (www.owdna.org) has 
developed criteria for identifying companies whose rental properties, 
policies, and practices contribute positively to quality of life in our 
neighborhood. The first company to meet these screening criteria is Apple 
Realty, the largest property manager in OWD with over 100 rental properties 
in our neighborhood. Because Apple Realty (www.applerealty.org) manages so 
many properties in Old West Durham, we are especially pleased that they are 
committed to playing a positive role in our neighborhood.

The screening criteria OWDNA is using to evaluate property managers include:

1. Tenant Screening: Clear and consistent tenant screening practices, 
including getting an application from all adult tenants and informing 
tenants about the city occupancy statutes.

2. Property Maintenance: Well maintained properties and lawns; responsive 
to tenant and neighborhood concerns about property maintenance and 
appearance.

3. "Quality of life" issues explicitly included in lease (eg. yard 
maintenance responsibilities, front-yard parking, barking dog, and noise 
ordinances).

4. Tenant Education and Services: Companies furnish tenants with 
information about basic city services, utilities, city occupancy ordinances 
and other city ordinances relevant to property maintenance and quality of 
life.

5. Willingness to work with Neighborhood Association liaison: Agree to 
provide a list of rental properties in the neighborhood to OWDNA liaison 
and to reply promptly when contacted by liaison.

6. Consistent enforcement of violations of rental agreements.

Other companies who, like Apple Realty, meet these screening criteria will 
be featured on a page (currently under construction) of the OWD Web site to 
be called "Recommended Property Management Companies," which we hope will 
serve as a guide for people looking to rent in Old West Durham and for 
owners looking for good rental property managers. The page will also 
identify those companies that did not respond to our inquiries or do not 
meet the screening criteria.

OWDNA began this initiative after board vice president Kelly Jarrett 
attended a city-sponsored Landlord Training workshop in April. The workshop 
presented techniques for screening tenants, writing rental agreements, and 
managing and landscaping properties to prevent crime and promote safety, 
especially in large apartment complexes. But it provided very little 
information specific to the small single-family homes and duplexes that 
make up the bulk of the rental property in Old West Durham and very few 
suggestions for how neighborhood residents and property managers/landlords 
might work together to address problems and build community.

So after the workshop, Kelly contacted Chris McKeel, owner of Apple Realty, 
and had a series of very productive and informative conversations about 
property management and neighborhood concerns. The time that Chris McKeel 
has spent discussing these issues with OWDNA representatives and his 
responsiveness to neighborhood concerns reveal that Apple Realty considers 
itself a part of our community.

Apple has been especially responsive to "quality of life" concerns-those 
problems with barking dogs, loud parties, front-yard parking and satellite 
dishes in the front yard, or trash bins left permanently at the curb-that 
may seem small but have cumulative, negative effects on a neighborhood. 
Apple has agreed to include a prohibition against front-yard parking and a 
requirement that trash bins be taken in from the curb following collection 
in their rental agreements. While these issues are covered by city 
ordinance, many renters are unaware of them, and we commend Apple for being 
willing to include them in their rental agreement.

Apple Realty also does an excellent job of tenant education. They have 
developed a Tenant Handbook about their rental policies and procedures, 
contacting utility companies, and city trash and recycling policies, which 
they provide to all tenants and can be downloaded from their website. To 
address neighborhood "quality of life" concerns, Apple has agreed to 
include information about city ordinances that address trash bins, noise, 
barking dogs, and parking regulations; OWDNA will provide them with the 
texts of the ordinances for the Tenant Handbook. Apple will also include 
information about the neighborhood association with their Old West Durham 
properties and links to OWDNA from the Apple Realty website.

Building on our cooperative relationship with Apple Realty, OWDNA is in the 
process of contacting other companies with rental properties in Old West 
Durham to identify those who meet the criteria above. And other 
neighborhood associations have expressed interest in developing a property 
manager screening process. It is our hope that the interests of renters, 
the concerns of neighborhood residents when there are problems with rental 
properties, and the investments of property managers and landlords will all 
be better served by a proactive approach based on mutual respect and a 
cooperative relationship, such as the one developing between Old West 
Durham and Apple Realty.