Apartment communities and their residents in Florida’s Orlando, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Osceola, and south Orange counties have reported being victimized by drop-box thieves in the last month. The scheme works like this. The thieves smear a sticky substance like glue on a coat hanger or similar object. They then reach through the slot into the drop box and fish out rent checks and money orders. Later, they use acetone to wash the ink away, write in a new name, and cash the money orders. Authorities note that personal checks are less likely to be tampered with because they are easier to trace and more difficult to alter. Apartment owners and managers say that surveillance video can be a deterrent, but such technology often proves inconclusive in identifying the perpetrators. So far, many of the victims have lived in moderate-income apartment communities where residents are required to pay by money order or do so because they have no checking account. Lori Trainer, a vice president at Concord Management, remarks, “These poor folks are working hard to pay their rent, and they certainly don’t deserve to be ripped off like that.” Concord has had thefts at four of its apartment communities.

Tiffany Yelverton from Creative Marketing has created a program geared to build better relationships with staff members.

Cost $25.00 includes lunch, materials and an opportunity to win prizes.

The Times Union main office is off Albany-Shaker Road in Colonie.

RSVP by: 3/25/13

Promoting reviews at your community can help ensure you’re giving prospective – and current – residents the information they need. But how can you do that without potentially hindering your chances of signing a lease? Join Apartments.com and Erin Jones, Leasing Manager at Lomax Properties, as she shares ways she promotes reviews at her property and the value it delivers.

We will cover:

Fun facts on the usage and helpfulness of reviews
The importance of promoting community reviews
Resources available to promote your property
Real life examples and success stories from promoting reviews
How you can implement promotional plans at your property

Don’t miss out! Click here to register for this free and powerful webinar today!

Register Today >

Apartments.com
Training Series Live

DATE
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Register and add to Outlook
TIME
Noon CST
PRESENTER
Erin Jones
Leasing Manager
Greenway of Fisher Park

Sarah GreenoughErin Jones started her career as leasing manager at Greenway at Fisher Park Apartments (a Lomax Property) in downtown Greensboro, NC. Within just one year in the multifamily housing industry, Erin quickly became a top performer and is excelling at reputation management. She is single-handedly managing and promoting reviews at her property, reaching out to current and prospective renters through email, flyers and website promotion. Since launching Community Reviews on Apartments.com in mid-November, she has generated at least 9 reviews, 14 helpful votes and 8 comments.

We recently released the findings of our annual What Renters Want moving survey. Throughout this survey, we learned a growing number of former homeowners are choosing to rent, employment relocation, cost savings and apartment size topped the list of reasons people are moving this year, and there was a significant increase in renters seeking out the trusted opinions of others during their apartment search through review websites and recommendations. Find out more about the results of the survey and view our infograph in this post from Tammy Kotula, PR and Promotions Manager. Read More

Today is your Lucky day! Multifamilypro is sending you some St. Patrick’s Day ideas to save you some time.

Send your residents on a Shamrock Hunt. I start this the week of St Patrick’s Day. There are so many fun things to do that I need to space out the FUN!!! You can find great supplies and inexpensive giveaways at Fun Express. After you find your favorite Shamrocks number them hide them. Place one Shamrock per day somewhere in the community. I use all the amenity areas and then provide clues for each place on our Facebook pages. Once all of the Shamrocks are found we hold a party and the residents can trade for different numbers (but they won’t know what they are trading for). Then it’s time to see who gets LUCKY!! They get to choose prizes from numbered bags that match the numbered Shamrocks. If you want something more engaging you can create your own Leprechaun hunt for prospects and clients by leaving a trail of clues they can follow on Facebook, Twitter, your blog or in a series of emails. Use engagement responses and posts as entries into a special drawing or feature a grand prize for the first to complete your contest and prizes for any runners up. To build excitement you might create your own game of this kind which ends in a special event at your community. You could also do this as a fund raising event for a local cause and invite the press.

Set a Leprechaun Trap by the front door. Here is a link to a really cute one. I think this is one of my favorite traditions.

Help Residents Avoid the “Pinch”

Create a sign with “Don’t get in a Pinch” and give your residents a green pin, necklace, beads or a hat on their way to work. They have to wear Green that day or risk being pinched! Again I use Fun Express which is the wholesale area of Oriental Trading.

Offer a Green Discount

The beauty of the Internet is you can post news quickly and take it down just as easily. If you advertise a discount on your community’s website today and then promote it immediately via social networking such as Twitter or Facebook you still have time to catch people’s attention. Come up with something that will attract search engines, since “St. Patrick’s Day” is always popular this time of year. One idea is to offer a “green” discount “- let your residents know that you’ll take five hundred dollars off their rent for each person they refer to the community and leases wearing green during the week of St. Patrick’s Day.

Play Up Your Greenness

The color green symbolizes St. Patrick’s Day as well as the environment. Combine those two for one promotion that casts attention on your community in a positive light. On your social pages mention your eco-conscious efforts. Perhaps you’ve swapped out light bulbs or chosen an environmentally friendly printer. Let your residents know they can be comfortable spending their hard-earned green with your community!

Know the Reason for the Season!

Hold a Lucky Trivia contest. Do a little research on the history of St. Patrick’s Day and then pass it on to your residents via your social media channels. Create a daily post with St. Patrick’s Day facts such as the origin of the shamrock and the pot of gold then you can have a contest with trivia questions to win various tickets or gift certificates.

Download free clip art. Four leaf clovers and “Shamrocks” symbolize luck. Shamrocks are not four leaf clovers. A Shamrock is a 3-leafed old white clover recognized as a symbol of Ireland. For free royalty Free St. Patrick’s Day Clipart to use click here.

Change your logo, social media avatars. Use imagery to reflect upcoming holidays; in this case, St. Patrick’s Day by changing colors to green or adding shamrocks or other St. Patrick’s Day imagery.

Share links to St. Patrick’s Day recipes and traditions. Suggest unusual, unique St. Patrick’s Day gifts. Make your own line of St. Patrick’s Day cards to be used in conjunction with your gift certificates.

List reasons why you feel “lucky”. Four leaf clovers are considered lucky. Use the clovers to tell residents why you feel lucky to have them and ask them to share why they feel lucky.

Hold lucky drawings. Create custom messages with quotes about luck and the occasional ‘instant winner’ for scratch off cards or fortune cookies. Reward random “lucky” residents (such as the 10th or 100th day of residency, etc.) with a gift card, branded mug, t-shirt or another branded item.

Leprechauns (those little guys that guard pots of gold which can be found at the end of the rainbow). A leprechaun is actually a type of fairy in Irish folklore that usually looks like an old man and who – in contrast to the happy helping way we usually view fairies – enjoys mischief, misdeeds and trickery. Despite that if you catch one you receive 3 wishes and if you follow one you might just be led to his pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Playing off this idea simply, you might decorate your community in shamrocks, leprechauns, four leaf clovers and green then, place a pot of gold (chocolate coins) in the office as a thank you treat for residents.

Use Irish blessings on your social media posts and emails.

The Wearin’ of the Green
Fill a fishbowl with shamrock-shaped cards that contain “luck”-oriented quotes, Irish blessings, special referral offers from your community and special offers from local businesses with which you cooperatively market, etc. When residents or prospects arrive and are wearing green during March have them pick a shamrock-shaped card out of a bowl. You can also publicize this on your social channels.

Pot of Gold
Fill a large glass container with inexpensive gold chocolate coins and hold a resident guessing “how many coins are in the bowl” contest during March. The winner should receive the container with the coins as well as a gift. It’s simple, just take a photo of the container and post it on your social channels and at the mail center. Fill small pots with gold coins and send one home with each prospect during their appointment.

Shamrock-Lucky Offers
Create shamrock-shaped cards with special offers and deliver them on your marketing calls for employees of local companies, employees of city offices, police, fire, employees of your local school district or local public and private schools, employees of local hospital, etc.

Shamrock-Shaped Coasters
Order Shamrock-shaped coasters featuring your community contact information and a special offer for use as bag stuffers and for placement at local bars, restaurants, wine shops and coffee shops.

I hope these ideas get you started planning some good, Green, St. Patrick’s Day fun for your community!

FEBRUARY 2013
Spotlight On webinars:
LIHTC and HUD
Disconnections
Feb. 26, 2–3:30 pm EST
Where do the differences lie between the LIHTC program and HUD programs when it comes to management functions? Join Jo Ikelheimer as she highlights the key disconnections between the two programs.
$95 (online) • More info
Register
Demystifying Monthly Financial Statements
March 26, 2–3:30 pm EST
Knowing how to quickly drill down and understand the meaning of the numbers in a monthly property-level financial statement is critical to good decision-making. This webinar will help you zero in on the numbers that matter.
$95 (online) • More info
Register
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HUD Announces Final Rule on Discriminatory Effects in Housing
By Mark S. Alper, RHM, VP Compliance
On Feb. 8, 2013, HUD announced its Final Rule on the implementation of the Fair Housing Act’s Discriminatory Effects Standard. The 83-page notice will become effective 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register, and has broad impact given the Fair Housing Act’s scope which includes not just HUD-assisted housing, but almost all housing in the United States—market rate, Section 42 Low Income Housing Tax Credit, mortgage financing/lending, condominiums, etc.
Special live webinar on final rule, Feb. 27 – learn more
The notice, which includes terms of legal art such as “disparate impact,” explains how HUD will make determinations in making cause findings of discrimination in violation of the Fair Housing Act. One of the more interesting aspects of the notice is its statement that housing providers may engage in practices that are “facially neutral,” and still be found to have engaged in discrimination. In layman’s terms, a housing provider can have a policy, practice or procedure that is not designed to discriminate, applies to everyone and has no intent of discrimination, and still be charged with violation of the Fair Housing Act.
Read the full text of this article online
EIV for LIHTC?
By Jo Ikelheimer, MPA, RHM
I joined a sizable group of industry professionals last month at the National Council of State Housing Agencies’ annual HFA Institute workshops for the LIHTC program. To kick things off, we received a program overview by industry officials representing states, syndicators, tax accountants, and housing policy organizations who were all pleased with the recent passage of H.R. 8 that gave the tax credit program a couple of small victories. (These were discussed in last month’s HMU article.) The buzz words from this session included deficit reduction and tax reform, which are of course hot topics among legislators in DC these days and have significant potential for impacting the housing credit program.
There were mixed reviews, however, as to if and when these initiatives will be implemented. In addition, increases in recapitalization of post year-15 projects, in shortages of soft funds for LIHTC financing, and in the number of high-cost projects were also discussed in detail by the panelists. On a final note, they issued a cautionary message for those in attendance to beware of the risk of negative press coverage for LIHTC similar to that which led to a considerable decrease in HOME funding, as well as the the continued risk to the program from tax reform. Industry participants were urged not to become complacent and lose their passion for spreading the message of the program’s successes.
So that was the macro perspective. Breakout sessions delved into the ‘micro’ issues of properly managing and maintaining compliance at LIHTC properties. One of the most illuminating session dealth with EIV and LIHTC.
EIV for LIHTC has been a hot topic since the mandatory implementation of HUD’s Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) System on January 30, 2010 and the subsequent disallowance for LIHTC owners of using the EIV data for verifications at properties that have blended HUD and LIHTC funding. According to HUD representative Benjamin Metcalf, who spoke on one of the compliance panels at the event, HUD is exploring an option for requiring tenants to sign a consent form allowing disclosure of the EIV data to state agencies as a condition of tenancy, which means that it could be used on the Tenant Income Certification (TIC) forms for purposes of recertification.
Read the full text of this article online

Anne Curcurrito from the Times Union will be conducting a semianr on “What’s trending in 2013″ and “How to spend those marketing dollars wisely”.

Lunch is compliments of The Times Union.

Location: Times Union Main Office Albany-shaker Road Colonie.

RSVP by: 2/25/13 to 518.456.0927