deseretnews.com | 'Good Landlord' programs = popular

Friday, May 5, 2006 =

=20

'Good Landlord' programs popular

Tenants happier; crime dropping in = participating=20 rentals

By = Ben=20 Winslow
Deseret Morning News

Felons need not = apply.
=20 That's the message being sent across the state by = some=20 landlords and police departments who are jumping on board = so-called "Good=20 Landlord" programs aimed at reducing crime in rental = properties.
=20 The programs, which can be found in cities across = the=20 Wasatch Front, allow landlords to attend training on how to spot = drugs,=20 make their properties safer and weed out troubled tenants. In = exchange,=20 they get deep discounts on business licensing fees and in some = cases,=20 increased patrols and free police reports on crimes within their=20 complexes.
Property managers say the = program has=20 led to a dramatic reduction in crime and tenants feel safer in = their=20 apartments.
"They absolutely love it," = said=20 Candice Taurone, community manager for Goldstone Place Apartments = in=20 Clearfield, "the ones that don't have criminal records. It gives = them a=20 sense of community and knowing that we are doing our job and = Clearfield=20 City has got our back."

Ogden = marked one year=20 of its Good Landlord program recently by announcing a drop in = crime in=20 apartment communities that participated. Since implementing the = program a=20 year ago, Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey said a 12 percent decline in = property and violent crimes has been documented.
= =20 To encourage participation, the city will waive 90 percent of its = business=20 licensing fees to landlords and apartment managers if they attend = an=20 eight-hour class put on by police and the Utah Apartment=20 Association.
"At first, landlords said = they hated=20 the idea, but it ended up being a good thing," Godfrey said. When = the=20 program was first introduced, the mayor said, landlords flooded = Ogden City=20 Council meetings to complain about government intrusion.
= =20 "They ended up learning a lot that they didn't know," he=20 said.
The programs between the cities are = similar.=20 Landlords agree to take steps to reduce crime in their apartment = complexes=20 by installing deadbolts, peepholes on doors, increased security = lighting,=20 numbers on doors and background checks on prospective tenants for = criminal=20 convictions. Convicted felons can be automatically = rejected.
=20 "You can discriminate against a criminal," said = Clearfield=20 Police detective Denise Colson. "They're not a protected = class."
=20 Colson calls Clearfield's Crime Free Multi-Housing = program=20 "extremely successful," noting an average 150-call drop in police = calls to=20 apartments over everything from noise complaints to violent = crimes. She=20 said out of the 65 apartment complexes in Clearfield, 35 are = members of=20 the program.
"The benefit they're seeing = is=20 they're getting better renters who are paying their rent on time," = Colson=20 said. "They're keeping them longer, they're taking care of the = property=20 better."

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com=20

World & = Nation=20 + Utah = + Sports + = Business = + Opinion + = Front Page =

=A9 2006 Deseret News Publishing Company =