Reasonable Care: What Property Managers Need to Know

Property managers overseeing multifamily properties have a legal obligation to exercise reasonable care. This means ensuring tenant safety and security throughout the multifamily property. By fulfilling these responsibilities with reasonable care, property managers can prevent potential legal disputes and foster positive tenant relationships. Here’s an overview of reasonable care and how property managers can remain compliant in their multifamily properties.

Multifamily property managers play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and well-being of residents. By upholding the legal standard of “reasonable care,” property managers can create a safe and welcoming community for tenants. This practice also helps safeguard them from potential legal issues.

In short, reasonable care means that property managers have a legal duty to keep their tenants safe from crime. You read that right: Property owners and managers can be held legally responsible for damages resulting from crimes committed on the premises.

Let’s explore what reasonable care means, and how smart property managers are using multifamily video monitoringA to secure their property.

FREE DOWNLOAD: The Ultimate Guide to Multi-Family Security for Property Managers & OwnersA

What is “reasonable care?”

Reasonable care is a legal standard that courts use to evaluate negligence and liability. It comes into play when someone gets injured on someone else’s property. (And that includes tenants on a multifamily property.)

According to the “reasonable care” standard, property owners must exercise the same degree of caution or concern for others that an ordinarily prudent, rational person would use in the same circumstances.

Put another way, tenants have a right to expect a reasonable amount of safety and security when they are on your property. The standard applies to everything from snow removal to crime prevention. 

Because of the reasonable care standard, you could be held liable for personal injuries if your tenants are assaulted or robbed, especially if the courts determine you didn’t do enough to prevent the crime.

When determining reasonable care, courts consider the following:

• Was the crime foreseeable?
• Was there a pattern of known criminal behavior around the complex?
• Did the landlord fail to implement or upgrade security after previous criminal incidents?
• Did the landlord delay or cancel security measures to save money?

Security measures (or lack thereof) can determine a property manager’s liability.Title

That’s because security measures are crucial in establishing whether a property manager took appropriate steps to protect their tenants.

Effective security measures might include installing surveillance cameras, adequate lighting, secure locks, and alarm systems. Hiring apartment security guardsA and conducting regular safety audits can also demonstrate a commitment to resident safety.

Neglecting these measures can not only raise the risk of incidents but also put you at a higher chance of being seen as negligent by the law. So, it’s clear that proactive security measures not only keep your residents safe — they also help shield you from potential legal troubles.

RELATED POST: 10 Tenant Safety Measures for Property ManagersA

A lack of reasonable care can have other impacts to your property’s ROI.Title

On top of the legal implicationsA, failure to practice reasonable care can harm your property in many other ways. These include:

• Loss of rental income. Everyone prefers to live in a safe area, and they appreciate living in a community that prioritizes their security. Multifamily homes with good security measures tend to attract and keep tenants more easily.
• Increased fines. If local police consider your property a threat to public safety, they may fine you.
• More evictions. High turnover can mean you end up with tenants who are struggling financially and may not be reliable with rent. This can create extra work for you and your team when finding new tenants and dealing with late payments.
• Increased maintenance costs. Frequent break-ins can result in the need to replace doors, lighting, and windows and fix many other types of damage.
• Lower property value. If crime goes unaddressed, it can lower property values. This makes it harder to sell your property.

→ Good to know: Security measures are especially critical if management does not live on premises. Research shows complexes with remote landlordsA tend to have more disturbances, assaults, and drugs compared to those with landlords living nearby or on-site.

What can property managers do to demonstrate reasonable care?Title

So you’re likely wondering: How much security do you need?

To answer the above question, let’s return to the definition of reasonable care. Ask yourself:

• What would a reasonable person do if they were in my situation?
• What would a reasonable person expect me to do?
• What would a reasonable person do to protect themselves?

Of course, the answers to those questions are nuanced, often depending on crime rates in your area. If your building is in a high-crime area, you’ll want stronger multifamily security solutionsA than you would need in a low-crime area.

At a bare minimum, you’ll want to:

• Add deadbolt locks to all unit doors.
• Make sure common areas, like parking lots and landings, are well-lit.
• Add window locks, especially for first-floor unitsA.
• Repair broken locks and windows.

To enhance your security and further fulfill your duty of reasonable care, you’ll want to take actions like:

• Installing glass break sensors
• Implementing access control measures to building entrances and common areas
• Hiring security guardsA and doormen
• Purchasing security camerasA

If you’re facing potential legal action, it’s always a good idea to talk to a lawyer about the legal standard of care. They can help clarify any specific requirements or responsibilities you might have based on local laws and regulations.

How can management improve multifamily property security (without sacrificing ROI?)Title

While the more common security measures are all great ways to demonstrate reasonable care, some have notable drawbacks.

Hiring security guardsA can be expensive — sometimes costing $100/hour per guard. Plus, security guards can’t be everywhere at once. If something happens on the far side of the property, it might take them a while to get there, especially if they don’t see it right away.

Unmonitored security cameras can capture a crime in progress, but they do relatively little to prevent crime before it happens. If you’re seeking a reliable security solution that can stop crime in its tracks, a monitored security camera system might be a great option for you.

Deep Sentinel provides a unique approach to video monitoring by pairing live surveillance by trained security professionals with advanced AI technology. By equipping human guards with innovative technology, our security solution offers the protection of round-the-clock surveillance at a fraction of the cost.

Here’s how it works: Our advanced multifamily security camerasA use AI to identify suspicious activity and escalate the feed to a live securityA team. Within seconds, a guard uses the system’s two-way audio to intervene. This is typically enough to scare criminals away before they’ve broken into a unit. The live guard can also notify local authorities, dramatically increasing the likelihood that the criminals will get caught before they’ve stolen goods or harmed your tenants.

Compared to after-hours security guards, a Deep Sentinel system is less costly but more effective. And it more than fulfills your important legal duties to tenants.

Take the first step toward total security by calling 833-692-2397.A