5 Things Landlords and Tenants Need to Know Before a Disaster Happens
The more units an apartment has the more of a risk it has for disaster. Fires and water damages are the two major causes of disasters. Fires can come in all sizes and most fires even though small can cause a lot of damage to the entire apartment structure. If the fire reaches the roof most of the time the entire roof has to be replaced along with other damages. The best thing to do is to be insured so you can file an insurance claim.
The professionals at the Local Records Office in Los Angeles, California created a list of what steps to take when disaster strikes your building.
Teachable Moment
Disaster will strike at one point or another, it’s not ‘if’ but ‘when’. Fires are not the only disasters that can happen to your apartment; there are also vandalism, water damage, theft, earthquakes, accidents, and everything in between. The most important thing to remember is to have insurance for the apartment so it can get repaired, one of the benefits of the disaster is that when repairing the apartment you can also upgrade it so you can get higher rents.
The Three P’s to Remember Are: People, Process, and Product
People: How do people relate to the three Ps? People will represent your property management team. These are the folks who help collect rent and other simple tasks that have to do with the apartment building.
Process: The process part comes in when people are in charge of day-to-day operations.
Products: The product is going to be represented by the property itself, which in this case is the apartment building.
The three P’s come in when the fire was occurring and how the people, process, and the product worked and how they also worked after everything was done.
When you have great people and a great property management team along with a day-to-day operation process that works and a great property in a nice area that’s the formula for success. If the people on your team decide to leave or move the rest of the process will cave in. It will not work properly and the same thing goes for the other two P’s.
What to do in Case of Fire
When a fire starts inside an apartment building you should get out as quickly as possible. If the fire is next to an exit you can climb out of the window or run out the backdoor. Call the fire department right away and make your neighbors aware of the problem as soon as possible. Never try to extinguish big fires on your own; some fires will become bigger with water.
What to do in Case of Vandalism
Vandalism comes in many ways; the action involves deliberate destruction or damage to public or private property. Vandalism includes:
- Property damage
- Graffiti
- Defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner
What to do in Case of Water Damage
Water damage comes in all forms sometimes it’s not visible to the naked eye because it happens in between the walls and or under the home’s flooring. Visible water damage is when water leaks and causes damage to property. Water damage will cause the wet area to become moldy and may cause serious health problems. Drywall isn’t tough enough to sustain water or any type of liquid and will easily damage and fall apart.
