Texas Apartment Association Crime Awareness Guide

A claim of inadequate security or negligent security at an apartment property is very common. The Texas Apartment Association (TAA) offers a Texas Crime Awareness Guide (link is at the bottom of the page) that can assist any property owner or manager develop crime prevention programs.

Apartment security is a very difficult topic for managers. The phrase: “We don’t provide security” is, in my opinion, very misunderstood and does not play well in court. Of course you don’t provide security, that is, if the definition of security is one that even infers a high level of personal safety. Even the president is not guaranteed that. However, if violent crime is occurring on your property and in the area then doing nothing is a different definition.

Tenants should be provided reasonable security. What a court may deem as “reasonable” is really a question of how the property addressed criminal activity over time. That is a pretty broad brush because the options within that are plentiful.  The best crime awareness (and it’s free) is to advise tenants of crime, especially violent crime. This information allows the residents to be very aware of their surroundings in a way they may have done in the past.

Read the Texas Apartment Association’s Crime Awareness Guide!  It’s full of great ideas.