Anti-crime program might reduce churn in rental units

Why did VantagePoint Properties LLC invest the time and money it took to become the first member of the Reno Police Department's Crime Free Multi-Housing Program?

"Our charter is to provide safe, clean affordable housing. We have a duty to the people who rent from us," says Dan Evans, director of business development for the Reno-based company.

"This is right in line with that."

Evans acknowledges, too, that VantagePoint believes that increased attention to a crime-free environment also may pay financial dividends in reduced churn of renters.

"Our residents feel a lot safer," he says. "We will retain the right kinds of people and deter the wrong kind of people."

The 18-unit Loomis Manor Apartment Complex managed by VantagePoint at 1045 Riverside Drive completed the police department program a few days ago with a residents' meeting where officers taught crime-prevention and reporting tips.

The key element in the program first developed in Mesa, Ariz., is an addendum to a standard lease in which a potential tenant is told he'll be evicted if criminal activity takes place in the apartment he plans to rent.

Often, building managers are uncertain whether they can evict tenants for criminal activity, said Fred Riglesberger, the Reno police crime prevention officer who worked with Loomis Manor. The lease agreement, however, gives landlords the confidence they need to boot criminals.

Not that they're likely to rent from an apartment complex in the program in the first place.

The combination of the lease addendum and an upfront promise by the apartment manager to run a background check sends renters with a criminal background looking elsewhere for housing.

If nothing else, Riglesberger said, property managers reduce the hassles of loud parties and other annoyances when they send bad elements elsewhere. (Along with crime, the addendum spells out a carefully defined list of inappropriate behaviors that also will lead to eviction.)

"It reduces police calls for service 80 percent," Riglesberger said. "Everyone wants patrols in their complexes, but it isn't going to happen. We train them to take care of their own."

Along with the crime-free lease addendum, the program relies on apartment owners and managers to invest in improving the physical safety of apartment complexes.

Evans said VantagePoint improved lighting in a parking lot at the rear of the Loomis Manor complex and strengthened security strike plates on door locks.

The police department follows up with an inspection of participating properties.

Loomis Manor, owned by Sandy Layne LLC, is one of six apartment complexes in Reno that signed on for the first round of the crime-free program.

Riglesberger said the police department hopes to widen participation when it sponsors an all-day workshop on August 16. That workshop will presented in conjunction with the Northern Nevada Apartment Association.

Evans said that VantagePoint expects to bring more of the properties it manages into the crime-free program in coming months.

Chip Evans, chief executive officer of VantagePoint, noted there is some irony in the fact that Loomis Manor, one of the classic apartment complexes in the Reno area, should be the first to participate in an innovative policing program.

The Art Deco apartments were designed by famed African-American architect Paul R. Williams who also designed the nearby Lear Theater building and constructed in the mid-1930s.