It may be one of the most overlooked life skills among any demographic in society: how to maintain a home or navigate the landlord/tenant relationship. The reality of these seemingly simple tasks can hit hard for anyone experiencing them for the first time or without proper guidance. At Berrada Properties, we’re taking steps to help inform and develop these important skill sets among our tenants.
Our approach is to proactively work with tenants and empower them to become stronger neighbors and renters. The goal is to create a more stable living environment for all involved.
Ultimately, we believe such an approach can reduce the number of landlord/tenant conflicts and, in the case of last resort, evictions. It’s one piece to the puzzle of solving the challenge of a central city housing crisis affecting Milwaukee’s most vulnerable residents.
Berrada Properties manages nearly 10,000 rental units in Milwaukee, the vast majority of whom are responsible tenants, and many of whom want to work toward owning their own property one day. Others, though, have never lived in stable housing, and don’t fully understand how to maintain a property or be a good neighbor – in many cases through no fault of their own.
We work actively to hold evictions to a minimum. Of nearly 10,000 units, our average eviction rate is just 2.5 percent each month. The vast majority of those evictions are the result of delinquent payments despite an average of 3-4 months of mediation services to attempt to resolve.
We have discovered that, as property managers, we’re in a unique position to help our tenants build these skills, and we work to do so in the following ways:
- As part of the lease-signing process, we have started to require tenants to view a series of educational videos that covers several topics, including fire safety tips, how to be a good neighbor, preventative maintenance tips, security measures within apartment buildings, how and when to make rent payments, and communication with property managers. The goal of the videos is to provide information, set expectations, and help tenants understand how they can work with property management if they have questions or other issues arise. By providing tenants with educational resources, we hope to create a stronger foundation for renters, also decreasing the risk for damage and lowering maintenance calls.
- We’ve also created a payment center offering tenants the opportunity to pay rent swiftly and easily in person in the center or in the drive-through. Staff members are on site to answer billing or leasing questions or, as needed, to assist in creating payment plans to meet tenant budget challenges.
- We have a locally staffed call center to provide 24/7 access to tenant services, allowing for the swift resolution of inquiries or issues that arise within an apartment unit.
- This fall we are opening a Tenant Learning Center to serve as a hub for tenant- focused programming. It will be a place for new tenants to review, sign and ask questions about their leases, as well as to view the educational tenant videos and access financial and rental services available to them.
We know that landlords play a key role in the lives of many residents. We believe we have a unique opportunity to help our tenants, and to create a safe, clean environment for them. We believe that landlords play an important role in supporting tenants as good neighbors and renters, and providing them with access to affordable, quality housing, without which Milwaukee’s central-city housing crisis will only continue to get worse.
