Athmar Park

Help for Problem Rental Properties

Jul 09, 2005

by Carol e Campbell

Is there a problem rental property on your block? You know the one we?’re talking about ... the neglected house with its current batch of ?‘iffy?’ tenants creating havoc at all hours and making the rest of the block miserable. Or, maybe the house is okay, but the tenants at the house are definitely always up to no good. Enough already, right?!

APNA thinks so, too. So, the Board has decided to see if we can help get the owners of these problem rental properties to manage their properties differently. Enter ?“The Landlord Project?”. We have printed one hundred copies of a 113-page Landlord Manual to give away to the owners of rental properties in Athmar Park. The manual is chock full of advice and forms designed to help property owners screen tenants properly in the first place, and it addresses gangs, graffiti, and criminal activity. AP residents who own rental property and who have examined the manual give it thumbs up!

HOW?’RE THEY GONNA DO THAT?

APNA volunteers are currently compiling a list of rental properties in the neighborhood. Our plan is to survey each block and identify the problem rentals. Then, we?’ll mail the owners a copy of the landlord manual, along with a really nice letter about how we?’d appreciate it if they would use this manual to better manage their rental property located in our neighborhood. We?’ll include our ?“Good Neighbor?” zoning insert and a current neighborhood newsletter.

Thanks to donations from Councilmembers Rodriguez and Linkhart, the DPD, and from APNA Board member Evette Valdez, we already have the landlord manuals printed. Now, we need the funding to print the letters and mail the manuals. We'd like enough funding to keep this as an on-going project so we can reprint and mail the manuals to the owners of problem rental properties as they are identified in the future.

Can you help?

At $3.95+ to mail each manual it looks as if we need to raise at least $500 for the first mailing. Please consider joining the neighborhood association and including a donation to help APNA get this great project ?“in the mail?” when you send in your membership form! We could also use volunteers to help with block surveys and mailings.

If you would like to help call Carol at 303-698-0161 or Rick at 303-922-5916.