Apartment Blog

By Erica Campbell & Gillian Luce

Social media is proving that free speech has extended its reach to new media platforms where conversations are being held between private individuals. Social media is all about people sharing opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives with each other through online media channels. So you would think that one should not be sued in court for simply sharing a thought online, right? Last week’s big Twitter story revolved around a pending libel suit brought by Horizon Realty Group, a Chicago real estate management company, against one of its former tenants, Amanda Bonnen, in Cook County Circuit Court. This case has received extensive publicity and touches on issues such as consumer protection, limits of libel, free speech, and strategic lawsuits against public participation.

Amanda Bonnen complained via Twitter to about 20 followers that her landlord was apparently allowing her to live in mold-infested filth: “Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks its okay.” The response from Horizon was a lawsuit! A short complaint filed in Cook County court last week accused Bonnen of libeling Horizon in 140 characters or less, and sought $50,000 in damages. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Horizon’s spokesperson responded to the situation with a quote, “We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization.”
Let’s take a look at some of the lessons we can learn from this:

• Consumers are the new media and they know it
• Embrace consumer criticism as opposed to overreacting
• Ask questions first, then maybe don’t sue at all
• Consult with your PR team or agency before the spokesman offers a statement
• Play nice in the sand box
• Use social media as a customer service tool and listen for product insights and feedback
• Build resident retention through sites such as Facebook and Twitter

As we’ve stated before in a recent blog post, Attention Property Managers: Customer Service is Still #1, companies should not fear the social media landscape. We understand that apartment communities are concerned about negative community reviews which could potentially give you a negative image or possibly deter prospective residents away. However, as advertisers we need to understand that consumers are talking about our brands on these social media platforms weather we like it or not. Did you know that according to a JC Williams Group study, 91% say consumer reviews are the #1 aid to buying decisions and Marketing Sherpa states that 87% trust a friend’s recommendation over critic’s review. Customer service is undoubtedly one of the most exciting, measurable and effective uses of social media.

Being involved on social media platforms will give you the capability to build relationships with consumers and will also give you a chance to talk to consumers about your brand. When negative comments are made about your community, instead of ignoring them or overacting, think about how you should to respond to them. Reach out to the individual and seek out more information about their complaint. Think of ways to resolve the issue and make them happy. There is no better way to get a consumer singing your praises then providing them with a positive customer service experience.

It was best stated by Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, “If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell six friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.” Don’t miss an opportunity to speak to 6,000+ people by not responding or responding improperly.

To best describe the impressions made on your community and how they impact your brand, it’s easiest to explain it as a circle. Certain key factors such as appearance; residents’ perception of the property; how residents talk about it and the way former residents talk about it are all impressions that impact your brand.

Let’s start with the first part of the circle, overall appearance. Appearance and landscape of your community impacts the prospective residents’ first impression. You can greatly influence how the outside is perceived using little finances, such as hanging plants by the leasing office, community center and laundry facility. Making sure the grass is green and the trees/bushes are trimmed. Continuous upkeep on your property’s exterior will help make prospective renters’ minds after your leasing office is closed.

The next part of the circle would be how residents perceive your community. After a prospective renter becomes a resident of the community, why should they continue to fancy the community they reside in? Offering programs such as health and wellness events, programs on the environment, family safety and financial planning are all ways you can make the property feel like home. These initiatives will also help the way current residents perceive the community which will help for the remaining portions of the circle.

Keeping current renters happy by providing great programs they would be interested in and providing stellar customer service will generate a sense of pride within residents for their community, which in turn will influence the way they talk about your property to their friends and family. As many marketers know, word of mouth if a very powerful tool. It can be used for good or evil, your choice! So long after the first impressions, make sure residents continue to view your community as the destination they hoped for. This piece of the circle is really crucial as it not only helps develop relationships with your current residents, but also helps your image to prospective renters too.

And finally, the last piece of the circle that loops the cycle around is the outcome of impressions. When it comes to renewal hopefully renters will decide to stay with your community. Or in the case when they must move on, former renters’ opinions of the community can either encourage or impede others to visit. If it encourages, which we hope based on efforts we’ve previously mentioned, then the impressions cycle can start all over again.

As you know, you only have one chance at first impressions. Once you make it appear that your community is where the prospective renter wants to live, or that your company is one they want to do business with, really drive that notion home with a positive renting experience. Doing so will bring it in full circle for your business with current and present customers.

There are a lot of different versions out there of how the Seven Deadly Sins apply to social media but here are some that For Rent Media Solutions has put together to assure that you are making the most of your social media marketing campaign.

1.      Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

We have all been there before and understand this one. When most companies enter the social media landscape they want to have a presence everywhere. In order to be effective both with time and resources, you need to have goals and a solid strategy to support them. It is not necessary to have an account on all of the social networking sites. Choose one or two platforms that best match your goals and target audience and get to know how they work. 

2.      Don’t Get Greedy

One of the main reasons businesses enter the realm of social media is to build relationships with consumers and increase their brand awareness; however this does not mean you need to solely promote it while you are on these sites. Follow the 80/20 rule. 80% of the content you are submitting, sharing, tagging and commenting on should not be yours. Don’t consistently link your content. Offer help to others that genuinely and directly benefits them, not you. Provide value to the conversation and become a trusted member of the community. Move people to engage your brand and be collaborative. You can only build a community by contributing and that contribution needs to provide value for the consumers. Only then will they begin to trust your brand.

3.      Don’t Lose Sight Over Quality vs. Quantity

Social media is about quality not quantity and it should not be looked at like a popularity contest. Having the highest number of followers and fans is not what it is all about. Take the time to build a targeted list even if it is smaller and takes longer. It is important to have followers that take action versus having thousands of followers/fans that will never convert. Social media is about building relationships, so you will also want to make sure that you can manage the relationships that you have.

4.      Don’t Try to Control It
Your relationships are your brand. Anyone can blog, tweet or Facebook message about a good or bad experience they had with your product and it can be seen by millions of people. Embrace the transparency of social media because people are talking about your communities whether you like it or not. We can all learn a lesson from the recent experience of a property management company that is suing a former resident for $50,000 over a tweet complaining about mold. Read more here: What the Horizon Realty Fail Can Teach You About Social Media. Within a few hours, Horizon    Realty became a “trending topic” on Twitter, which means that Horizon was one of the most talked about topics on Twitter. Although trending topics on Twitter tend to be short-lived, the reach and distribution of social media goes further than Twitter.

 If you try to control the message too much, you will lose control. Rather than be fearful of messages made about your brand, engage. Use it as an opportunity to display your customer service and you will win customers for life.

5.      Don’t Be Fake
As we’ve mentioned before, social media is very transparent.  Consumers will know if you’ve entered a space with the intention of only promoting your business and not engaging in conversation with them. This is a big mistake businesses are making. Your company needs to be honest and personable in the online space in order to build relationships, loyalty and trust. It’s ok to make a mistake, admit when you are wrong and move on. People want to do business with people NOT with companies so talk to them versus talking at them.

6.      Don’t Be Lazy
Not only do you need to be honest, but you need to be THERE! Don’t get in the mindset of “Set It and Forget It.” Your brand needs to be involved more than just once a week and response time  is critical. You have to write interesting content, you have to stay current, and you have to be willing to show up and put forth the effort. This is a relationship that needs continuous nurturing.  Setting up profiles on social media Web sites is easy. However, growing those profiles and keeping those profiles alive require time, dedication and resources.

7.      Don’t Be In Violation Of Fair Housing
Fair Housing laws are still applicable with social media. Generally, any postings online should be considered the same as email or text messages. This information is discoverable and can lead to liability. Posting photos of residents and employees? Get a model release and consider fair housing implications! Posting endorsements, testimonials and raves from your residents?  Get endorsement permission! Allowing unmonitored and uncontrolled posts?  Know how to respond to “bad press” about your community. Monitoring and controlling the posts?  Your liability increases - libel and fair housing issues.

Pick up any magazine within the multi-family housing industry or attend an educational conference, and it is likely you will find something about fair housing.  This issue is important to our industry for many reasons, including the dollar impact of not being in compliance with the fair housing laws. If you are charged with discrimination, the defense costs are high, not to mention perhaps having to pay to either settle the case or satisfy a judgment.  You have protected your business and yourself from the ramifications of a fire, a slip-and-fall, or the myriad of other events that create liability for you as a landlord.  But what about fair housing insurance coverage?  Do you have it?  Do you not have it?  Do you know?  Do you really need it?  Do you care (probably, since you are reading this article)?  Is there really any such thing? 

Yes, there is coverage available. But it is up to you to find it, evaluate it, and make good business decisions regarding your needs. This article won’t give you all the answers, and will most likely raise more questions for you, but it is a good starting point for you to dialogue with your insurance agent or carrier.  So, here goes…

The first step is to see if you have coverage:

1. Keep in mind that your General Liability and Directors & Officers policies will likely not provide you with fair housing protection.  Personal Liability policies may (or may not!) provide coverage, but Professional Liability will often do so.
2. Check the AM Best’s rating (FSR - Financial Strength Rating) for your carrier’s ability to meet its obligations to you as a policyholder.
3. Discuss whether the carrier is “admitted” or “non-admitted/unauthorized” in the state or states in which you have properties and do business.
4. Next, open up a discussion with your agent/carrier about “Discrimination Coverage” or “Tenant Discrimination Liability Insurance.” The term “fair housing insurance” is not generally used in the insurance industry.

Now, let’s say that your agent/carrier assures you that you have the coverage or that you will be able to buy it. You’re all set now, right?  No, not at all.  As a smart business person you need to know what it is that you have bought or will buy.  And what you think you “see” is not necessarily what you might actually “get.”  You need to know:

1. Are you covered for intentional acts of discrimination?
2. Are you covered for punitive damages? There have been fair housing cases with punitive damages in excess of a million dollars, and one non-landlord fair housing case with punitive damages awarded at one hundred million dollars (that’s $100,000,000 and not a typo!).
3. Are you covered for civil penalties, emotional distress, compensatory damages, legal fees and settlements?
4. There are so many people for whose acts you are responsible.  Are you covered for the issues created not just by your regular employees, but also part-time, temporary, and leased employees, as well as volunteers?  What about issues created by residents, or your contractors and vendors?
5. Are you only covered during the leasing/application process?  What about coverage as relates to residents during their tenancy with you?  (In fact, most complaints are filed by current residents for harassment, evictions, different terms and conditions of their leases, and denial of requests for disability accommodation.)
6. Are you covered for groundless or false claims?  Defending these can cost thousands of dollars!
7. Are you only covered for actual lawsuits?  What about formal complaints made to HUD?  What about an informal claim made to you?  Keep in mind that you likely have a responsibility to notify your carrier even when someone just mentions a fair housing issue to you.  What is the time frame for notification?  And what can it cost you for failure or delay in notification…you may invalidate the coverage entirely!
8. Are you covered for prior acts, those which may have occurred before your policy went into effect?
9. Can you choose your own attorney?  The answer is “not always” and this can be to your detriment.  Attorneys who are familiar with fair housing complaints, the various enforcing agencies and investigators, can often get a situation handled quickly and resolve it efficiently because of their expertise.  A carrier’s attorney may not be able to do that and can run up hours of legal fees while trying to learn about this specialized area of the law.
10. Will the carrier pay up front, as you accrue expenses, before the case concludes?  Keep in mind that fair housing cases (and their costs) can, and do, go on for years and years.  Your carrier may give you a “Reservation of Rights Letter” - they’ll pay you now, but if the event turns out to be non-insurable at its conclusion (perhaps for intentional discrimination), then you will be required to give the money back and pay your own judgment to boot!
11. Who controls a possible settlement; you or the carrier?  Most cases are settled, and few actually make it into an administrative or federal district courtroom.
12. Is there a “hammer clause” regarding settlement?  If you refuse to agree to a settlement offer and insist on going to court, but then lose more than you could have settled for, guess who pays the difference?  (Hint- if there is a hammer clause, it won’t be your carrier who pays.)
13. Will a settlement affect your tax credit properties?  If you are found to have discriminated, you bet. If you settle and thus “admit” liability or lose in a lawsuit, you stand a good chance of losing your tax credit status.

A fire can occur at your community, someone can slip and fall.  There could be wind damage, hail damage, a tragic drowning in your pool.  You have likely protected yourself from these possibilities with insurance.   But be sure that you have done what you can to also protect yourself from the wrongful denial of a reasonable modification or accommodation request; sexual harassment or harassment based on protected class status; eviction or differential treatment because of protected class status; saying the wrong thing; treating applicants differently; linguistically profiling on the telephone; having community rules that unreasonably target children; automatically evicting the mentally disabled; not allowing assistance animals in pet-free properties; failing to have accessible housing where required or failing to allow modifications for the disabled.  These are the most common bases for fair housing complaints.

Make smart business decisions.  You may be disinclined to pay the premiums for tenant discrimination insurance yet just a few hours work on a fair housing issue may result in legal fees that are as high as the premium for coverage would have been.  Know what you are buying. Hopefully the ideas shared above will help you evaluate that. And consider this closing message from this trio of authors…complying with fair housing law is the right thing to do and avoiding fair housing complaints in the first place is the best insurance of all. 

REQUIRED LANGUAGE FOR ALL REPRINTING OF THIS ARTICLE:  “Fair Housing Focus” is written by Nadeen Green, Senior Counsel with For Rent Media Solutions^TM, Anne Sadovsky, CSP, CAM, CAPS, RAM and DJ Ryan, Fair Housing Specialist, Kimball, Tirey & St. John, LLP.  The information contained in this article is not to be considered legal advice, and the authors and their companies strongly suggest that you consult with your own counsel as to any fair housing questions or problems you may have.

Mobile marketing is on the leading edge of making life easier for apartment renters on the go. Now, more than ever, marketers understand the need to integrate mobile into their multi-channel branding, customer acquisition and customer retention plans. Mobile marketing is most effective when your listings have a presence on mobile Web sites, mobile applications (i.e. iPhone® and GPhone applications), and through text messaging. Don’t limit your marketing potential! An effective mobile marketing strategy should start with a strong mobile Web site. Renters can view your listings any time, any place from the ForRent.com mobile site. In addition to receiving more than 845,000 pageviews in the last 90 days, the ForRent.com mobile site has also received more than 865,000 clicks. Be sure to reach renters through online video as well. More than 80.7% of mobile users coming to the ForRent.com mobile Web site can view video.

iPhone apps are popular; our app has been downloaded more than 40,000 times. One out of six ForRent.com mobile consumers utilize ForRent.com applications. However, the iPhone only captures 25% of the mobile phone market share. ¹   In addition, 16% of ForRent.com mobile users are using our apps and 83.7% are using our mobile Web site. Usage of mobile Web sites greatly outpaces usage of HTML sites on smartphones¹. The most popular apps are used for entertainment purposes, such as games. Apple® does not provide detailed metrics for application use. Find out the iTunes App Store Categories and the Top-Sellers here.

Over the past 90 days, more than 35,000 text messages have been sent to property managers regarding ForRent.com properties. For Rent Media Solutions^TM offers the ultimate Mobile Marketing Solution for your advertising needs by providing multiple ways for apartment seekers on the go to search for an apartment.

Find out which mobile devices and manufacturers apartment renters are using to find your listings on ForRent.com’s mobile Web site here.

ForRent.com mobile users view your listings on the mobile site through these cell phone manufacturers:

• Apple 48.3%
• RIM ( BlackBerry®) 20.5%
• T-Mobile® 8.6%
• Samsung 5.3%
• Palm 4.9
• LG 3.6
• Other 8.5%

* Apple mobile device usage increased 27.9% from June to July.

* RIM mobile device usage increased 81.7% from June to July.

* T-Mobile mobile device usage increased 80.25% from June to July. 

The following are the top mobile devices by the top three manufacturers ForRent.com mobile consumers are using to view your listings:

Apple

• Apple iPhone 38.9%
• Apple iPod® Touch 9.4%

RIM

• BlackBerry 8330 7.8%
• BlackBerry 8320 3.6%
• BlackBerry Storm 2.7%
• BlackBerry Pearl 1.2%

T-Mobile

• T-Mobile G1^TM 8.1%
• T-Mobile Dash 0.5%

The ForRent.com mobile site adjusts to the dimensions of our users’ screens, reformatting for easy viewing and use. Most consumers are viewing your listings on the following screen sizes:

• 320 x 480: 48.7% of mobile views
• 320 x 240: 17.4% of mobile views
• 480 x 320: 8.7% of mobile views
• 320 x 320: 4.3% of mobile views
• 240 x 260: 3.2% of mobile views
• Other: 17.6% of mobile views

ForRent.com mobile users view your listings through these cell phone operating systems:

• MacOS X: 48.3% 
• RIM: 20.7% 
• Unknown:16.5%
• Linux: 8.5%
• Windows: 5.9%
• Symbian: 0.1% 

Since July 2008 For Rent Media Solutions has created and sent out monthly newsletters to our clients and prospects. Our intention with doing these newsletters is to announce information about the multifamily industry and our products/services, connect with current, past and future clients and of course, generate leads.  We have seen great success with our efforts thus far and we are continuously raising the bar to do better. But we have one question for you…..is your company doing an e-newsletter?

Everyone knows the economy is tough and everyone, including your competitors, is thinking of innovative ways to reach new customers while maintaining relationships with existing customers.  An e-newsletter is a smart marketing move, and here’s why:

1. E-Newsletters are Good Sources of Information. Can you think of a better one on one way to market your company, products and services to a target rich audience? The benefit with e-newsletters is that you already have a distribution list composed of interested participants wanting to hear more about the industry and what you have to offer them.
2.  Helps You Connect Easier. With the constant workload on everyone’s plate, connecting with prospects or even clients on a regular basis is difficult. E-newsletters help you keep in touch with those prospects and clients on a scheduled time frame. They’ll be expecting your email with more industry news as well as details about a new product or service you are providing for them. It even helps create an incentive for them to contact you when they need to. An example would be if one of our clients read that ForRent.com has a new and improved IPhone Application and wants to know if their apartment property is listed. Inquiring more information about the post allows us to follow up and instill great customer service.
3. E-newsletters Help You Save. There isn’t a company I know that isn’t trying to cut back on expenses. E-newsletters help you save money in multiple ways. Using an electronic version that is emailed, you won’t need to hire a graphic designer for ads, you won’t need a printing company and you won’t pay shipping costs or buy vast amounts of paper. And because most e-newsletters are quick and easy to create, you can write your content, assemble the pieces together and send them out quicker. This allows your message to be sent out promptly and easily! This is especially beneficial should you be running a special promotion and you want to get word out.
4. Find Quantifiable Results. An E-Newsletter provides instant measurable results. As I mentioned earlier, because it’s being sent out to a list of interested participants it will also provide a higher response rate because it is being sent to a more receptive audience. That will also assist in the high delivery and open rate. You will benefit by having links inside the e-newsletter that are tracked so that you can see conversion rates from referring addresses.
5. Just Another Way to be on Their Minds. Your advertising plan probably includes print, online ads, billboards, front yard signs, etc. Your company is searching for ways to be in more places in front of your customer. Sending out e-newsletters is a reminder to current and prospective customers that you are there. You’ll keep coming back into the ‘lime light’ every month to provide them with great resources.

You may be hesitant to add yet another project on your shoulders, but remember sending e-newsletters is an effective and measurable marketing program. It will help in producing results for company during this challenging economy.