Question Probed For Property Council

By Thor Kamban Biberman

San Diego Daily Transcript Staff Writer

How can you get a drug dealer out of your apartment complex?  It is almost never easy, and could prove extremely hazardous to your health if not handled with the utmost care.

The problems of how to spot drug trafficking and how to get drug dealers removed was the topic of a San Diego Apartment Association’s Property Council meeting in the La Jolla Marriott Hotel yesterday. 

Phil Bonham and Scott Silverman of the Management Alert Group and deputy city attorneys Joe Schilling and  Makini Callahan were the featured speakers.   Bonham and Silverman say they have learned a lot since they formed the Management Alert Group two years ago to help rid apartment complexes of drug dealers.  They don’t always like what they learn.  They have learned that crack cocaine, methamphetamine and heroine dealers are becoming much more sophisticated about the way they handle their activity. 

For one thing, Bonham and Schilling noted, they are beginning to choose apartment complexes with fewer than 15 units – complexes which may have a  comparatively weak management presence.   “A 10- or 15- unit complex in North Park area of Normal Heights is a typical profile, and we have recognized a correlation between the crime and dilapidated properties.  The dealers like a place where they can pay little rent and operate with a minimum of interference,” Schilling said.

Another thing Bonham and Silverman have learned is that traffickers will often have one member of a group operate as a shill at the outset of the rental process.  Once the unit has been rented, the dealers move in.

Bonham said whole families sometimes become involved in a trafficking operation.  “We’ve seen kids eight and 10 years old who had $10,000 and $15,000 in their pockets.  They carry two-way radios while they ride their bicycles and may have scanners with them so they can let the drug dealers know when the police are coming,” Bonham said.

Schilling said that many dealers apparently are part of gangs which offer two-for-one deals on whatever drug might be popular as a way of breaking into a neighborhood.

Since the best policy for removal of a drug dealer is to not allow him into the complex in the first place, Bonham said a solid prescreening process is of vital importance.   Bonham and Silverman themselves manage about 200 units in central, southeast and East San Diego,  and the first thing they want when interviewing a prospective renter is a current identification with a picture.   “At least that way you know who you’re renting to; so, if some mysterious people show up, you’ll   have a clue,” Bonham said.

Bonham also looks at TRW reports to see if any unlawful detainers show up.  If they appear, the renter will probably be told to search elsewhere.   Bonham said as many as 95 percent of those who are dealing and using drugs will be delinquent with their rent payments.

The managers will be aware of this, but may not do anything about the late rent for several reasons.  One reason could be negligence – a manager working in a less desirable part of town might be less inclined to lose his job.  Another reason might be due to fear.  The manager knows very well what is going on at the unit but is afraid to even mention that the rent payment is overdue  A manager also may in some way have a tie to the drug traffickers, and will therefore remain silent.

Bonham and Silverman have run into cases where property managers were paid handsomely to keep quiet.   It is for these reasons that once Bonham and Silverman are called upon to aid in the removal of the drug traffickers and the restoration of the complex to a profitable status, they will generally replace the management team.   

For property managers, Bonham and Silverman said there are many telltale signs that can be the tip-off indicating a major drug problem in a complex.   “If you see evidence that a door has been forced and a sign that says ‘Say No To Drugs,’ that’s a dead giveaway,” Silverman says.   Other signs may be wax on carpets, excessive trash and strange persons coming in and out at all hours.  Silverman said crack dealers generally like to sleep late and don’t usually start working until 4 p.m.  “It’s a different story with the meth guys; they are wired at 6 a.m.,” Silverman said.

City attorneys Callahan and Schilling said it is a good idea to provide police with a sequence of events and descriptions of the individuals involved when making a call about drug activity, but all emphasized that direct confrontation should be avoided at all costs.

One woman in the audience, who identified herself as a property manager, said she tries to keep a lookout for drug traffickers by making surprise visits to apartments in the guise of just saying hello.  Bonham said this tactic is a bad idea.  “We don’t surprise them anymore.  We tried that once; one guy in the doorway had an Uzi; the other had a shotgun.  I don’t advise this approach.  I don’t like holes in my shirt,” Bonham said.   Bonham said that any observations of tenants by either landlords or other tenants is risky because of possible reprisals.    “There was one guy who told a tenant that if he said anything about what he saw to the manager of the police that ‘We’re going to kill your kids,’ he added.

Sometimes managers and owners either are truly ignorant of the problem or think that they can handle it.  One owner of a 60-unit complex in southeast San Diego called on Bonham and Silverman because he thought that there might be a problem – but told them to go no further after they quoted the price for their service.  Charges vary, but Management Alert’s fees are generally based on a sliding scale based on occupancy and gross rent.  Silverman said for a 90 percent occupied complex, the fee might be 10 percent of the contract (as opposed to actual) rent. 

Silverman said that, whatever the cost was, something had to be done because the complex was going downhill quickly. “After we first saw the place we knew there was going to be a problem.  This place had an arson fire, five rapes and multiple stabbings, and the manager thought he had the situation under control,” he said.  “We were only called in after there was a murder.”

Silverman said the complex manager was quoting an occupancy rate of between 65 and 70 percent – but by the time they got rid of the drug dealers and “deadbeats” the occupancy was less than 40 percent.  Many families who had been living in the complex moved to other areas to escape the violence.   Bonham and Silverman  declined to reveal the exact location of the project because of what the publicity might do to their current marketing campaign and any future sales, but said the complex has been cleaned up and now has a 75 percent occupancy rate with all paying renters. 

Bonham said drug dealers often leave voluntarily when they are made aware that Management Alert is coming into a property.  In other cases, a simple 30-day eviction notice may suffice.  But, if there is a truth about enforcement, there are just too many cases of drug trafficking in apartments to come up with a solution.  "And the enemy is better armed and better financed than we are," Schilling said.  "Enforcement agencies are doing what they can, but the system is totally overloaded," Callahan said.

Silverman agreed.    “Sometimes it seems that nothing can be done until the bullets start flying,” Silverman said.  “And we are realistic enough to know that we don’t have the resources to solve the drug problem.  We would just like to move it to El Centro.”

Reprinted from

The San Diego Daily

Transcript