During the past eighteen months, Management Alert has been holding meetings and discussing the drug and crime-related problems in rental units.     We have noticed a common thread which seems to connect owners, residents, police, managers, the Housing Commission, and others.  The common thread is frustration – a sense of insecurity and dissatisfaction caused by unresolved problems.

The Owners

How many times have you discovered and evicted a resident involved in drug activities, only to find that the problem is now located in another unit and caused by another resident?  A normal person would expect that the remaining residents would be deterred by the risk of being evicted or even arrested.  But drug dealers are not normal persons.

Owners get frustrated when this pattern of activity keeps repeating itself.  A few months ago, we met a landlord who claimed to have interviewed more than 150 applicants for his vacant unit, rejecting them all for one reason or another.  We think this man had gone past frustration and entered the twilight zone, looking for the perfect resident.

For policemen, frustration has a whole different dimension.  When we see an officer arrest a drug dealer, taking him downtown to be booked for the illegal activity, we get a false sense of security.  This security is fleeting, since the same individual may be back on the street in 12 hours.  The police officer has barely had time to write up the report when the individual is back in business.

The police also get frustrated when they continue to respond to calls at the same address.  Last month’s article pointed out that the police were at least half-serious, asking for reserved parking in front of a particular building because they were there so often.  Could you imagine working at a job where you actually put your life on the line every day, arresting the same individuals over and over, but not being able to cure the underlying problem?

Remarkably, in all our dealings with the San Diego Police Department – and especially with the WE-CAN detail – we have found these officers to be extremely dedicated and more than willing to provide the necessary support to help eliminate the drug problem.  San Diego is fortunate to have policemen such as Capt. Jerry Sanders of the Southeast Division, Lt. Bill Becker, and Sgt. Ed Newberry.  Without their input, assistance and support, our job as property managers would be almost impossible.

The Residents

What about the resident who wants to live in a nice apartment, who somehow manages to make ends meet, but then finds out that drug-related activities are taking place in the building?  Anybody would have a hard time living with those conditions.  Yet the future of your investment depends on keeping the honest residents while weeding out the criminals.

The Managers

What about those managers who do their best to screen the residents, and who really care about the buildings you have entrusted to them?  Some of the managers we hire seem to burn out from the frustration and disappointment of not being able to get rid of the troublemakers.  Quite a few of them are threatened with harm along the way.  How many times would you go to work after being threatened?

The Legislators

Many legislators are also feeling this frustration. [Editor’s note:  See the “Sacramento Report” in the July Rental Owner for the drug abatement bills currently being considered by our state officials.]  Certain elected officials are proposing to fine landlords up to $500,000 for allowing controlled substance activity (drug trade) on their property.  While a few owners might deserve fines for their negligent attitudes, such proposals miss the point.  We believe that those criminals actually involved in the drug activity should bear the heaviest penalties.  Certainly the victims of the crime should not be punished by the government.

The Real Problem

Why is the problem so frustratingly difficult to confine and eliminate?  It’s money – immense amounts of it.  Recently, two men were arrested in Los Angeles and charged with laundering $17 million per week in drug profits from Los Angeles through banks in Miami and Panama.  Do you suppose theirs was the only money-laundering scheme around?  Don’t you suppose there are others laundering similar amounts of cash?

The Only Cure

Once you understand just how much money is involved here, you quickly realize how high the stakes are.

There is only one cure: you must take precautions to watch for symptoms of drug activities, and be persistent in getting (and keeping) drug dealers out of your rental units.  Otherwise the criminals will come to have a greater economic interest in your building than you do.  They can make substantial amounts of tax-free money, while you pay the entire overhead cost of their headquarters building.

Once they’ve gained a profitable foothold, the criminals will do virtually anything to keep operating from your property.  We constantly have to repair fences, evict residents who deal drugs, and hire managers who can perform their jobs to our satisfaction without getting the gangs mad at them.  These are difficult tasks under the circumstance.

Hope for the Future

We believe we can make a difference on our properties and create that kind of environment which is not conducive to drug dealing and violence.  We also believe we can find enough residents to live in our properties who feel the same way and will support what we do.  We get frustrated, too.  But we keep trying our best, and I know our residents appreciate it.

The frustrating reality is that we can’t ignore the problems and expect to be immune from the results.  By choosing to remain ignorant, a property owner or manager actually increases the chances that his residents will either be dealers, users, or victims  of burglary or robbery.  Stay alert for the early warning signs, and pray for the courage to act.

Reprinted from

Rental Owner Magazine