President, Management Alert Group, Ltd.,

Co-chairman Drug Abatement Task Force San Diego Apartment Association

And Scott Silverman

Vice - President, Management Alert Group, Ltd.,

Co-chairman Drug Abatement Task Force San Diego Apartment Association

A few months ago we gave you a fairly detailed look at a building in Southeast which went through foreclosure because of the drug and crime-related problems.  Lax management and an unsophisticated owner had created, or at least allowed to develop, a base for the drug dealers to do their business.  In this article, we will continue to explain the early warning signs of drug-related activity.

The only way to combat this problem is to begin to understand how it occurs, what to look for, and the steps necessary to deal with the gangs and violence.  Even the most sophisticated of owners and investors can be the target of drug dealers and gangs.

Recently, we were asked by a very knowledgeable owner to look at his property and give him an idea of ways to cure some minor problems.  After talking to the on-site manager, meeting with some residents, and walking the property, we realized there was a bigger problem that then owner had suspected.

In the two-week period before our visit to the property, there had been two stabbings, one rape and an arson-set fire in a unit.  Because of our experience with this type of activity, and because we knew some of the residents from previous apartments, we both felt the problem was mush more severe than the owner realized.   We have learned to sense the underlying attitude and feelings residents convey either by word or actions.  Because we work in areas which are prone to violence, our best defense is to know the general mood of the people we deal with.  Our gut reaction was that this building was in for some serious problems.

We conveyed our concerns to the owner, talked about solutions, and tried to get him to understand the severity of the problem.  His reaction, understandably, was that the building was not as bad as we thought it was.  We thanked him for his time and left, knowing full well that we would meet the owner again in the near future.

Two days later, one resident shot a visitor in the head and chest and killed him, then shot the other visitor in the stomach but did not kill him.  That same evening, another resident was arrested as a suspect in a bank robbery.  Needless to say, the owner called us back to talk about our managing the building.

Our very first day on the property, a rape occurred.  As we were talking to the eight policemen who responded to the call, we were asked – in a half-serious way – if we could paint the curb in front of the building red and have reserved parking for the police department since they were on the property so often.

Our first major change came with new managers.  We believed, rightly or wrongly, that most of the problem was due to the on-site manager.  How could so many bad residents get into the building any other way?  Since we have had our manager in there, the police have only been  on the property twice, both times for minor problems.

Another item was really consuming a lot of time and money for the owner.  Many of the residents were paying late rents, were in the process of eviction, or were just living in the units without regard to the owner’s rights  Our new on-site manager made it quite clear from the beginning that we were not going to tolerate this problem.  The first weekend, ten units were vacated when the residents were convinced we were serious about our program to clean up the building.  Four additional units had been served 3-day pay-or-quit notices, and of those four, one had filed an Arietta claim.  The claimant was a resident who had been evicted from another unit three weeks before.  With a little persuasion the residents in two of those units turned in their keys and left.  While they had “guests” in their units, those “guests” decided to leave.  But they moved into the remaining two units.

At the time this article was written, those last two units must have at least twenty people in them.  I suspect they are not going to get along with each other for very long since they are in one-bedroom apartments.  The point of this is that the previous manager allowed unauthorized people to take up residence and they began playing musical-apartments.  This type of thing is all too common.  You evict a resident and he moves in with another resident.  The second is served a notice and the first files a third-party claim.

The point of this story is that once you begin to have some problems with drugs and gangs, you must act forcefully and quickly.  As we have shown in earlier articles, the gangs are very adept at spotting those buildings which best suit their needs.  Whether it is the physical layout or the management policies, they will find those buildings which are best suited to drug dealing.  Once they have a foothold, they intimidate the good residents (who leave), often threaten the manager, and tell their friends to move into the building with them.  The end result is that the solution is much more costly than it would have been if you had taken care of the problem in the beginning.  While no owner likes eviction, the cost  in the beginning is minimal compared to the potential of seeing your equity disappear.

Getting Worse

From our standpoint, we believe the problem is getting worse and moving around San Diego.   As the Special Enforcement Division of SDPD cleans out our neighborhood, the activity moves to another.   Most of the drug dealers who left our building told the manager they were going to North County because it was easier to do drug deals there. 

Their thought is that the law enforcement in North County is not as good or well-equipped as SDPD.  It doesn’t matter to us if that is true or not, but it does matter to them.  They want to continue in their line of work, and they will go where they feel they have the best chance of success.  The same applies to your buildings.  If they feel they can do drug deals in your building they are going to do so.

Not just the Southeast

You shouldn’t think all this only happens in the Southeast.  The building we have described to you is in central San Diego.  Without a doubt, property management has changed in the last few years, and so have the methods for dealing with the problems.

To learn more, you should seriously consider joining Management Alert and  learning from the successes and failures of other owners.  Since we are all interested in providing shelter, and in retaining our equity, this is another tool we can use.   For information on Management Alert, you may contact the office at 558-6418.

Reprinted from

Rental Owner Magazine