Nothing is more critical for a multi-family residential property than the safety of its tenants. That’s why finding an effective and comprehensive security system is paramount to both the tenants and owner.

However, every apartment complex and residential property is different and needs a solution that adapts to their layout, location and needs. When a multifamily property is considering security solutions, follow these three lines of defense:

1.) Protecting the Property

After-hours mischief

Residential neighborhoods, apartment complexes and townhomes can all attract after-hours mischief that may lead to the damage of an owner’s or HOA’s property, particularly in the summer months. If your multi-family residential property has a 24-hour gym, mailroom or pool, it’s important to keep those high-risk areas, as well as other common areas like parking, well-lit around the clock to deter late night vandalism. In addition to lighting, smart cameras coupled with artificial intelligence and live monitoring by highly trained agents will proactively deter unwanted mischief in these areas.

Monitor and stop loitering and trespassing

Trespassing and loitering aren’t dangerous in themselves but can lead to dangerous or destructive activity. Additionally, tenants want to feel safe when they are coming and going and having individuals lingering without purpose makes an area feel threatening. Curbing loitering and stopping trespassing will elevate tenants’ sense of security and likelihood of renewing their lease. Remote Guard puts a stop to ongoing loitering. When trespassers realize they will immediately be Voice Downed to every time, they give up continuously trespassing on your property and find somewhere else to congregate.

Stop piggybacking through gated entrances

Gates only serve their purpose when individuals follow the rules and unfortunately, they’re all-too-easy to bypass. By simply waiting for a tenant to enter, trespassers can follow behind to gain access to the community. Ensuring the gates are monitored at all times prevents piggybacking from occurring.

Property Defense with A.I. Technology

Edgeworth’s remote guarding provides 24/7 security that can be directly tailored to your residential property’s entrances and/or possible criminal hotspots. By using access control management and other smart tech with machine learning, Edgeworth actively stops trespassing and vandalism while it’s happening. The camera’s built-in artificial intelligence can distinguish between suspicious activity versus ordinary activity, as well as between human, vehicular or other disturbances —eliminating false alarms. If a suspicious individual breaches an area, Edgeworth is immediately alerted to the intrusion and activates Voice Down, where a live agent directly addresses the trespasser. Edgeworth’s Voice Downs have a 93% deterrent rate. In the rare occasion a Voice Down does not successfully deter unwanted activity, law enforcement is quickly dispatched to bring a swift conclusion to the incident.

2.) Protecting the People

Parking lot security

Parking lots are hot spots for drug dealing, car theft, robberies and even attacks or kidnapping. Because of the possible danger in parking lots, it’s important to have more than security cameras watching the area. Instead, opt for a more proactive solution for parking lot security to ensure the safety of tenants, as well as their assets, like Edgeworth’s Remote Guard.

Mail theft

Studies have shown that ecommerce sales have increased over 28% in the wake of COVID-19. This means higher value mail orders and unfortunately, criminals are catching on. To curb the era of the “Porch Pirate,” it’s more important than ever to ensure deliveries reach the tenants that ordered them by taking a proactive approach to mail security.

Protect families and their assets with New Remote Guarding Technology

Edgeworth protects not only a multi-family property owner’s assets, but those of their tenants as well. Using its machine learning, Edgeworth’s state of the art technology is immediately alerted to any dangerous or suspicious activity in parking lots or mailrooms so agents can handle the situation in real time. In the rare occasion the criminal isn’t deterred by Voice Down, Edgeworth maintains close relationships with all local police departments who are immediately alerted so suspects can be apprehended quickly. The result? 100% of non-compliant suspects have been apprehended to-date.

3.) Protecting against liability

Liability for false claims

Liability is something all multi-family residential properties must protect themselves against and even false claims could end up costing an owner big money. Ensuring video surveillance adequately covers the property is key for incident documentation. Having video review is a cost-effective solution to investigating claims that may have led to expensive lawsuits.

Liability for real incidents

In 2016, Bryan Perez was awarded $10.1 million in a landmark negligent security lawsuit. Perez was shot at his home in Miami after a home invasion, leaving him crippled. Subsequently, the court ruled that Perez’s landlords, the Carmel Lakes Property Owners Association, was liable due to negligent security measures. Because there were several known security incidents in the recent past and security was determined to be inadequate, Carmel Lakes was ruled to have not done their due diligence for the protection of its tenants. Beyond the sacred duty to keep tenants safe, the potential liability costs are just one additional reason to provide comprehensive security for residents.

Protect your property with state of the art surveillance equipment

Because remote guarding uses state of the art, high definition audio and visual cameras, incidents involving claims can be reviewed for evidence - stopping wrongful lawsuits in their tracks. Additionally, by choosing a comprehensive solution for security, crime can be stopped in real time, preventing robberies and subsequent negligent lawsuits like the one that resulted from the Carmel Lakes townhome community incident.

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Increase marketability

People, especially families, want to feel they are safe in their homes. By investing in a state of the art security solution, multi-family property owners can advertise A.I. security to the type of tenants they want the most – those that are looking for a safe, long-term rental they can make their home.

Less obtrusive and more reliable than patrols

While having security personal may seem like a good solution, there are notable drawbacks. Covering an entire multi-family property 24/7 is not only costly, but it is impossible for manned guards to completely surveil any property. Having drive-by patrols at all hours, every hour, takes a lot of manpower and is very obtrusive for tenants, who might feel like they are under constant surveillance or would just like to live on a quiet street. Additionally, with human surveillance comes human error. Security guards have been known to sleep on the job or make costly mistakes.

By adding smart technology to a robust security solution, tenants can know they are safe without the constant interruptions or personnel oversights.

A new age of security

Tenants want to feel safe where they live, and Edgeworth Security makes that happen. By investing in a comprehensive security solution, multi-family residential property owners can advertise that they have raised the bar for security on their properties, making them safe places to call a home or raise a family. Additionally, many property owners have reported that they have actually saved money from switching to Edgeworth from regularly manned security.