On the lookout for terrorist activity: guidance on suspicious incidents to report to law enforcement.

While there has been no major terrorist attack in the United States since September 11, the federal government has foiled several plans, and terrorists continue to strike around the world.

The government urges the real estate community, including owners and operators of apartments, condominiums, co-ops and other multifamily housing facilities, to remain vigilant and report "suspicious" and "malicious" activity to local law enforcement and federal counter-terrorism authorities.

The Real Estate Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC), an industry partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, developed specific reporting criteria for the real estate sector. The intent is to be practical and prudent, not paranoid, in monitoring activity in and around apartment communities.

Generally, apartment owners and managers should report suspicious activity to law enforcement when the cause is known or suspected to be of malicious origin, versus "traditional" criminal activity or mischief. Following is an overview of activity to watch for and report. A list of reporting criteria, including guidance on to whom to report suspicious activity, is available at www.reisac.org.

* Actual Terror or Bomb Threats: Single threats of terrorist attack, including bomb threats that result in a partial or total evacuation of a community, or multiple threats that are received within any 48-hour period, whether deemed credible or not, warrant reporting.

* Suspicious Behavior of Residents or Guests: This behavior includes rent or security deposit payments made in unusual forms, access limitations imposed (requested by residents) on owners or a lack of furniture in units.

* Suspicious Items Found in Residential Units or on the Property: Items include those found following the departure of residents, such as apparent bomb-making materials (e.g., liquid propane or other highly flammable liquids), chemicals or computer or mechanical parts.

* Apparent Intelligence Gathering: This includes surveillance or intelligence-gathering activities occurring either physically from within or from outside an apartment building, or security-related or security-sensitive questions, including requests for blueprints, from persons with no legitimate need for the information.

* Unauthorized Access: Watch for unauthorized and suspicious requests by supplier partners, guests, occupants or others for access to highly sensitive areas of a building or for the ongoing use of such areas; the discovery of unauthorized individuals behaving suspiciously in sensitive areas; or a suspicious change in supplier personnel with access to sensitive areas (e.g., management's cleaning service employees or an outside cleaning service's employees).

* Public Health and HVAC Incidents: Health incidents involving known or unknown environmental contamination, such as aerial spraying or atmospheric release via HVAC that could lead to, or causes, multiple illnesses or deaths or that cause an extensive area to be evacuated and isolated for a prolonged period of time; or actual or suspected attempts at delivering contamination through HVAC systems, including tampering with the systems.

* Suspicious Mail or Delivered Package Contamination.

* Extended Service Outages: Report suspicious and extended losses (for more than 24-hour periods) of water, electrical or telecommunications service.

* Suspected Arson.

RELATED ARTICLE: Get your preparedness tool kit.

More than 400 national, regional, state and local organizations, including NAA, have become National Preparedness Month 2006 coalition members and have made a commitment to a better-prepared America.

To assist coalition members in their activities, The Department of Homeland Security, has developed a National Preparedness Month Coalition Member Tool Kit. This tool kit is designed to help members and their organizations as they take part in this nationwide effort to increase public awareness about the importance of preparing for emergencies, including natural disasters and potential terrorist threats, and to encourage families to take action.

Access the National Preparedness Month 2006 Coalition Member Tool Kit at https://neimangroup.sharedwork.com/sr/QPjhkbVJkTNV2V31UPwZSbw5WP1ZyMwAjMx0Ta. This Web site links directly to a menu, including a word document version of the tool kit, as well as subfolders of supporting materials such as brochures. Web banner ads, posters and PowerPoint presentations.

To access the tool kit without using the link above, please follow these steps:

1. Go to https://neimangroup.sharedwork.com

2. Enter in the "e-mail address" box: npm

3. Enter in the "password" box: prepare

For a CD-ROM version of the tool kit, reply to [e-mail] with name, business name, mailing address and phone number.

Members with questions or who need additional assistance can contact Heather Blanchard at 202/282-8010 or [e-mail].

The National Apartment Association is a member of the Real Estate ISAC. For information on the organization and its efforts to help building owners and operators detect, protect and respond to terrorism-related issues, visit www.reisac.org or call NAA's Vice President of Government Affairs Barbara Vassallo at 703/518-6141 Ext. 106.