Security alarms. (Service Spotlight).

Luckily, finding the perfect system for your property is simple.

Think a security guard is enough to protect your residents from crime on your property?

See you in court.

First of all, using the term "security guard" or implying that a guard is present to protect residents is a big liability risk--property owners have been successfully sued for doing just that. And secondly, both criminals and residents know that a guard is hardly enough to protect a rental housing community from burglary, auto theft or worse.

Apartment communities can be inherently difficult to guard against crime. Because there are so many people living in a single building and because residents tend to be transient, many apartment residents don't know their neighbors, and it's virtually impossible for staff to recognize every face on the property. Access gates aside, it's easy for a stranger to slip onto a property and empty apartments of their valuables, hotwire cars in the parking lot or worse.

That's why having additional deterrent features--don't you dare call them security alarms--is so important. With crime on the rise across the U.S., residents are demanding increasingly sophisticated systems to protect themselves and their belongings, and criminals quickly find out which properties do and don't have them.

Luckily, finding the perfect system for your property is simple.

Market Demands

For several years now, apartment living has been a growing trend among people who could, or used to, own single-family homes. They like the convenience of renting, and they enjoy increasingly upscale services that once were exclusive to resorts or fancy hotels. As these amenities become mainstream, particularly on A+ properties, residents continue to look for more. And that includes monitored alarm systems.

"A+ properties are being leased by people who owned single-family homes," says Steve Williams, President of Network Multifamily. "They want things that are common to those homes." That includes individually monitored alarm systems, he says.

Charlie Warren, of Brink's Home Security Inc., agrees. "We're seeing a greater saturation in the single-family market," he says. "And apartments are getting more residents who want the same amenities that a homeowner would be provided."

Most properties are now installing individual apartment alarms that not only make noise at an intrusion, but are monitored off-site, Warren says. When there's a break-in detected, the monitoring station calls local police, sometimes before a resident realizes there's a problem.

"An alarm that's only an alarm is sort of like a car alarm," he says. "When a car alarm goes off in a parking lot, most people just ignore it. The idea is to get a fast response."

"The monitored alarm system is an amenity that's usually associated with upper-end homes," Williams says. "It works as a very strong deterrent to burglars, and this can be documented and backed up. From a residents standpoint, it offers peace of mind. They don't want to be broken into."

New Technology

Monitored alarm systems have been around for a few years in the multifamily market, but Warren says they're getting simpler to both install and to use, making them more convenient for both the property owner looking to retrofit, and for the resident, who no longer needs to memorize complicated access codes and directions.

"There's a shift on multifamily properties to simplified, self-contained access control locks," he says. "We're getting away from some of the more complex systems. That's something that's carried over from the hotel industry."

Instead of having access codes or multiple keys, residents can be given a single access key that allows them to access specific locks. In some cases, he says, the keys are small chips that can be placed right on a key ring. "It offers fairly sophisticated access control without going through a main panel," he explains.

His company is also beginning to install alarm systems that work on the same wiring as Internet access and cable, giving property owners an all-in-one wiring option. Down the road, he says, this might allow them to produce daily streaming videos that residents can watch right at home before heading out for the day.

Additionally, many alarm systems today offer an X-10 option that allows residents to call in from a telephone and turn on and off the alarm, apartment lights and other appliances. "Again," Warren says, "This is something that's carrying over from single-family to multifamily."

Another new piece of technology making its way into the market is the ability to link the alarm in a car with one in an apartment. "Generally," Williams says, "Apartment residents might have $5,000 to $10,000 of furniture, but they drive a $40,000 car. They worry about that car in the parking lot. We've developed a product that allows them to monitor that car as if it were another room in their apartment."

If the car is broken into, a light goes on in the apartment, and the monitoring center receives an alarm and calls police, letting them know what car was broken into and where it was.

Finally, Williams says, a new innovation that's currently being tested allows residents themselves to be monitored through small devices that incorporate GPS technology. By pressing a button on the devices, residents can send a signal to the monitoring station that lets them know that they're in trouble, and pinpoints their location down to a few yards. The monitoring station then calls police and tells them who to look for and where to look.

Avoiding Liability

Many property owners avoid alarm systems and other security options because of a fear of legal liability should something happen on the property. If they don't offer security, they reason, they can't be sued if it fails. On the other hand are property owners who"promise residents security and offer every conceivable security feature, hoping to avoid the same lawsuits? So who's correct in their strategy?

Neither.

"It's important for a property owner to be proactive," says Warren. "If they sit back and things are happening on their property and they don't do anything, that can be a real challenge for the property."

Warren recommends that property owners first check with their local apartment associations to see if they've established proactive anti-crime programs. After that, he says, owners should educate themselves and their staffs on both providing security and avoiding lawsuits. "They need to make sure that what they're doing meets or exceeds industry standards," he says.

The fear of litigation should not discourage owners from installing precautionary devices, he adds. "I couldn't find any incidents where a property entered into litigation over adding an amenity like an alarm," he says. "But at the same time, be careful not to over-promise. There's no such thing as a device that promises absolute and complete security."

Williams agrees. "Never guarantee someone's safety. If you've got an alarm system in your home, that doesn't mean you leave the doors unlocked. An alarm system is never going to jump off the wall and tackle the bad guy."

He advises property owners to include alarm monitoring in the rent rather than asking residents to opt into a plan on their own. "We're finding that people have a problem when alarm panels are installed in each unit. They claim to be confused as to whether their unit was monitored or not."

One of the best things property owners can do, he says, is call a spade a spade, and avoid making security devices seem more advanced than they are. Access gates should be called just that, he says, and never security gates. Alarm systems should be called monitoring devices and not security alarms.

As Warren puts it, "Managers need to be realistic. They can promote the amenities they provide, but be responsible about it."

Choosing a Provider

The first question to ask when searching for someone to install security devices on a multifamily property is whether the company has apartment experience.

Next, experts recommend a series of questions to ensure that an alarm company will provide appropriate service for the rental market:

* Who monitors the system? Warren recommends taking a tour of the monitoring center, "to make sure it's not one guy with a PC somewhere."

* How long has the company been in business?

* What is their specific multifamily experience--what properties have they already served?

* Who will service the system if there's a problem?

* Is there a monitoring rejection form? What does it include?

* Are multifamily customers staying with them once the contract is signed?

It is important for your communities to have crime control amenities, but make sure that residents know these amenities don't offer a 100 percent safety guarantee.

This article is not intended as advice on security. Property owners and managers should make security decisions which reflect the unique characteristics of their properties after consulting with knowledgeable persons in this area.

Kim Fernandez is a Freelance Writer for trade and consumer publications who lives in Bethesda, Md. A former Managing Editor of Units, she has written about the multifamily housing industry since 1994.