Do you want to Keep Your Home and Your Community Secure? This is one of the areas of HOA management that nobody truly enjoys talking about, but it is nevertheless vital, and needs to be discussed every now and then simply to remind residents and board members alike of how important it is. One of the most fundamental functions of the HOA is to protect the property of its residents—and that means seeing to some basic security measures. Of course, we don’t like to consider the possibility that our communities could ever be unsafe, but the simple truth is that sometimes unexpected things happen, and it’s good to take precautions and be prepared.
Indeed, break-ins and theft can occur in any neighborhood; that’s not meant to be alarmist, it’s simply reality. The good news is that adequately preparing for it can go a long way toward keeping your community safe and secure. The HOA Board would do well to simply make sure that residents know some basic security tips—such as the ones listed here:
Tips to Keep Your Home and Your Community Secure –
— Leave exterior lights on to ward off burglars. You can defray the long-term cost of this by investing in some energy-efficient CFL bulbs, or better yet, some automatic timers.
— Buy some plug-in timers for a few interior lights—especially, say, lamps in the front room or near the front door.
— Install a peephole in your door.
— Make sure exterior doors are reinforced with long screws and strike plates.
— Install a security storm door. These are available—not too expensively—at Lowes or Home Depot, and most of them come with guarantees that they cannot be broken.
— If you have a door that leads to a crawl space—lock it.
— Keep your windows covered when you can, in order to prevent potential thieves from “inventorying” your home.
— Set your alarm system when you’re not home, and even at night.
— Be prepared to use the panic alarm on your car to alert neighbors to any potential intruders in the area.
Naturally, these things do not guarantee you to keep your home and your community secure—but they will go a long way. Pass along these tips to residents of your community, and, if possible, try to hold some regular Neighborhood Awareness events. This will give community members a chance to ask questions, but it will also project to the world that your community takes crime—and its prevention—very seriously.
