DC Metro Area Personal Injury Law Blog

Awareness of potential home and neighborhood hazards is an important part of personal injury prevention, and apartments and condominiums pose their own unique hazards.  If you're in the market for an apartment or condominium this fall, the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) offers these tips for assessing the safety of a potential unit in a rental complex:

"Check Out Your Apartment:

• Does your entry door have a deadbolt lock and wide angle viewer?
• Does your sliding glass door have a wooden rod or metal brace in the track so it can't be opened and pins in the overhead frame so it can't be lifted out?
• Does your landlord or building manager tightly control all keys?

• Is there some kind of control over who enters and leaves the building?
• Are walkways, entrances, parking areas, elevators, hallways, stairways, laundry rooms, and storage areas well lighted 24 hours a day?
• Are fire stairs locked from the stairwell side above the ground floor, so you can exit but no one can enter?
• Are mailboxes in a well-traveled, well-lighted area, and do they have good locks?
• Are things well maintained -- are burnt out lights fixed promptly, shrubs trimmed, trash removed?

• Get to know your neighbors.  Join or organize an Apartment Watch group so neighbors can look out for and help each other.
• Think about a tenant patrol that watches for crime around the building, provides escort services for the elderly and disabled, and monitors comings and goings in the lobby.
• Work with landlords to sponsor social events for tenants.
• Look beyond problems to root causes -- does your building need a better playground, a social evening for teens, a tenant association, or new landscaping?  Work with the landlord for changes that make everyone proud of where they live."

• CPSC's "Top 5" Hidden Home Hazards
• Crime prevention tips to secure your home before traveling
• The national "Night Out" initiative, and local neighborhood participation