Keeping your Eureka rental property safe is the priority of any well-intentioned landlord, and it’s also an important part of ensuring your investment remains profitable. Protecting your tenants is critical; you can’t have any threats or potential risks in the home. Protecting the value and the condition of your property is also important. You want to make sure everything is safe and functional when you’re placing tenants and even when the home is vacant. 

When we talk about safety, we’re thinking about prevention. Here’s what we recommend when it comes to essential safety checks for your rental property. 

Turnovers Require New Keys for Safety Reasons

One of the first things you need to do when keeping your property safe is to ensure that there aren’t unnecessary keys floating round out there. Change the locks on your doors every time a new tenant is moving in. 

This protects your tenant, and it also protects your property. You’ll collect keys from departing tenants, but you never know how many copies were made. Get new keys made or install smart locks or a digital keypad, which allows you to change the combination between tenants. This is often more efficient, and it also allows vendors and contractors to enter the home without you having to be there to let them in. 

You want to limit who has access to the property, and this helps. 

Safety Considerations Inside of Eureka Rental Homes 

You have a duty to make your rental property safe for tenants even before there’s someone living in it. 

Part of every move-in and move-out inspection is a safety check. Safety issues are habitability issues, and your property has to be habitable if you’re going to rent it out. 

During the inspections that you conduct before and after a tenancy, and even when maintenance is requested or you schedule a walk-through during the lease to check for any unreported issues, make sure you have a safety checklist, and take it with you. Your checklist must include:

• Installing clean air filters
• Making sure the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors work
• Ensuring doors and windows that easily open, close, and lock
• Checking for loose handrails
• Looking for leaks or drips under the sinks, behind toilets, and around tubs and appliances
• Examining any roof issues such as missing shingles or water intrusion
• Checking the floors to make sure there aren’t trip and fall hazards

Your lease should reflect that you’ll conduct at least one maintenance check-up per year so that tenants know you’ll be coming through the property to look for potential maintenance issues. This does not have to be a formal inspection; it’s simply a safety check. This is in their best interests and the best interests of your rental property. 

Eureka Rental Property Insurance 

Insurance is a good place to start when you’re thinking about safety at your Eureka rental property. It’s the best way to protect yourself against any claims, and insurance will provide you with the funds you need to make any repairs and replacements after a potentially catastrophic loss. 

Do a periodic review of your current insurance policy and make sure it matches your needs. Without proper coverage, an unexpected disaster or an accident can leave you financially lost. As your investment property continues to increase in value, you’ll find you need additional coverage to keep you protected.

Keeping your rental property safe means protecting against the damage that can occur due to: 

• Fire
• Water damage
• Wind
• Theft
• Vandalism

What about earthquakes? Is your property as safe as it can be against the threat of earthquakes? This type of coverage is not mandated for California rental properties, but you may want to think about earthquake coverage so you don’t have to spend too much money repairing any potential damage or keeping your tenants safe during or after an earthquake. 

Keep your tenants financially safe by requiring renters insurance. This is for your protection and the protection of your tenants. Your policy will cover your property and any of your own belongings inside that property (such as appliances). It will not cover your tenant’s personal possessions, however. If there’s a water leak and a flood that damages your resident’s furniture and electronics, they’ll be glad they had renters insurance to cover the loss.

Keeping Eureka Tenants Safe in Your Property 

Talk to your tenants about safety so they know how to protect themselves and your rental property. They need to understand the risks that are inherent in any property, and they’ll welcome tips on how to avoid those risks. 

• Educate your residents before they move in on how to keep themselves safe while living in your property. They should know how to shut off the water supply, for example.
• Provide emergency contact information for local police stations, fire stations, and poison control centers. 
• Make sure parking areas are well-lit and consider installing motion activated lights outside. 
• Provide an emergency plan in case of a fire or a natural disaster. 

Explain the importance of reporting maintenance requests promptly when they realize something is wrong. 

Invest in Tenant Security 

There’s plenty of good technology available to help your tenants feel safe. 

You don’t necessarily have to pay for an alarm on your property, or a video doorbell (these are growing in popularity among homeowners and tenants). But, you can make something like this available to tenants if they want to pay for service. 

Smart home technology is rapidly becoming normalized in rental homes, and if you provide a property that’s ready to accept that technology, tenants will feel safer. 

Maintaining Safety Standards during Vacancy 

When your Eureka rental property is vacant, you don’t want it to be a target. Keep it safe by:

• Turning the utilities on. 
• Visiting the property every couple of days to make sure nothing has been stolen or vandalized. 
• Looking for maintenance issues while you’re there. 
• Keeping up with the landscaping and making sure there’s at least one exterior light on at all times.