Renter and security issues.

A few months ago we had a renter who's car was stolen off our property. It was found out that this individual has a garage remote that was left in the car when it was stolen there for causing big issues for our 90 other cars in our secured parking.

The HOA BOD had made it very clear garage remotes are not to be house in cars for this very reason. It took hours to recode the gate and set up the 70+ units in our building with the new code etc.

Today the HOA BOD received and email. The very same renter alerted us that his car was broken in and yes.. he left the garage remote in it again... meaning we have to redo what we did a few months ago.

Neighbors are asking who the idiot is that did this.. and they are being told. Not necessarily by me but the news is out who did it and renter is getting heat from homeowners.

Can we hold his landlord responsible for this tenants breach of rules and security?

I live in a gated community with remote access. I have never heard of anyone taking their remote in with them after they have left their vehicle. Matter of fact, one of my cars has homelink and is programmed into the car.

I have also never seen a policy fining anyone for leaving a remote in a car, not have I seen a policy stating its the "law" that you not left a remote in a car.

Good luck enforcing that.

Exactly the right answer.

As long as you have multiple owners with the same access code (in this case, the code in the door opener) you will have this problem. There are numerous solutions but your board has chosen the path of stupidity. Your wake-up call came when the first opener was stolen. Just exactly how many more times will you recode all of your openers before you wise up and install a better system?

BTW, which genius board member is assigned to inspect each car to ensure that the remote has been removed?

I wonder if his car was truly broken in to the second time. Sounds as if the renter may be having a good laugh over this...

i'm suspicious of this tenant too, Valerie. He, for example, could have lost his remote and wants the HOA to supply a new one? Did he report the break-in to the police? Are you sure, Fiona, that there was a break-in? I have deeper suspicions too, but want to hear more from Fiona, first.

Fiona could have said "resident" in this case. I don't think it matters, Dave, that it happens to be a renter.

That would be best directed at Fiona, not Dave.

But of course it absolutely false.

The OPs intent was to shed bias on the subject.

This would likely precipitate a response sympathetic to Fiona.

I call it like I see it.

The solution to the problem, as pointed out, is one of technology and is independant of the occupants status with regards to property ownership.

Or, perhaps she was just being factual.

In criminal science there is a branch known as victimology. It is the study of why a person is a victim of crime. Often people who are crime victims are engaged in activities that expose themselves to criminals.

If I recall correctly, a few months back this same renter's car was stolen, along with the remote for the garage gate. Now the same guy is a victim of another theft. Unless there are others suffering similar losses in the parking garage I would take a long hard look at this person to see why he is such a magnet for trouble. My first guess would be that he is hanging out with a bunch of low-lifes who follow him home.

Dear lord.. it doesn't matter he is a renter. We had a homeowner who also left his remote in his car and had it stolen that same week..

While most of HOA Talk people are supportive and informative, some individuals seem to troll and post rubbish that is of no help.. renter, tenant, owner.. all the same here.

Did anyone think to ask what happens if just one remote is stolen?

From your response it appears that you have not looked into the costs of alternate systems.

I have some experience with gates, keypads, and entry software. I cannot imagine how a simple gate system would cost so much. Or are you trying to lump the costs of the gate itself into the picture?

If you were to convert to some other means of entry control, 90% of your present hardware would remain in place; the only thing that needs to be dumped is the receiver for the remote openers. You would need to add some sort of reader (Keypad, magnetic card reader, and/or rfid, for example), a computer ($399 or less at Wal-Mart), software, and the black box to communicate with the gate. The systems I have managed in the past have had hundreds of users at a time and we had the abiity to add or delete users in a matter of seconds. It's just not that hard to do.

Fiona wrote:
"Since July we have had 4 remotes stolen.. 2 cars stolen. Out of that mix.. 3 of the 4 were renters. one was a homeowner. One of the 3 renters had his car stolen an then recently broken into which cause his remote to go missing.. AGAIN."

Thanks, Fiona. How many incidences like this occurred during the previous 4-6 months. If none, one question might be that something changed in July that made your parking area a soft target. Less security? Someone new moved in? Or? That the particular renter had two incidences does suggest, as Larry points out and as I suggested above, that he might be a magnet for some reason or other. I wouldn't go so far to say he is or hangs out with lowlifes, though. He could, for example, be a pharma sales rep or he stores attractive items in his car.

Larry's solution sounds really workable, Fiona, and cheap too.

Fiona,

Thank you for YOUR comments regarding other poster's intents, motives, or conduct.

Oh, and thanks too for letting us all know what YOU think is not helpful or needed here.

This is a public, anonymous, forum.

Don't take it too serious.