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Choosing the right property Management Company is your first line of defense. Neither Desert Wide Properties, Inc. nor any property owners under our care have been successfully litigated against, other than minor security deposit disputes.

Selecting the proper insurance protection. There is great variation in coverage of policies. Most companies have what is known as an investment home policy. Policies vary in kinds and numbers of deductibles for damage per incident. Some policies do not offer coverage during vacancies or stop coverage after a given number days of vacancy. Vandalism, drowning in pools, etc. are more likely during vacancies than during occupancy, so coverage is imperative. Our lease places the tenant on notice that they need to obtain their own renters policy to cover their personal belongings. We will help you ask the right questions of your insurance agent.

We have mandatory safety inspections. Some cities require that smoke detectors be checked on an annual basis. We do that. Some tenants have sued their landlords for being scalded by hot water while taking a shower. We check the water temperature of all of our homes and set it at a safe level. Some children die or are seriously injured from ingesting poisonous plants commonly used for landscaping in Arizona. We check for poisonous plants on your property and recommend removal or placing tenants on notice of the danger. Nearly all diving pools do not have adequate "brake points" for safe diving. We make the tenants aware of this in writing. And the list goes on. We check for the kind of dangerous situations that cause liability and recommend preventive measures.

Security doorknobs are used during vacancy. During a vacancy period, the regular doorknob is replaced with a temporary security doorknob so the original house key is never checked out to a realtor for showing purposes. This prevents the duplication of a key that can be used at a later date for illegal entry. The original doorknob is replaced after the home is rented. Owners are not exposed to the liability of compromising the tenant's security.

There are detailed home evaluations prior to and after all tenancies. Tenants are held accountable for damage to the property beyond the legally allowable "normal wear and tear" of a home. Detailed documentation is the only way to assure tenant responsibility for home and yard care.

Immediate response and documentation of any reported problem that compromises tenant health or safety. Tenants can reach property managers for after-hour emergencies by paging us on an emergency pager number that is covered seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. All tenant requests for services are documented along with our response to the problem. All actions taken by a property manager on your home are entered into a database to assure accountability and continuity of service.

Over the years, our lease has become increasingly "owner protective. " We don't use the standard "off the shelf" rental lease. Managing hundreds of properties for the past twenty years, tenant situations have occasionally occurred that one would be hard pressed to anticipate. However, once encountered, we drafted our lease to protect our owners from further occurrences. One example is the time a tenant called and claimed that the refrigerator had malfunctioned and spoiled hundreds of dollars of steak and lobster. Now our lease states that owners are not responsible for spoilage or damage from appliances that malfunction.

Our attorney is one of the drafters of the Arizona Tenant Landlord Act. He frequently updates our staff about how the courts are presently interpreting the AZ Landlord Tenant Act. Also, most advice that we request for difficult tenant situations is not billed to the owner.

We have a "short fuse" when tenants don't pay their rent on time. While we are always polite and respectful, we start the eviction process within three days if there is non-payment of rent. The eviction process in Arizona usually takes about thirty days. Experience has taught us that the faster we start this process, the less likely it is that we will have to actually evict the tenant. Promptness promotes compliance. Our owners get paid, and perhaps the dentist waits. Less than one percent of our tenants have to be evicted.