Sample Letter to Landlord: Security Concerns and Alerts

If you're concerned about security in and about your rental apartment or building, your landlord might be responsible for taking reasonable measures to prevent crime.

What Is a Landlord's Duty When It Comes to Crime?

Landlords are expected to take reasonable precautions to:

• protect tenants from thieves and other criminals
• protect tenants from criminal acts by other tenants
• warn tenants of known dangerous situations, and
• protect the neighborhood from illegal activities on the premises (such as drug dealing).

Typically, landlords have a duty to keep the rental premises "clean and safe" or "secure."

What Steps Do Landlords Have to Take to Prevent Crime at a Rental?

The security steps a landlord must take depends on the context of the rental. If the rental is located in a peaceful, safe neighborhood, the landlord's duty will be less than if the rental is in a high-crime area. Landlords must evaluate their risk by inspecting the property, staying up-to-date on crime in the area, and considering tenant suggestions and complaints.

Landlords can further evaluate the relative risk at their rentals by working with the local police department or conferring with their liability insurance carrier. Some insurance carriers will even incentivize landlords by offering lower rates when landlords install specific security measures.

Landlords also must follow any state or local security-related housing laws.

Landlords Must Comply With Security-Related Housing Codes

Some localities (states, cities, and counties) have enacted laws designed to protect tenants from crime. For example, some city ordinances require landlords to install front-door peepholes or deadbolt locks.

When a landlord violates these codes, tenants can complain to the agency in charge of enforcing the codes. Usually, this is a local building or housing authority. Landlords who violate these codes might be automatically liable for any losses or damage that occur as a result of the violation.

Landlords Must Deliver on Any Security Measures They've Promised

If a landlord promises a "high security" building in advertising, or agrees to replace a lock when a new tenant moves in, the tenant has the right to hold the landlord to their promise. Landlords can be found liable for any injuries caused by their failure to deliver the promised security measures.

What Are Reasonable Security Measures to Ask For?

Tenants who have security concerns about their rental often ask for measures such as:

• exterior lighting
• interior lighting in common areas such as stairwells and hallways
• deadbolt locks on individual rental units
• landscaping that doesn't allow for hiding places
• security alarms, and
• window bars.

Most of these measures are relatively low-cost and can provide a significant level of increased security. Multiunit, large rental complexes might require even more involved measures, such as an intercom with a buzzer, a doorman, or security cameras.

If a tenant requests more extreme safety measures, landlords might be willing to consider allowing them if the tenant agrees to install the measure at their own expense.

How to Ask Your Landlord for Increased Security Measures

Whether you have specific concerns stemming from a recent crime spree in your neighborhood or have a vague desire to feel safer in your home, you should feel free to contact your landlord for help reducing your vulnerability to crime.

This might include asking for specific security devices, such as deadbolts, bars on windows, or better lighting outside the building. The best way to get results is to put your security requests in a letter that explains your concerns, the specific action you want the landlord to take, and the foreseeable (and serious) consequences (such as an assault) if your landlord does not improve security. If there has been confirmed criminal activity at or near the rental, be sure to note this in your letter.

Sample Letter Alerting the Landlord to Security Concerns

Use this sample letter below as a model in preparing your own letter. Be sure to keep a copy for your files. If you are a renter in a multiunit building, have your letter signed by as many tenants as possible.

789 Westmoreland Avenue, #5
Central City, WA 00000
555-123-4567

January 3, 20xx

Mr. Wesley Smith, Landlord
123 East Street
Central City, WA 00000

Dear Mr. Smith:

As tenants of the Westmoreland Avenue building, we are concerned that there is a dangerous condition on the property that deserves your prompt attention.

As you know, the large sliding doors on the bottom floor (in the lobby) are secured by turn locks that can be easily forced open. On occasion we have seen a dowel placed in the track to prevent the doors from being opened, but lately the dowels have often been missing. Several times, the doors have even been left open all night.

We are worried that an intruder will have an easy time getting into the building. There have been several burglaries in the neighborhood within the past two months. The situation would be greatly helped if you could send a glass repairperson to replace the locks with much stronger ones. Needless to say, a burglary or assault is a worrisome prospect.

Thank you for your prompt consideration of this matter.

[signed by as many tenants as possible]

Following Up on Your Request

If your landlord doesn't respond to your letter within a reasonable amount of time (perhaps a week for non-urgent matters, or two days for more urgent ones), follow up with a phone call and another letter. Be sure to document every contact you attempt to make with your landlord, and keep copies of any letters or emails you send.

You can contact the local housing authority to report the safety concern. This is especially effective if the problem violates a local building code or landlord-tenant law, or if the landlord is required to have a license in order to offer the rental.

If the problem rises to the level of being a breach of the warranty of habitability—something that makes it unsafe for you to continue living in the rental—you might be justified in moving out of the rental or using one of the "big stick" tenant remedies such as rent withholding or repair and deduct. It would have to be something serious though, such as a lack of locks on the unit door or a smashed first-floor window.