On February 2, 2009, the City passed an ordinance requiring owners of rental property to take Phase 1 (basic certification) of the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program. Anyone who applies for a new rental license must take the Crime Free Multi-Housing Seminar prior to obtaining a rental license. Sign up for this seminar.

Failure to fulfill this obligation could result in additional penalties and fines against the property owner. Every owner of rental property in Des Plaines must take the basic certification, so please don't wait until the last minute to take the class. If you have already taken this class in another town where you own rental property, please call us to determine if you still need to attend one of our classes.

Why Sign Up for the Program?

Rental properties present a unique challenge for law enforcement. The typical Neighborhood Watch approach to residents in single-family homes is not easily adapted to rental communities. In single-family homes, owners generally have a large cash investment in the purchase of their homes. This motivates owners to a greater concern about crime in their neighborhoods. With rising crime rates come lowering property values.

An owner of a single-family home might also be looking at a long-term residency. Typically, homeowners have a thirty-year mortgage for their property. Home is where they come each day and perhaps, to raise a family. There tends to be a lot of pride and ownership of their property. When crime problems begin to appear, owners are very likely to organize Neighborhood Watch activities to protect the long-term interests of their families.

In rental properties, the communities tend to be much more transient. Most often, residents sign a six-month, nine-month or twelve-month lease for a rental property. In many cases, owners don't even require leases, and residency is based on a month-to-month agreement. This allows for an occupant to move very easily if they feel a crime has reached a level they will not tolerate. It is easier to move away from crime than to confront it.

How the Program Got its Start

The police have historically fought a losing battle with Neighborhood Watch in multi-family rental properties. In January of 1992, the Mesa Police Department was faced with a difficult decision. To no longer offer Neighborhood Watch training in rental properties, or to develop a new concept for crime prevention in the rental communities.

The result was the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program. This bold, new program had no precedent. The program's concept was to take a multi-faceted approach to crime prevention. A unique coalition of police, property managers and residents of rental properties, the program was to be an ongoing program with a three-phase approach to address all of the opportunities of crime in rental property.

The program was designed to include a certification process, never before offered by a police department. The incentives of police-issued signs, certificates and advertising privileges provided immediate interest in the program.

The development of the Crime Free Lease Addendum proved to be the backbone of the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program. This addendum to the lease agreement lists specific criminal acts that, if committed on the property, will result in the immediate termination of the resident's lease.

The Crime Free Multi-Housing Program achieved almost instant success. In rental properties with the highest crime rates, the immediate results showed up to a 90% reduction in police calls for service. Even in the best properties reductions of 15% to 20% were not uncommon.

The Crime Free Multi-Housing Program began to spread nationally after the first year, and internationally after the second year. The Crime Free Multi-Housing Program has been a success all across the United States and Canada.

The Crime Free Multi-Housing Program is successful because it approaches crime on many fronts. The police cannot solve crime problems alone. Neither can the management or residents of rental properties. But by working together, the end result has been the most successful approach to crimes in rental communities.

There are three ways criminal activity comes into a rental community. The criminal lives there, they visit friends there, or they come to the property to commit crimes. The Crime Free Multi-Housing Program addresses all three of these possibilities. By not renting to people with criminal intent, they not only reduce the likelihood of crime in the community, but they also reduce the number of visitors who come to the property with criminal intent, i.e., to purchase drugs.

For the opportunistic criminal, the use of C.P.T.E.D. (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) has been used to combat crimes that might occur in the parking lots or common areas. This includes assaults, robberies, drive-by shootings and auto thefts.

If the police, property managers and residents will make a dedicated effort to crime prevention and the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program, the outlook for success is extremely high.