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— Property Management Quarterly — January 2016
CONTENTS
Letter from the Editor
T
his issue features a lot of
great information about
protecting your asset. Two
local law firms contributed
articles. One discusses the
minutiae of mechanic’s liens and
the steps to take to establish nonli-
ability. The other
article helps man-
agers navigate
through the perils
of tenant screen-
ing to avoid leasing
to Jekyl-and-Hyde
tenants while
adhering to gov-
ernment discrimi-
nation laws.
One other law worth noting took
effect in October, when the credit
card world experienced a liability
shift. With the introduction of new
chip-and-pin laws, the liability of
processing counterfeit transactions
shifted from the previously respon-
sible card issuers – banks and credit
unions – to the merchants, if the
merchant had not updated his
technology. In the past few months
I’ve spoken with several property
managers who have been directly
affected by this law.
For example, if part of your duties
include overseeing a parking garage
or other amenity that collects con-
sumer payments, you are respon-
sible for potential information theft
if your machines are not up to date.
Before October, it did not matter
which technology you used to col-
lect that payment.
In order to avoid liability, mer-
chants – property managers includ-
ed – must ensure their card-reading
technology is capable of accepting
these chip cards. If your card read-
ers are not, it is advisable to look
into a technology upgrade. If a card
is chip-enabled – but your terminal
is not – and the information is sto-
len, your asset would be liable.
While transactions still will pro-
cess with the older terminals, it is
worth discussing the purchase and
rental options with your current
processor. According to research,
the new terminals should not cost
much more than the older magnetic
strip readers.
If this is something you’ve been
avoiding, it’s worth looking into to
make sure you’re offering the cur-
rent standard and protecting your
asset as well as your asset’s reputa-
tion.
The rest of the issue highlights
other ways to protect your property,
from maintaining your garage to
maintaining a strong team, which
Tanya Leung argues is your most
important asset to achieve custom-
er satisfaction.
As always, thanks to all those
who participated in this issue, and
thanks for reading.
