Help Familiarize Your Tenants With Emergency Procedures and Home Safety

Just as you hope your new tenants will safeguard your property, you want to make sure they are safe in their new home. Be sure to remind them – in a helpful, professional manner — of basic home safety, as well as emergency procedures that apply to their home and the larger community.

The fireplace

One of the biggest areas for safety concern in any home is a fireplace. Make sure that you remind tenants to check that the flue is open before burning a fire and to keep the fireplace screen on at all times to prevent sparks from flying into the room. If the fireplace uses gas, provide instructions on how to operate the mechanism along with a reminder to turn the gas off completely when the fire is extinguished.

Smoke alarms

Show your new tenants where the home’s smoke alarms are located. Remind them to test the batteries monthly and change them out each year, unless you take care of this task for them. Some people choose a day they can remember each year, such as New Year’s Day or when they move clocks back an hour in the fall.

Fire escape

If you have screens with latches or any kind of bars on windows (which require an approved quick-release latch), acquaint your tenants with how they work. Make sure they know the fastest and safest way down to the ground floor in case of a fire.

Carbon monoxide

Odorless, tasteless and colorless, carbon monoxide can be generated by wood-burning fireplaces and stoves without people in the house even knowing. It can also come from dirty and clogged gas ranges, stoves, improperly-connected gas clothes dryers or water heaters, and ventless portable heaters.

As a landlord, it’s your job to make sure that the chimney is clean and appliances are in proper working order. Adding a carbon monoxide detector, as well, can help monitor emissions and alert tenants if the levels were to become dangerous.

The circuit box

When orienting tenants to their new home, be sure to familiarize them with the circuit box in case of a power outage. Ensure that the circuit breaker switches are labeled to indicate what rooms and outlets they each control.

If you rent a property with older wiring, you may have a circuit that is especially prone to being overloaded. Until you can rewire the house, you might caution tenants against putting too much strain on that set of circuits.

Weather safety

If your property is in a coastal area that may likely be affected by hurricanes or flooding, make tenants familiar with what is required to secure the house (attaching storm shutters, for instance) and suggest that they get an emergency radio. It’s also a good idea, especially if yours is a vacation property with transient tenants, to make sure they understand the typical evacuation route away from danger.

Put it on paper!!

Rather than having to explain all of these details and hope that your new tenants can remember them all, write them down! Create a handout that you laminate for tenants to keep in a central location in the house.

Thinking of your tenant’s safety is a bonus for the both of you. Take the time to make those new to your rental home familiar with what to do in case of an emergency — as well as what to do to prevent one from happening!