Better Together

Industry Addresses COVID-19

By Paul Bergeron on Apr 1, 2020 in News

When the COVID-19 calamity began to wreak havoc on daily apartment operations about a month ago, Jamin Harkness, CAM, CAPS, Executive Vice President, The Management Group, Atlanta, knew it would be something he couldn’t handle on his own.

With everyone involved in property management putting out their own fires – mostly the same crisis’ he was dealing with – he decided to reach out to seven of his closest peer confidantes in the Atlanta area and arrange a one-hour roundtable call. The goal was information-sharing — learn what was working and what lied ahead – for this unprecedented work interruption.

The Management Group is a new, smaller but growing management company that has six communities under development. Call participants represent small-, medium- and large-sized companies. Everyone had something to contribute. For information how to participate, reach out to Harkness at [email protected].

The group discussed high-urgency topics such as working with a skeleton crew, renewals, amenities and evictions, among other things, and decided to make the call a regular, weekly thing.

And as the days went by, everywhere they looked, another unique and critical issue arose, so more contributors were needed. Each weighed on their own networks and word of mouth, and by Week 2, there were 32 people on the call.

Week 3: 65

Week 4: 108

The greater the number of participants, the greater the information. Harkness, who has been in property management since 1997, serves as organizer, moderator and secretary for the 11 a.m. ET calls. Realizing his phone system and general IT capabilities were unable to bring together a group this large, he reached out to Yardi and had them create a platform to help the calls run more smoothly through Zoom.

Realizing that every participant on the call had their own jam-packed work day, he firmly kept the calls to one hour—max, allowing each featured presenter 5 minutes of air time.

Harkness’s latest call recap covered topics such as:

• Setting Up Virtual Leasing Offices
• Virtual Renewals
• Maintenance Team Compensation & Bonuses
• The Families First Coronavirus Response Act
• Emergency Paid Sick Leave
• Flexible Payment Programs
• Lender Compliance
• Notice to Vacate
• Emergency Preparedness
• COVID-19 resources

And that was just on one call.

“Navigating this storm alone would be unwise,” Harkness says. “I am thankful for my friends and colleagues in Atlanta (and elsewhere who are joining our calls) for giving our group an hour of their time each week. Together, we work through operational challenges, most of which none of us have ever faced. Collectively, we make better decisions and will reach the other side of this crisis with fewer missteps.

“The confidence and assurance gained from gathering industry leaders who I’ve known and respected for years, learning from them, and talking things out is invaluable during these uncertain times.”

The April 10 call’s agenda already includes paycheck protection programs and self-guided tours. Call participants reach out to Harkness with recommendations of other areas to cover.

A Google Docs folder and email contact list of the call participants was created for sharing documents and expanding on topics from that week’s fast-moving call. Dozens of files can be found in the Google Docs folder – samples from a variety of companies on topics such as apartment policy statements, lists of resources, PPTs, resident communications about operational challenges and other notices. The library grows each week.

Harkness is limiting the call participants to regional-level and above, with various selected consultants, HR directors and attorneys, as well. “We’ve invited a few suppliers, but politely have asked them to remain mute,” he says.

“There’s no playbook for dealing like a crisis such as this,” says Mike Holmes, 2020 NAA Chairman of the Board and President, Easlan Management, Greenville, S.C. “We’re a competitive industry, but in times like this, it’s so commendable that our owners, managers and suppliers are able to come together, circle the wagons, and fight for our industry, sharing forms and materials with no restrictions.

“Calls like these do help to minimize the uncertainty when great minds are working together to find solutions, even for problems that maybe some didn’t even think were out there. Groups doing this like NAA, NMHC and Grace Hill as well as those at the local level across the country should be than.”