How Much Does Package Theft Cost Multi-family Property Owners?

Package theft is skyrocketing nationwide and predominantly at multi-family apartment complexes. What’s more, the costs of each breach for management and ownership groups comes with a LOT more costs than simply replacing whatever was stolen from a tenant.  

Here are some key factors to consider:

Labor Costs

In a recent study, NMHC revealed that each property management staff member at an apartment complex spends an average of four hours per week on package management. Let’s do a little math.  If we estimate that:

• Each onsite staff member is paid $20 per hour
• X 4 hours on package management
• That’s $80 per week multiplied by 52 weeks a year
• Or $4,160 in labor
• Multiplied by X staff members at a given location.

That estimate does not include handling package theft complaints and claims, checking surveillance, filing reports and communicating with tenants and law enforcement.  

That’s a lot of money before you even get to replacement costs.

Replacement Costs: 

If the mail banks are vandalized, the cost of repairing and replacing them will run into the thousands and the time to get a new one will run into weeks if not months.So in addition to the replacement, management has to pay for USPS postal boxes for all affected tenants. Additionally, some property management companies opt to cover the cost of replacement for the tenant, especially if the problem keeps happening. The national average for package theft claims is about $136 per incident

Reputation and Tenant Retention

Frequent package thefts often leads to tenants not only moving out but leaving disappointing security reviews about the property, impacting the property’s reputation. This can result in:higher turnover rates and the costs associated with finding and processing new tenants.Tenant vacancies cost an  estimated $1,000 to $5,000 per apartment! And the disappointing reviews they leave can lead to lower occupancy rates, once again impacting rental income.

Insurance Premiums

Repeated claims for package theft can lead to higher insurance premiums. Insurance companies might increase rates or require higher deductibles, further raising costs for property owners.‍

What You Can Do

Seems like a lot, doesn’t it? And yet if you’re familiar with the costs above, you’re probably also familiar with the cost of traditional security upgrades such as security cameras, package lockers, and access control. And while these products alone might mitigate some of the problems, none of them are stopping the crime from happening. 

Good news. Thanks to AI, security has come a long way in only a few years. With AI Surveillance and Remote Guards monitoring mail and package rooms, you can spot piggybacking into and pilfering within controlled areas, as well as spot thieves as they attempt to break/breach the universal locks on a mail bank. Some systems achieve as much as 97% deterrence of the crime. And once they know those rooms are monitored, it’s highly unlikely they’re coming back to give it another try. 

The best part? The ROI is greater than just the savings on package theft. You can stop a host of problems that are costing you revenue, like car break-ins, theft, vandalism, trespassing and lease violations. 

That’s a special delivery worth waiting for. 

‍Want to stop Package & Mailroom theft? JOIN US ON OUR FEATURE WEBINAR:

Special Delivery: Combatting Multifamily Mailroom and Package Theft

With special guest  Michael Bullock, President of the Austin Police Association!

July 18th 

12 ET/ 9 PT

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