Bed bug infestations can be tricky to handle, but you may be doing more work than you need to. We asked Jeffrey White, an entomologist and bed bug expert—White has invested hundreds of hours treating affordable housing complexes for bed bugs, advising other pest-control professionals about these critters, and lecturing public housing organizations around the globe—to give us the latest research-backed tips for tackling bed bugs in multifamily housing. Read on to see if you can separate bed bug fact from fiction, or whether it may be time to update your pest-control procedures.

Whether you’re aware of PFAS and the risks they pose, or you’re hearing about these chemicals for the first time, you’ve come to the right place. We have answers to property owners’ most frequently asked questions about this emerging environmental threat.

As far as household pests go, cockroaches are pretty disgusting. They scuttle around under cover of darkness, multiply rapidly, and leave their shed skins and frass (aka poop) everywhere. Cockroaches are also a health hazard: They can cause or aggravate allergies and asthma in people who are susceptible to these conditions, and they’re a leading cause of asthma in children who live in urban multifamily housing.

Left untreated, mold can cause significant health risks for your residents—and significant liability for your organization. Don't believe us? The image at the top of this article, courtesy of AEI Consultants, is a great example of what can happen to a unit when mold is left unaddressed. To help you combat the fast-growing fungi, HAI Group turned to three experts: Tim Woodward and Sarah Feit of AEI Consultants, and Lawrence Schnapf of Schnapf Law.

The housing industry continues to be an attractive target for cybercriminals, who can do real damage to your agency in a matter of minutes. Fortunately, there are organizations like the Center for Internet Security (CIS), whose singular goal is to help you keep your IT systems and data secure.

The federal environmental site assessment standard codified into law two decades ago to protect commercial property buyers from costly Superfund cleanup liability has been significantly updated in the last year. Here's what you need to know.

Thanks to numerous incentives and better technology, installing a solar photovoltaics (PV) system on your multifamily apartment building is more affordable than ever. It may also be a smart investment. Going solar can help you lower your greenhouse gas emissions, increase your property’s value, and hedge against utility rate hikes. Perhaps more important, a solar PV system can lower your electric bill, helping you better manage your operating costs, which can help keep your rents stable. 

David Oates is the kind of professional you hope you never need. A former U.S. Navy public affairs officer, Dave runs Public Relations Security Service, a San Diego-based crisis communications firm. Dave spends his days helping his clients prepare for, and communicate through, all kinds of crises, including employee and executive misconduct, cybersecurity attacks, product recalls, mass layoffs, large-scale accidents, criminal investigations, civil litigation, and more. A sought-after speaker, Dave taught a semester-long public relations program at San Diego State University, published three books, and co-produced two LinkedIn Learning courses, Crisis Communication for HR, and HR Communication in Today’s Fluid Workplace. In between clients, he gave HAI Group’s Amy Hourigan a crash course on how affordable housing organizations can plan for, and ace, crisis communications.                                                     

Odds are, if you’re in the multifamily affordable housing industry, your to-do list is already frighteningly long. Even so, if you aren’t yet testing for radon, you may want to consider it. Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer behind smoking—long-term exposure to the odorless, colorless gas is responsible for around 21,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—and can expose property owners to liability in certain circumstances. 

Energy costs can contribute substantially to the overall financial burden of housing. Inefficient buildings—those with poor insulation, leaky windows, outdated HVAC equipment, and the like—are of particular concern, since they drive up utility costs more than their efficient peers.