The well-being of our residents and staff at the communities we manage is our highest priority. As such, we are implementing the below policies to do our part in slowing the community spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), based on guidance from reliable entities such as the Centers for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization.
Prevention:
Steps everyone can take to avoid exposure and the spread of germs (as provided by the Centers for Disease Control):
Office Visits:
For the time being, all non-urgent office visits must be scheduled by appointment only to reduce the amount of face-to-face interaction, thus reducing exposure likelihood. The office will be closed to unscheduled residents and visitors except in cases of emergency.
Rent Payment:
We have received many concerned inquiries regarding rent payment expectations during this tumultuous time. Please understand, the properties we manage rely on rent payments in order to keep the building running. However, we would like to take a moment to, hopefully, ease your fears by letting you know that residents financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic will NOT be evicted for non-payment of rent while the national state of emergency is in effect.
If you have been financially impacted by the current pandemic and are unable to pay all or part of your monthly rent, please call or email the leasing office to present documentation of the impact, and staff will assist with the next steps. We ask that you alert the property manager as soon as is possible before rent is due so that we can implement necessary plans to see if funding can be found through a local, state, or federal agency.
As a reminder, all terms of your Rental Agreement are still in place. Violations of the rental agreement will still be addressed as usual.
Inspections:
Internal unit by unit inspections are being put on hold for the time being. However, individual unit inspections will still occur with increased use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff, including gloves, masks, goggles, etc. as appropriate and recommended by state and/or federal officials.
Outside entities such as Owners, Lenders, or local Housing Authorities, however, may schedule unit by unit inspections that supersede our temporary policy. In these cases, we will work with the entity to ensure that we provide staff with additional PPE as recommended and necessary to prevent spread of germs as much as we are able.
Maintenance/Work Orders:
At this time, we are indefinitely suspending in-unit work orders that are not an essential service (fire, life, safety) in order to prevent as much face-to-face interaction between residents and staff as possible. Common area/building work orders will still be addressed as usual. We understand this will be a huge inconvenience for residents, but the health of everyone must be our highest priority at this time.
Work orders that involve essential services will continue, but staff will be required to wear goggles/safety glasses, a face mask, and gloves—no exceptions. If the personal protective equipment is unavailable to staff, a vendor will be contacted to complete the work.
Cleaning:
Vendors are scheduled to sanitize all interior common areas at properties managed by IPM as a preventive measure. On a regular basis, during scheduled work days, staff will also be cleaning and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces including elevator buttons, door handles, and laundry machines.
Please remember that our staff are not medical professionals, and are unqualified to answer any questions about COVID-19. Should you have any concerns regarding the Coronavirus, please seek out advice from appropriate sources such as the Centers for Disease Control at https://www.cdc.gov/, the World Health Organization at https://www.who.int/, or the Oregon Health Authority at https://www.oregon.gov/oha/pages/index.aspx.
As more information is made available, we will continue to keep our residents informed and be available to answer any questions or concerns.
For Media Inquiries please contact us at media@ipmco.com
