What To Do
Prevention
Prevention is the first step to ensuring a Housing Unit Takeover does not happen or reoccur. If you have a vulnerable tenant or client, use these tools to prevent a HUT from happening to them.
Videos: Prevention of HUTs, What Makes a Tenant Vulnerable
Intervention
Whether you have a suspicion or you know a HUT is happening, intervention is difficult but necessary to ensure the HUT is resolved properly.
Videos: Intervention of HUTs, How Can You Tell if a HUT is Taking Place?
Recovery
After a HUT has taken place and has been resolved, many people need additional supports due to trauma or PTSD that may be a result of the HUT. Take steps to ensure a HUT does not happen again.
Videos: Recovery of HUTs, Consequences of a HUT
Prevention
Prevention is the first step to addressing Housing Unit Takeovers. Identify your tenant/client’s unique vulnerabilities and connect them to organizations that address those vulnerabilities. Relationships are key, and good relationships with the tenant, landlord, and local community relations officer can be crucial to preventing a HUT or resolving one quickly. It is important to educate the tenant about HUTs so they can know the warning signs and protect themselves and their home.
Prevention Tips
Maintain a good relationship with your client/tenant so you can have open and direct conversations about how a HUT could happen, and the possible consequences of a HUT.
If the tenant is new to housing, have a conversation about what they want from their home, and how they can achieve that.
Provide regular follow-ups with at-risk tenants.
Support the tenant in setting personal boundaries. Use examples of things they value in or about their unit to remind them that their home should be a safe and private space.
Have an emergency plan ready in case there are warning signs.
Find a similar ethnic group or local community groups that share interests with your tenant and encourage them to participate. Use methods that will decrease the tenant’s isolation and keep them connected and engaged with the community.
What makes a tenant vulnerable?
High-risk factors for HUTs include:
Poverty and low income, isolation, mental health or addiction issues, physical or cognitive disabilities, women with children, and elderly people
Watch the video for more information about tenant vulnerabilities.
Intervention
Whether you suspect a Housing Unit Takeover or know that one is happening, intervention can be very difficult, and you must keep the safety of yourself and your client/tenant in mind. Intervention should not be done alone, but rather by utilizing different resources and services to uniquely address each situation. Meet with your client/tenant somewhere other than their home and help them make a plan to address the HUT. While you may want to go straight to the police, tenants often do not want this out of fear of repercussions. However, if you believe your client is in serious and immediate danger, go to the police.
Intervention Tips
Meet with the tenant one-on-one somewhere other than their unit. Check-ins at the unit can be detrimental and possibly dangerous for the tenant.
Educate the tenant on their rights and connect them with supports and services that can assist.
Motivate the client to resolve the takeover by highlighting how something they care about is being affected.
Refer to any previous conversations you have had about HUTs, and what plans, goals, or boundaries you set at that time.
Remind the tenant/client of the possible consequences of a HUT.
Make the environment as uncomfortable as possible for the predator by visiting more frequently at non-scheduled times, including during the evening when more activity takes place. This could take the form of responding to noise complaints or other related calls.
Work with the police or building security to implement increased security measures such as security cameras or safety audits.
Place posters on the doors of every unit to let everyone in the hall know that suspicious activity is being watch. Avoid singling out the unit where the HUT is taking place.
If possible, relocate the tenant to a safe location, especially if you believe they are in danger.
How can you tell if a HUT is taking place?
Recovery
A tenant’s experience with a HUT can come to an end in various ways such as the predators leaving or being forced out of the tenant’s unit, the tenant being evicted, or the tenant fleeing to the streets or shelter system. No matter how a tenant escapes a HUT, the experience will impact their mental health, and recovery steps must be taken. Tenants may experience trauma and stress and may be facing eviction or criminal charges and need support. Connect your client or tenant with services that address their unique experiences, such as mental health supports, free law clinics, and cleaning and unit repairs. Serial victims are common, and your client/tenant will still have the same vulnerabilities as before. Refer to the Prevention Tips to ensure a HUT does not happen again.
Recovery Resources:
The Dream Team Resources Page (Mental health and housing resources)
Recovery Tips
Meet with your client/tenant and ask them what supports they might need. Work with them to come up with a wellness plan that will help them recover.
Refer to prevention tips to ensure a HUT does not happen again. Create a safety plan in case the client/tenant suspects that another HUT may occur (who to contact and what to do.)
Change the locks on the unit.
If the client is fearful of the perpetrator returning, consider looking for other housing options. However, be aware of the impact that moving could have on the tenant.
Check in more frequently with the client/tenant to prevent another HUT from occurring.
Ensure the unit is cleaned and check where repairs may be needed.
Connect with rent banks or stipends that can help your client/tenant to pay rent.
Consequences of a HUT
Some common consequences of a HUT are:
Eviction
Criminal charges
Mental health, trauma, and stress-related issues
Watch our video for more information.