Resident Satisfaction An integral part of corporate branding for the Chicago-based owner/management firm The Habitat Co. revolves around its amenities and services. Each component reflects the company’s mission of providing excellence in management.
One of those services, the company’s 30-day guarantee, backs up its commitment to resident satisfaction. Upon move-in, residents are provided with a certificate that allows them to break their lease without penalty within the first 30 days of occupancy if they are dissatisfied for any reason.
In the same move-in packet, residents receive a coupon for 30 minutes of free maintenance help, which residents can use to help hang pictures, arrange and assemble furniture, or simply put up curtain rods. And, the company’s 24-hour maintenance guarantee ensures residents that their non- emergency calls will be responded to within 24 hours.
Habitat also has established programs that offer financial benefits, such as the security deposit, referral and transfer programs. The security deposit program refunds 50 percent of a resident’s security deposit after one year of residency. After two years, residents can get back an additional 25 percent, and after five years, the remainder of the deposit is returned with interest.
The resident referral program, which offers renters $250 to $350 rent credit after a referral signs a one-year lease, is advertised as having multiple benefits with the tag line, “It pays to have friends as neighbors.” And, should a resident wish to move to another Habitat property, the building transfer program requests 60 days notice to transfer a lease without breakage fees.
Another outreach service is the company’s dedication to resident suggestions.
In addition to providing move-in surveys and suggestion boxes in each building, Habitat management makes a point of reviewing suggestions at each weekly meeting.