Interior hall entry door decor- what is your policy?

Interior hall entry door decor- what is your policy?
Recently took over a portfolio that is all over the place. Some residents have made this a whole additional living space. I say some of these are health and safety issues, fair housing - what else?They are all rentals but residents insist that they pay rent to use the whole building (which I’ve reminded them it is for there living space inside of there apartments). How have you handled this?
We are allowing a mat and a decorative door item moving forward.
I know it’s an expression of themselves but we have list rentals due to some of the items.

Send a letter and if the items aren’t removed by a certain date, they will be removed. Easy as that.

Other than the front door, the rest is common area and having personal items in a common area is a breach of the lease.

Our leases state they are not allowed to hang anything on their door, use a mat or leave things in the hallway.
Our cleaners vacuum the halls each weekday and mats or other items would prevent that.

I would check with your fire marshal. Ours has advised us that a doormat and a flower pot are pretty much all that is acceptable

I dont know how it would be fair housing. I dont like the different paint colors, but the decorations don't bother me. Very common in 55+ Communities

We do not allow. Only door decor (wreaths, etc).

Looking at those recessed doorways, would say if it doesn’t block the door and doesn’t extend into the path of the hallway, it would be fine. I think we also have in our lease that we reserve the right to determine what is unsightly (trash bags, general storage, etc.)

We do not allow. The wheelchair would be a RA request

contact your local fire marshall for help enforcing. it is likely fire code. those hallways need to be free and clear of obstuctions and dangers for when emergency personnell are running through a pitch black, smoke filled hallway , in their gear, which makes them much larger than they are.
An no, they absolutely do not rent the whole building, they rent inside the walls/doors. The hallway is a common area and is not for their "living space" .
And another thing to keep in mind, if this is a senior building, keep in mind how seniors gradualy lose cognition, memory ,e tc. Allowing them one or two reasonable items to personalize their door or next to their door allows them an easy way to identify THEIR door as they walk along the hallway.

So long as it can be done safely, I see no reason to stop the residents from personalizing the exterior. Keep in mind that these renters were likely once home owners with yards and space to personalize. This makes the apartment feel like a home to them. I’m sure it helps with resident retention as well. I would tread lightly. I know it’s important to make your mark as a new manager (having been one myself) but it’s even more important to step back, learn and gracefully make necessary changes without rocking the boat too much.

We only allow something on their door and have a package shelf outside their door they can decorate. The walls are the common area and not part of their apartment. I explain also that even if one resident has tasteful decorating not all will so this is how we fairly keep things looking neutral and nice.

If it’s a senior community then you should have community policies that you can put in place and then everyone has advised by them but at my senior communities they were not allowed to do that because the problem is is that they get overboard with collecting items the walkers and Hoover rounds need to be inside the apartments they should be able to have a little table out there and maybe something hangs on the door I was at one property and they want to put out Easter stuff and I said OK as long as it’s on your door it look like a whole cemetery out there in front of her door she plastic flowers everywhere

Your lease should address the corridors hall and entry ways. If not do and all renewals and leases moving forward . Send notice out to entire community to stop the precedent . Follow up and be firm. These items could cause a liability in the common area. Make sure common areas are defined to include corridors, hall ways, entryways... area intron of entry door.. etc. this will help stop this no different than gas grill on balcony patio etc.

The standard NAA lease mentions it. It is against most local fire codes due to potential interference with escape routes in an emergency.

This looks terrible! Not to mention safety and fire issues. Depending on the set up of the community a mat in front of the door or decoration could be looked at by undesirables as to what apartments are vacant and which ones are occupied to break into. I say keep it completely clean. It looks more appealing overall and to future prospects. You can also send a letter out giving the community time to remove all items and at the end of that time collect the items and after a timeframe if not claimed, then discard. If it applies to everyone you stay Compliant with fair housing.

If you OPEN Pandora’s box that is what can happen- you let them decorate a little bit, and there is always one that is pushing the limit all the way into the ridiculous and out of the common sense.

As long as nothing blocks access to the the apartment then I don’t think it’s a code violation. That’s a good size alcove that they have, so it’s almost begging to have items placed there.
Figure out what you will and won’t allow and give everyone a month or so to comply. Just be consistent.

We dont even allow doormats. They are senior properties and we have had more than on resident with a walker trip on the mat. Also, it makes more work for the janitor to have to lift them, vacuum under them and put them back. Yes, we had a fight when we started enforcing this but, after we explained why, they understood. We do allow medical equipment to be parked outside the door if it is next to the wall and not blocking either the door or the hallway.

Residents don't have the right to change the esthetics of a building with frufru at their doors. Start putting our letters right away that no rugs can go past the entry frames into the hall, no other items allowed in the halls, and only a wreath or small decoration allowed on their doors. Their rent includes their apartment only and corridors are considered common areas. Because common areas aren't broken down into "rentable" increments, they are only allowed to decorate their apartment interiors. Common areas are merely a perk of living at the community. If they painted their entry I would make them put it back to the original color. I don't think you need to quote "trip hazards", etc., because that opens it up to their "opinions" - and you don't need those.

I would also make sure ownership gets behind you on these changes - I can't imagine they would think this kind of messy hallway is okay.

We do not let residents decorate or store items in common area or breezeways. In many states it’s against Fire Codes. You can’t have any obstructions.

Thanks everyone!!!! We have sent out 2 notices stating the lease violations and they sent in a petition. I have reached out to our fire department to ensure they would back us up.

Compromise, offer to paint those alcoves one of 3 colors ( of managements choice that go with the decor of the hallway). I love the pop of color in the pics. But in turn, you are only allowing door decoration and welcome mat. Set a date and remove all items still in the hallway. Dont need to throw away, but when they see you mean business, they will respect the rules. Return the items if the resident comes to the office. 30 days, throw out the remaining confiscated items.

I have had a constant shoe violator but this is crazy!! It seems like you are on the right track, you rent an apartment and even then their are restrictions.

Since their doorway area has that little indentation, I would allow it as long as nothing extended past the wall to where it was a potential obstruction in the hallway. I would also limit it to tasteful décor and or the scooter/walker example.

Call the fire dept and have them come and write citations. This is not safe and certainly is a fire hazard. Let them be the bad guys.

My corporate supervisor always said your space starts and ends at your front door. Not outside of it. I'd just blame it on code. Fire inspector came by said all of these things outside doors have to go. The end.

I always explain it to people from the safety aspect. You can’t have anything in the common space that could be a potential tripping hazard. We have balconies for decorating and exterior leisure. Blame it on the “fire safety code”.

48 hours to move anything other than a door mat and door decor or it wld be held in storage 30 days and then pitched or sold!

Hell I rarely allow a doormat or wreath. Let alone this