Some angry residents only go so far as to write a negative review of your community, but others act as if you have dishonored their family and have now made it their sole mission in life to make life miserable for the community.  In December, an evicted resident shot two people in the community office as retribution.  Fortunately, that is the exception rather than the rule, but more often residents will take less extreme measures to harass a community and the team online. 

We have seen that first hand here on Multifamily Insiders.  Almost 99% of the time, our discussions only attract others who manage apartment communities, but every so often a post will also draw in residents.  A few years ago, Erin wrote a funny post about "How to Write a Bad Apartment Review", and funnily enough, residents don't seem to get the joke, as they frequently try to post comments blasting their apartment community.  For example:

What I find hilarious is the idea that residents go into Google and do a search for "How to Write a Bad Apartment Review", like there is some sort of special formula to get the maximum negative reaction for  the community.  But regardless, it just shows that without properly handling an angry resident, their influence isn't just a negative review on ApartmentRatings.com - their anger metastasizes and spreads to every outlet they can find.  Would a local news outlet like to hear about the "unlivable conditions" of the "slumlord" where they live?  Or would hyper-local Facebook groups like to hear the "real scoop" about your community?  Would they even go so far as to reach out to your Facebook fans, and tell them their "horrific" experience?

These situations cannot just be ignored or they can grow out of control.  Lia Smith wrote a blog post recently for handling negative reviews which I highly recommend, but regardless, it is important to have a strategy in place to handle these frustrating situations.