Latest News: Preventing Utility Theft

Welcome to CSASecure� Connect, an e-newsletter with the latest news about utility savings for the multifamily residential industry. We welcome your questions, feedback and suggestions.

Milestone Management reports a 50% reduction in vacant electric cost!

At Milestone Management, the total vacant electricity cost billed back to residents dropped from an average $10,000 per community per year in 2006 to $5,000 in 2008. That's what Jeff Sherman, Vice President, discovered when he analyzed 42 properties that consistently used CSASecure� during that time period.

He also found that the percentage of total vacant expenses had dropped from 30% to 20%. There were other benefits too, such as avoiding negative confrontations with the residents who receive a large bill under a vacancy program.

Saving Owners' Money During Tough Times
"The CSASecure� program has been a great success for Milestone Management," said President Steve Lamberti. "We pioneered the vacant cost recovery program with USIEnergy back in early 2000 and we thought we had recovered all vacant utilities-until we implemented the CSASecure� program."

"Now we're saving real money for our owners in this tough economic time and, in the process, keeping our operations people happy with the utility process. You can't ask for more than that."

BH Management reduces vacant electricity cost for Texas communities by 47%

CSASecure� is producing big results for BH Management since it was implemented in November 2008 covering 9,938 units in Texas. Through May 2009, the company's community managers have already reduced the total number of vacant loss days by 47% from 10,675 to 5,763 days.

"We're very happy with CSASecure�," said Steve Donohue, President of BH Management. "We're getting a reduction in vacant electricity cost as well as high levels of satisfaction on the part of our community managers." The company has added even more units to the program, bringing the total to 11,732 as of May 2009.

NWP and BluTrend� team up to offer the only 100% Vacancy Recovery Program in the multifamily industry!

In partnership with BluTrend�, NWP Services Corporation is offering the only 100% Vacancy Recovery Program powered by CSASecure�. This new program allows multifamily customers to:

Reduce electricity expenses by an additional 40% compared to traditional vacant recovery programs offered by other companies.
Save time for property managers, who no longer have to prepare and try to collect charges for move-out violators.

NWP's leading convergent billing process will include charges for back-end move-out violators using CSASecure� services. To learn more about this special service, visit www.nwpsc.com or contact Mark Gentile at 949-253-3287 or via e-mail at mgentile@nwpsc.com.

FREE CSASecure from Georgia Natural Gas!

Georgia Natural Gas � (GNG) is Georgia's leading natural gas provider and a preferred provider of services to the state's multifamily industry. For a limited time, GNG is offering 12 months of FREE CSASecure service to multifamily property owners who become new GNG enrollees or renew their current enrollment by July 31, 2009.

Double Savings for GNG Customers
"Our multifamily customers can reduce utility expenses by identifying gas theft with CSASecure�," said Michael Presto, Manager, GNG Small Business. "And, they will save even more because GNG will pay the CSASecure� service fees for a full year."
In addition, GNG offers great rates and incentives to help multifamily owners weather the recession. To learn more, contact Michael Presto at 404-685-4053 or michael.presto@southstarenergy.com . Additional terms and conditions apply.

Austin Energy offering cash rebates

Austin Energy has one of the best multifamily portals in the industry. Its multifamily offering has many benefits including cash rebates for making energy efficiency improvements to your communities. To date, more than 48,000 units throughout Austin have received rebates totaling over $5 million. Even more savings opportunities will be available soon when CSASecure� becomes available to customers in the Austin Energy's Multifamily Partnership Program. Find out more at www.csasecure.com and www.austinenergy.com.

What can you do about utility theft?

As an apartment owner or a management company, your assets are exposed to utility theft if you operate under a Continuous Service Agreement (CSA). Utility theft occurs when a resident uses gas or electricity while the utility account is in your company's name. This can happen at move-in, move-out or any time during the lease.

Studies show that an average-sized property of 300 units may lose $7,000 to $20,000 per year in additional vacant expenses that should have been paid by residents. A portion of this will never be recovered unless you are using the CSASecure� service, which identifies violations within 24 hours. The results can be dramatic: increased NOI with a 200% ROI.

Know Your Property Rights

Here's a brief summary of your rights as the owner/manager to help you reduce the impact of utility theft:

You have the right to remove service to any unit that has the utility account in your name.
You may have the right to recover charges from resident violators for using your utility service (based on actual or estimated charges, depending on the lease language).
You may have the right to assess penalties for each month of lease violation, depending on the lease language.

You may have additional rights in some states. For more information, contact your local apartment association. For more about utility theft and how to deal with its consequences, go to www.csasecure.com.

We value your time and hope the information in this newsletter is beneficial to you. We welcome your feedback and suggestions to make future issues even more useful.

Sincerely,

Michael Anderson

Managing Partner

BluTrend