Introduction

In Part 1, we discussed the ever-rising tide of legal claims in multifamily – from everyday slip-and-falls costing an average $45,000 to more complex habitability disputes spiking 15% year-over-year (CBRE, 2025). But here's the optimistic flip: with smart tracking and mitigation, you can turn potential pitfalls into preventable wins. At elucidin, it's one of those operational gaps we fill with our Legal & Risk Tool – empowering teams to document incidents, track workflows, and manage claims before they balloon. Enough with the shameless plug; let's talk about what you can do to manage the downside.

Step-by-Step Strategies for Claim Management

Preventing Incidents - Educate and train. 

Think of this as the preventative maintenance of claim management. Most teammates won't have the raw experience or even prior training when they join your team.. You have to approach it as a clean slate. Don't wait for claims to hit; empower your team with regular training

Here are some key areas to train your teammates on:

Hazard Assessment and avoidance:

Every set of eyes that see your sites should be allies in hazard assessment - that is, if they know what to look for. Past that, they also have to have a path to act when they spot an issue.

It's also important to remember that people get used to the smell of things. It's why when you perform a due diligence on a site problems seem to be jumping out at you - you're looking for issues and opportunities and with fresh eyes. When you are in a stabilized operation, you have to push people to realize that just because something exists a certain way now, that might not be how it should be.

Safety Training:

Train and train to their world and role. General awareness training is good but nothing is more frustrating than sitting through a pre-packaged safety class where attendees sit there asking themselves "Forklift safety, great, how does this apply to me".

Make it meaningful. Go through actual real - world case studies of incidents and claims that have happened in your organization. What was the cause? What was the outcome? What was the total cost? This isn't to point fingers but to show how these things can happen and manifest where they are at. Don't have examples? Reach out to your insurance broker or carrier for some. More than likely they will share scenarios and events minus the names and places. Then challenge those you've taught to apply their newfound knowledge to their world.

Incident Response:

There are some important things teammates must know with the what and the how of handling and documenting incidents and the time to learn this isn't after Johnny drives a golf cart off a retention wall into a building, an assault happens to a teammate or a fire breaks out in a unit.

Teach and confirm they know:

• How to secure, record and document the scene: Focusing on risk and damage mitigation. Capturing photo or video images or other material to preserve information .
• What to say and what not to say: It's almost reflexive to say "I'm sorry" when something happens but you want to avoid a perceived admission of guilt or negligence. So what should your teammates say? In high stress situations people fall back to their own personality by default if they don't train and practice scenarios.
• How to get the help you need: You can't train every scenario so you need a lifeline available. Who can they call?

It's also useful to identify teammates in your region to be mentors and peers to support those new to the industry. It can be more effective than just saying "Go ask your supervisor" as new teammates are often hesitant to look bad in front of their boss until they have built up a level of trust.

Preventing Incidents - Regular Inspections and Audits

Consider this like a site "health checkup" – and yes there is a cost to doing it. But this is way cheaper than the ER bill of a lawsuit or 10 hours with an attorney!

Routine site walks are good but they must be documented. If it doesn't get documented then for all intensive legal defense purposes it didn't happen. Back in the day this meant printed paper forms with checkboxes all saved in some binder. But, guess what, the extra attention worked. Inspect what you expect as it were. Today inspection tools abound and you can share and look at the results for immediate action or retrieval down the road.

Remember in a lawsuit you'll not be judged by your peers but against them. A savvy lawyer will ask questions like "Why didn't you have vehicular gates when everyone else does?". " Why did you not inspect your sites to ensure things were being operated like your contractually or statutorily obligated to?" The implication being " You negligent company you".

You should create a culture of learning and improvement from your inspections and audits. They shouldn't be seen as gotchas but as tools that let you kick ass in operations. Celebrate the wins and train the lessons. 

Post Incident - Reporting and Documenting

Incident Reporting: The Next Line of Defense

Start at the source. Going back to the training you must get your teams to log incidents thoroughly and accurately. Mobile-friendly dashboards (like elucidin's Quick Actions) ease this step. You should include photos, witness statements, and official reports. Some tools like ours, provide calculated risk scores – where an Inherent Risk methodology weighs severity (e.g., a shooting at 150 points) against mitigations like security, cameras, etc. letting you see approximate residual risk for the incident down the road - letting you work to manageable levels.

Post Incident - Incident Lifecycle Tracking

You have an incident now you must manage it to closure. What this closure means is different for each type of incident. For example:

• A work order may need to be generated to correct some issue or site condition.
• Training may need to be pushed out again to make sure teammates are clear on things such as fair housing laws or requirements
• Some level of settlement and release may be needed to avoid a downstream legal claim

With any incident there is an ongoing need to maintain clear and concise documentation. The level of that documentation is going to depend on the incident, of course, but you'll want pictures, a clear time line, who was involved, who witnessed and what happened afterwards. If someone was injured, your eyes should be wide open...

Tools like Kanban boards and calendars can help you move incidents and claims from "Received" to "Resolved." but all of these tools need to play nicely together . There is a lot of information: contacts, payments, and documents. So if you can keep it in one spot – no more scattered emails and involved games of hide and go seek down the road.

Post Incident - Learn and Adjust

The problem is that not all incidents are alike. There is a broad swath of incident types and each has a couple forms of claim risk; immediate and trailing. Consider how asset class, location and incident types may magnify or decrease impact.

Large portfolios with a high incident count can get lost in the general noise of things. Have a way to look at the data and figure out what is noise and what is signal. Along with this consider that few organizations are overstaffed, so you have to maximize your resources.

When should you seek a proactive settlement to curtail downstream costs and expenses? When should you stand firm? What training is missed? What needs to be reinforced? 

Conclusion Part 2 and Next Steps

Managing claims isn't about reacting – it's about anticipating. And, yes, there are built out tools that let stay ahead, fostering safer sites and stronger bottom lines. But as we discussed there are many things you can do today in your organization: Train, audit, track adjust. Like most things you can't wait for the perfect time to start so start now and get ahead of the headaches.

What's your biggest claim headache? What have you created to manage incidents and claims?

Sources

Statistic Referenced: Slip-and-falls costing ~$45,000; habitability disputes up 15% YoY (2024-2025) U.S. Real Estate Market Outlook 2025 - Multifamily (CBRE) – Covers broader multifamily trends, including rising costs and disputes. For Q4 specifics: U.S. Multifamily Recovery Gains Momentum (CBRE, Jan 2025).

Source: NMHC Survey (2025)

Statistic Referenced: 28% of properties with compliance gaps face escalated claims NMHC Releases 2024 State of Multifamily Risk Survey and Report (NMHC, Mar 2025) – Focuses on risk, insurance pressures, and compliance-related escalations. For general quarterly insights: NMHC Quarterly Survey of Apartment Conditions (Oct 2025).

Source: Fannie Mae Multifamily Insights (2025)

Statistic Referenced: Proactive tools leading to premium savings/better risk profiles 2025 Multifamily Market Outlook: Clearer Skies Ahead (Fannie Mae, Jan 2025) – Discusses market stability and risk management. For risk mitigation insights: Multifamily Insights Podcast (Fannie Mae) – Episodes cover real-time risk tools reducing premiums (e.g., water-related claims).