Those who have lived in the same apartment building for years become very comfortable with their surroundings. Though you may feel very safe in your apartment building, is it a false sense of security? Because you’re living with lots of other people, there are plenty of opportunities for other residents’ home security choices to negatively affect you. Here are some of the home security slip-ups you may be making as an apartment resident:

Treating the common areas of the building as ‘safe’ areas where you can relax. Once you get comfortable, it’s easy to let your guard down, treating the whole building as a safe place when you are only in control of your own apartment. No matter how long you’ve lived there, the building is still shared space, and you have no idea who could be inside or what their intentions may be. Other residents may be letting people they don’t know inside the building, or they could have dangerous intentions themselves. Stay alert in common areas and pay extra attention to people you don’t recognize. Do not let your kids play in the playground area of your apartment complex unsupervised; doing so is just like sending them into a public park alone.

Failing to install or use home security alarms. Though you might think that such alarms can’t be used in a rented apartment, in fact wireless door and window alarms can be installed almost anywhere, and even taken with you when you move. Motion detectors, glass break sensors, and other devices are critical for home security no matter where you live, , even if you think there’s no possibility of a home invasion. Apartment dwellers tend not to spend a lot of time and effort on the security of their apartment, but they should, especially if they plan to be there a while.

Being careless about leaving your doors and windows unlocked. Even if you live on the tenth floor of a secure apartment building, it is not safe to keep your doors and windows unlocked. You never know who’s inside the building; your neighbors might be letting dangerous people inside. Do not leave windows or doors facing common areas open or unlocked – doing so is just like leaving open an entry facing the street. In fact, they should not only be locked, but also protected with door and window alarms.

Allowing maintenance workers inside the apartment unsupervised. One of the most convenient thing about apartment living is that maintenance workers will fix anything that breaks, but this can also be one of the most dangerous aspects. Sure, it’s easier to just let them do their job while you’re at work, but doing so leaves you at risk. Your belongings could be stolen, or the workers could be scoping out your apartment for a later break-in. Make it your policy to be present when anyone is inside your apartment.

Not knowing all of the escape routes from your apartment. Sure, there’s the route you use every day, usually without even thinking about it. But what if that were blocked by a fire, structural damage, or an attacker wielding a weapon? Could you get out any other way? Apartments tend to have fewer escapes than houses, but there is usually another way out. You should know about possible fire exits, including back stairways and windows leading to fire escapes. Do you know how to use fire escape ladders? If you live on an apartment only a few stories from the ground, invest in fire ladders, which attach to a window so that you can escape to the ground safely.

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