Buying property with tenants and no condition report

Hi all,

It's come to my realisation that the property I am looking at buying (which has as lengthily fixed tenancy agreement in place) may not have had a tenancy condition report prepared.

After speaking with the Department of Fair Trading, I've been advised that if there were any dispute over damages in the property at the end of tenancy, the tenant could simply say it was there when they moved in and I wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

The property managers who took on the tenancy are highly incompetent which leads me to believe they may not have had a tenancy condition report done. I am only hoping they actually did do one, but my gut feeling is they didn't (yes, they are that bad).

Has anyone been in a similar situation? I've asked Fair Trading if I could baseline the condition of the property and apparently there is no provision for this.

Thanks!
 
I would be asking the tenants to sign a new RTA and having your PM do an ingoing report as part of that agreement (it is much more difficult to do these with a furnished property but better than nothing).

You are not concerned with the condition of the property from the beginning of their tenancy only moving forward from when you purchase it.

We have done this many times when our clients have purchased properties from other agencies or private owners with no ingoing inspection.

We have had no problems with them standing up at the CTTT in this situation.
 
I would be asking the tenants to sign a new RTA and having your PM do an ingoing report as part of that agreement (it is much more difficult to do these with a furnished property but better than nothing).

You are not concerned with the condition of the property from the beginning of their tenancy only moving forward from when you purchase it.

We have done this many times when our clients have purchased properties from other agencies or private owners with no ingoing inspection.

We have had no problems with them standing up at the CTTT in this situation.
Hi Priscilla, thanks very much for the reply. Is it possible to annul a previous fixed term RTA, draw up a new one and have a ingoing report done as you suggest? I've been led to believe by CTTT I can't make any changes to the previous agreement whatsoever and must inherit it as it comes. Clearly, some things will need to change (PM, BSB/Account details), but I'm really not sure how it works and if an ingoing can be done at the same time.

Any tips/advice would be most welcomed. Thanks again.
 
Hi Priscilla, thanks very much for the reply. Is it possible to annul a previous fixed term RTA, draw up a new one and have a ingoing report done as you suggest? I've been led to believe by CTTT I can't make any changes to the previous agreement whatsoever and must inherit it as it comes. Clearly, some things will need to change (PM, BSB/Account details), but I'm really not sure how it works and if an ingoing can be done at the same time.

Any tips/advice would be most welcomed. Thanks again.

You cannot annul a previous fixed term agreement, I didn't realise the current agreement was in a fixed term and yes you must inherit it as is.

At settlement the solicitors will issue an attornment notice transfering the rights of the Landlord under the RTA to you and instructing the tenants to pay rent as instructed by you and/or your agent.

All you can really do is make it clear to your PM/tenant that when the current RTA expires you want to enter a whole new agreement complete with an ingoing. I personally would do my own condition report / photos at settlement to record the condition of the property (or have your PM do a thorough routine inspection for your records). Routine inspections are used to monitor the condition of the property during tenancies.
 
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