Why inspection reports are so important

Xenia

Xenia

We just rented a higher end property to a tenant with a seemingly good track record in looking after a property and paying rent on time.

However we recieved a call a few days ago informing us that the property is in a bad condition, there are black marks all over carpet and the wall paper is ripped and she is demanding free rent until the landlord resolves those problems.

One of our property managers was sent there today to take some photos and compare them to the intitial inspection that we did a few weeks ago before she moved in.

Photos clearly show intact wall paper and clean carpet. Moreover, the stains on the carpet are perfectly aligned with the bed that is in the main room, so unless she got a bed that was the exact same sise as the "pre existing stains" that she claims and put it exacly in the middle, then it is likely that they caused the stains and ripped the wall paper and is now obviously trying to blame the landlord.

If we did not have an initial condition report with lots of photos to compare we would have been screwed on this claim!

I can't believe that people would cause damage to a property then try and blame someone else and on top of that ask for compensation for something that they caused! She was even very rude to the pm, pointed to the ripped wall paper and said "see what I have to live with" I want to be compensated for all of this".

We will be having a meeting about what the action is to be on this and discussing with the landlord, but my suggestion is to take her to a tribunal now instead of in 12 months when the property is handed back, get her to rectify all damage and if not then carry through an eviction.

I will keep you posted! We have never had a case like this before, normally when tenants damage properties, they try to hide it, this one is very overt about it and ringing the office constantly to complain about her living conditions!
 
boomtown said:
Punt the tenant.
Click to expand...

i wonder if you can cannonise a tennant?


ON a side note - I think it's also important to do this if you are a tennant as well. The property we live in now came supplied with a number of "defects", such as numerous stains, marks and scuffs on walls, broken blinds, threadbare carpet, cigarrette burns in carpets... etc etc.
I made sure that when we moved in i detailed EVERYTHING on the ingoing inspection report and took pics. I have a feeling I am going to have to use that report and those pics when we move out soon.... i rekon that the owner is going to try and lump those damages on us, when they were pre-existing.

It's much more important to do it as a landlord though - as Xenia has pointed out.
That is one gaudy tennant!
 
Hard to understand how should could even try that on.

Xenia, didn't she go through the property in person with one of your PM's before agreeing to lease the place?
 
Xenia, you mentioned tenants usually try to hide damage they have caused.
What is a p.m's usual course of action when they notice damage. Do they insist the damage is rectified immediately, (even if accidental) and make it a tribunal matter if this does not happen? Or do you wait until the end of the lease period and deduct damage costs from bond?

I realize this particular tenant is shall we say "outside the ordinary" for you but generally what would happen?
 
Xenia, great learnings for eveyone.

Interested to know, if you take photos on all of your initial inspections and if you also do the same with your 6 monthly or periodic inspections.
 
We also take photos prior to the tenant moving into the property.

We also take general photos at routine inspections along with detailed photos of any issues caused by the tenant along with any maintenance issues. these are then put into a report to the owner. Should we have issues with the tenant we then write to them asking them to recitfy the issues and follow up with another inspection ussually in 14 days.
 
silversands said:
Xenia, you mentioned tenants usually try to hide damage they have caused.
What is a p.m's usual course of action when they notice damage. Do they insist the damage is rectified immediately, (even if accidental) and make it a tribunal matter if this does not happen? Or do you wait until the end of the lease period and deduct damage costs from bond?

I realize this particular tenant is shall we say "outside the ordinary" for you but generally what would happen?
Click to expand...

Yes, tenant's are taken to tribunal immediately to rectify the damage. We do not wait to end of lease it sends a message that we do not tolerate damage.

Some landlords advise otherwise but generally it is taken care of there and then. This tenant will be taken to tribunal.

The inspection was not done with the tenant there, it does not have to be. It was done when previous tenant vacated (1.5 weeks before this current one moved in) so that we know what to deduct from bond (only $50 for weeding in this instance but nothing else).

This tenant does not realise that we have photo evidence of the initial condition. She soon will.
 
Xenia said:
Yes, tenant's are taken to tribunal immediately to rectify the damage. We do not wait to end of lease it sends a message that we do not tolerate damage.

Some landlords advise otherwise but generally it is taken care of there and then. This tenant will be taken to tribunal.

The inspection was not done with the tenant there, it does not have to be. It was done when previous tenant vacated (1.5 weeks before this current one moved in) so that we know what to deduct from bond (only $50 for weeding in this instance but nothing else).

This tenant does not realise that we have photo evidence of the initial condition. She soon will.
Click to expand...

Hi Xenia

The photo's come in very handy for tribual hearings.

The PM we are using has a copy of the photo's made and they are signed
and returned with the condition report to the PM, this saves disputes as to what may have happened to the property between when the photos were taken and when the tenant moved in,this would possibly stop problems such as the one you are having now.

Cheers

Pete
 
When we rented in SA we had to go through the Inspection Report together with the Landlord walking through the house, agree to the condition of walls, carpets etc etc and we both had to sign the report and we each kept a copy. This was then compared with the exit report. My PM has done the same with our IP's.

I thought that this procedure was a requirement to rent in SA? Especially when there is a PM involved. Are you saying Xenia that this wasnt done in this rental? It would have prevented this whole issue!
 
Xenia said:
Yes, tenant's are taken to tribunal immediately to rectify the damage. We do not wait to end of lease it sends a message that we do not tolerate damage.

Some landlords advise otherwise but generally it is taken care of there and then. This tenant will be taken to tribunal.

The inspection was not done with the tenant there, it does not have to be. It was done when previous tenant vacated (1.5 weeks before this current one moved in) so that we know what to deduct from bond (only $50 for weeding in this instance but nothing else).

This tenant does not realise that we have photo evidence of the initial condition. She soon will.
Click to expand...


We have been taking photos for our ingoing inspections for years, the difference with us is that we keep a copy on file (as well as on disk) send copy to landlord along with lease docs. and we give a copy to the tenant.


By giving a copy to the tenant it puts the tenant on noitce; helps save time and disputes when they do vacate, they sign that they have recieved the photos so that we can use in the tribunal if needed.

We rarely have any problems on vacating.
 
Thanks Xenia for sharing the experience. I'd have to take double the photoes from now during all the changeover in tenants.
 
Just to clarify the legislation in SA at least.

Photos help but are not required by law. Our inital written inspection report would get this case through the tribunal. Photos are an extra bonus.

The tenant is not required by law to be present when agents perform either ingoing or outgoing or routine inspections. In some cases they are but this is not a legislative requirement.

We give the tenants an inspection report on the day they sign a lease and they have 14 days to comment and dispute the condition report. After 14 days the agent's comments are IT!

In this case, the 14 days have passed so the tribunal will only look at our comments on the inspection sheet. That is enough evidence even if photos were not taken.

Although the tenant has desperately tried to make it a case of a dispute with the condition report it is quiet obviously not and the tribunal will not see it as that either.

This is now a case where a tenant has breached a lease by causing damage to a property and we are treating it as such. We have served her a form to rectify the damage which will be followed by a termination notice and a tribunal hearing if not rectified.

The sad thing is the landlord is a beautiful caring man who keeps his properties in tip top shape. Her motivation behind it all was to have the place painted and the wall paper off as she feels that it is out dated. It's one of those wall paper strips with pictures that runs up a quarter of the wall. Looks nice but not up to date modern as she would have liked.

If she had just asked for that directly and negotiated like a sane human being, he would have considered updating the property and she would have had what she wanted. Now she is facing a possible eviction and at the very least a non renewal of her lease because this would be our recomendation to the landlord.
 
I think photos are a great idea. I rented a place once and they gave me a burnt CD containing around 100 photos of the place on move in.

I wonder if it would have been even better to have given a copy of the photos to the tenant so she would have not even tried such a thing in the first place?
 
DavidMc said:
I think photos are a great idea. I rented a place once and they gave me a burnt CD containing around 100 photos of the place on move in.

I wonder if it would have been even better to have given a copy of the photos to the tenant so she would have not even tried such a thing in the first place?
Click to expand...


Hi DavidMc

Agree, much better to give a copy of the photos to the tennant, better
to try and stop problems with tennants than spend spend time and money
attemting to solve problems.

Cheers

Pete
 
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