Landlords: Your rights and responsibilities at the final inspection
Part of being a landlord is leaving tenants. It’s essential for you to understand your rights and responsibilities to avoid disputes with the leaving tenants. Here’s a guide on your rights and responsibilities as a landlord:
Final Bond Inspection
A final bond inspection is the inspection you need to do on the tenant’s moving day. This will let you know whether they’ll get their bond back intact. This will also make you see what you need from your tenant, such as:
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Rent arrears
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Outstanding electricity, water, and gas bills
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Property and material damage
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Cleaning costs, if the tenant left the property dirty
You or your property manager should carry out this inspection in comparison to the Property Condition Report. This is the report done before your tenant moved into the property. This details the condition of your property before the tenant moved in—including any damages already there. If you manage your property yourself, the property condition is something you need to do very thoroughly, so there is no room for discrepancies.
Make sure to conduct a thorough inspection of the property, preferably with your tenant. This is where you use the Property Condition Report from before. Compare the current condition of the items against their original condition in the report. After that, you should discuss any breakage, missing items, or repairs with the tenant.
Who Will Pay For Damages?
It’s not too much to ask for your property to be returned to you in a clean and undamaged condition. Which will beg the question, who needs to pay for the damages in the property?
The answer to that question is mostly both you and the tenant. The tenant is not responsible for the fair wear and tear on your property. On the other hand, if the property has severe damage due to their neglect or they did wilful damage, they should pay for the repairs and/or replacement of the damaged items, This amount can be deducted to the tenant's bond refund.
However, keep in mind that there are some marks and stains that are hard to determine the cause. Always consider the size and location of the damage and age of your property. It bears repeating that your property will experience wear and tear over the years - take that into consideration.
They also have the responsibility to return all sets of keys given to them when they moved in. if they fail to do so, you can charge them for the cost of changing the locks, or charge them rent until they give the keys back.
Talking To The Tenants
Do your best to come to an agreement with your leaving tenant regarding deductions from the bond. If not, try to compromise. If all else fails, resolve this dispute with the help of the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA).
First time landlord or not, it’s good to have a reminder like this every now and then. If you need property advice or someone to manage your rental properties for you, we’re here! Just leave us a message.
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