Landlords generally understand the significance of inspecting rental property periodically. Periodic visits to your property will help ensure that it stays in good condition, as tenant screening is not enough to guarantee this. It's also a good way to make sure you don't end up with a destroyed home due to a marijuana grow op.
For landlords that are not living on the property, it's important to arrange with your tenants for visitations. You can do a drive-by whenever you want, but how often can you actually go inside and inspect the premises?
This issue is not always easy to resolve.
Laws are on the books that designate when you can visit your rental property. For example, BC has a law that states: "A tenant is entitled to exclusive possession of a rental unit, including reasonable privacy, and quiet and peaceful enjoyment."
If landlords don't follow the proper procedures before visiting the rental unit, they could end up in a bad situation with the law. Indicate on your rental agreement that you will be inspecting the unit periodically. In BC, you can inspect your property once a month, if you like.
In BC, landlords can enter a tenant's rental unit if:
An emergency situation arises and the property or life needs to be protected. This would be a situation where further harm would occur if the landlord had to take the time to provide notice.
Written notice is given to the tenant not less than 24 hours, and not more than 30 days before.
The tenant gives permission to enter to the landlord. Write down the circumstances that required you to enter the unit, and provide written notice even if you have a good relationship with your tenants. Tenants could later state that they felt intimidation from the landlord if they just show up and ask for permission to enter.
Entry is required for the landlord to provide housekeeping or similar services under, if included in the tenancy agreement.
It appears the unit has been abandoned by the tenant. Examples of this are when the rental appears to be abandoned, or if the rent has not been paid by the tenant.
An arbitrator has provided an order allowing entry.
Landlords may believe that their visits may be for a "reasonable purpose", and this may be true, but if the visits are too frequent, it is no longer reasonable. In the province of BC, landlords are restricted to entering their rental properties only one time every month.
If the landlord works around the schedule of the tenant to arrange for visitation times, the process goes much more smoothly.
When looking to minimize any issues when doing inspections, landlords should:
Provide proper notice to the tenants before an inspection.
Make sure you have a valid reason for visiting, such as, repairs or regular inspections.
Log the visitations in a notebook with the reason for visiting, and the date and time.
Talk to your tenants about how often you will be inspecting the property prior to them taking possession of the property. They should be aware that inspections will be done on a regular basis.
If they're expecting the visits, rather than being surprised, it's much less likely that they'll complain. You can relax as a landlord if you know that your rental property is in good shape, and is not a place where criminal activities are taking place.
For landlords that are not living on the property, it's important to arrange with your tenants for visitations. You can do a drive-by whenever you want, but how often can you actually go inside and inspect the premises?
This issue is not always easy to resolve.
Laws are on the books that designate when you can visit your rental property. For example, BC has a law that states: "A tenant is entitled to exclusive possession of a rental unit, including reasonable privacy, and quiet and peaceful enjoyment."
If landlords don't follow the proper procedures before visiting the rental unit, they could end up in a bad situation with the law. Indicate on your rental agreement that you will be inspecting the unit periodically. In BC, you can inspect your property once a month, if you like.
In BC, landlords can enter a tenant's rental unit if:
An emergency situation arises and the property or life needs to be protected. This would be a situation where further harm would occur if the landlord had to take the time to provide notice.
Written notice is given to the tenant not less than 24 hours, and not more than 30 days before.
The tenant gives permission to enter to the landlord. Write down the circumstances that required you to enter the unit, and provide written notice even if you have a good relationship with your tenants. Tenants could later state that they felt intimidation from the landlord if they just show up and ask for permission to enter.
Entry is required for the landlord to provide housekeeping or similar services under, if included in the tenancy agreement.
It appears the unit has been abandoned by the tenant. Examples of this are when the rental appears to be abandoned, or if the rent has not been paid by the tenant.
An arbitrator has provided an order allowing entry.
Landlords may believe that their visits may be for a "reasonable purpose", and this may be true, but if the visits are too frequent, it is no longer reasonable. In the province of BC, landlords are restricted to entering their rental properties only one time every month.
If the landlord works around the schedule of the tenant to arrange for visitation times, the process goes much more smoothly.
When looking to minimize any issues when doing inspections, landlords should:
Provide proper notice to the tenants before an inspection.
Make sure you have a valid reason for visiting, such as, repairs or regular inspections.
Log the visitations in a notebook with the reason for visiting, and the date and time.
Talk to your tenants about how often you will be inspecting the property prior to them taking possession of the property. They should be aware that inspections will be done on a regular basis.
If they're expecting the visits, rather than being surprised, it's much less likely that they'll complain. You can relax as a landlord if you know that your rental property is in good shape, and is not a place where criminal activities are taking place.
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