We have talked about there being three stages to a tenancy. Stage two is managing the tenancy while the tenant occupies the unit. 

The BC government standard tenancy agreement is six pages long and has 16 different clauses with multiple subclauses. Many landlords report to me, my tenants are good, because they pay rent on time each month. Payment of rent is only one of the terms in a tenancy agreement. How do you as a landlord ensure your tenants are adhering to all the other terms of the agreement.

One way to do this is to inspect the property during the tenancy. What can you determine by performing an inspection of the property. How many people are residing in the unit, is the person on the agreement still living there,  how clean is the unit, is anything broken which has not been reported, have the tenants obtained a pet?  In order to identify these issues one must physically attend the property.   

I have often attended properties finding people with unauthorized pets they have acquired since renting the unit without informing the landlord.  

If during an inspection an issue is identified this provides the landlord with the opportunity to make a decision about the tenancy. If a tenant has acquired a pet the landlord has multiple options. One they can choose to do nothing, two they can allow the tenant to keep the animal, three they can request the animal be removed if the tenancy prohibited pets. If a tenant obtains a pet and the landlord elects to allow them to keep the pet, two things should be done. A new condition inspection report should be completed at the time the pet is obtained to determine the condition of the property when the pet arrived. Second the tenant should provide the landlord with a pet deposit equivalent to half a month’s rent.    

Tenants will sometimes sublet the unit without notice and when a landlord attends and finds different people residing at the unit. With Short term rentals we have heard stories of people renting units then turning the keys over to other parties who rent it on short term accommodation websites.  

Performing regular inspections of your rental property will provide the landlord with the information required to make decisions about the property. Doing your due diligence before, during and at the end of your tenancy is important. We communicate to potential applicants that we will inspect the unit regularly which we feel discourages deceptive people from applying knowing they are going to be inspected regularly. Residential tenancy law in BC allows an owner to visit their property once per month with proper notice.   

Caretref Properties inspects all the units it manages twice in a 12 month period to ensure the tenants are adhering to the terms of the tenancy agreement as part of our management agreement. Some insurance policies require more frequent inspections. Cartref can inspect units more frequently for an additional cost if requested by homeowners.       

Not sure what is going on in your rental property, call us today and we can assist you with performing an inspection of your rental property.  

Need assistance with your rental property contact us for an evaluation of your needs.

www.cartrefproperties.com