Entry Condition Reports: An Overview
As a responsible property investor, it is important to protect your best interests – and the interests of your tenants. One of the most important ways to ensure that major disputes or disagreements don’t arise during or after a tenancy is by filling out and saving a copy of an entry conditions report. In fact, this report is required. You can learn more about the report by checking with your property management Brisbane firm, or by reading on below.
What Is an Entry Condition Report?
An entry condition report is used to document the condition of a property when a tenant moves in, in order to compare it to how it is when a tenant moves out. In other words, it is used so that a reasonable comparison can be made concerning the condition of a property. Both parties must sign the report, ensuring that nothing untrue is included in it.
Ideally, an entry condition report should be completed before a tenant moves in.
This report should be provided to all tenants along with their tenancy agreement, alternatively on the first day that the property is available.
The report must indicate all clean, undamaged and working items that are on the premises; your tenant will then review your comments. If he agrees with what is reported, he simply signs off on them; if he disagrees with any of them, he must include comments that state so.
Protect Yourself and Your Tenant
The tenant will have three days to return the entry condition report after it has been provided to them by your nominated property management firm. During those three days, he can look over all of the items that you’ve highlighted in order to make sure that he agrees with your assessments of them. The property manager and your tenant also have the option of creating photographs or videos of the premises; depending on the circumstances, this may be a smart move to make. High end Brisbane real estate often require this additional kind of documentation.
Once the form is completed and has been signed off on by both parties, it must be stored in a safe place – generally this is done by the property management firm. The last thing you want to do is misplace the document, since doing so will open you up to misunderstandings and other problems at the end of the tenancy. For instance, your tenant could claim that damages were already there when he moved in, when they were not. With an entry condition report, you’ll be able to confirm or disprove your tenant’s claims with ease, since his signature will be on it. The bottom line is, never skip the entry condition report – and always hold on to it.