Would i be out of line by performing monthly interior inspections at my rental properties?

Question

for some reasonsome tennants dont report when things are broken and or tend to be ruff on certain items,heaters, garbage disposals so and so forth.

im not being nosey just looking for things like leaky pipes ect.!

Answer 1

Yeah I would say that would be totally out of line. I know where you are going. But maybe you can spin it differently.

Say okay I will come by to do a monthly check up. Check some things out, make sure the pipes are okay. But its your privacy and if you cant think of anything I need to check I wont come into *YOUR LEASED PROPERTY*.

Depending on your leases.... well I dont even know if you can legally do it. I would make it a choice. Renters have rights too, if I rented from you and you said im here to do the monthly inspection. I would tell you to go to hell.

Maybe you want to hire a non biased company that checks it twice a year, at your expense. But only checks on possible issues with the property. Electric, pipes whatever. There is another side to this, do you really as a landlord want to walk into somebody elses property without a court order? Do you even know your liability? What if they say there was 10,000 on the table? Personally I think its the worst mistake you could make.

But I think you are crossing the line with your question.

Answer 2

Monthly would be excessive, IMHO. Once or twice a year is reasonable. More than that is not. Even quarterly is stretching the point.

If I were renting and the landlord announced such an inspection schedule I'd tell him to pound sand. If it were in the lease, I'd strike the clause and initial it before signing. And if he refused to initial off on the change, I'd tear it up and look elsewhere.

When I was a landlord I did an annual walk through. I also sent out an HVAC firm in the spring and fall to check out the furnace and AC systems and any gas appliances. If they noticed anything significantly wrong while doing their work they would report back but I only got two calls like that in 12 years. Both were for large quantities of suspected drugs in the homes and we turned that over to the cops.

Answer 3

I had a landlord years ago that wanted monthly inspections. What a PITA this was. She nit-picked about me not pulling the neighbors mint plants that were coming over on the property line, I hadn't swept the basement floor, etc., etc.. But the previous tenants pile of garbage bags were still in the garage after we had been their a few months. I complained, she loosened the noose and only came by every 2 or 3 months. Despite all her inspections and demands, she did manage to find enough stuff wrong when we left to keep all of my deposit. $35 for oven cleaning was my favorite charge against my deposit. $200 for carpet cleaning when we shampooed the carpets a day before the lease was up was my second favorite.

You can probably make it more palatable for the tenants if you come by every 2 or 3 months. Once a month seems a bit excessive to tenants.

Answer 4

I have in my lease a clause that allows monthly inspections. I perform them on apartments where tenants do not report problems. (IE: Sink starts leaking and never gets reported until it makes it's way into the apartment below)

I have never had a complaint about the invasion, most tenants realise that they are living in someone else's house. Though, just because I am allowed monthly inspections, doesn't mean they are performed that frequently.

Answer 5

My experience is that you can make monthly inspections legally if you do them for fire prevention. You look to see if the smoke detectors have working batteries in them (I charge $10 each violation), accumulation of cardboard boxes, accumulation of newpapers, stuffing paperbags along side the fridge, never changing furnace air filters, 250 watt bulbs in tiny bedside lamps, too many plugins in one outlet, papertowel rack mounted over a cooking area, etc., etc. And when you do these inspections, you can check out anything else you want such as the water heater. And you can get a discount on your insurance if you document your visits. Make a checklist. Title it Fire Prevention Inspection. Make copies. Get a clipboard. Also you can try to get your tennants to get renters insurance. They can get $20,000 for $12 per month. I find that tennants who have insurance tend to have more respect and care for their own things and for the properties. Hope this helps.

Answer 6

A better solution would be a detailed move-in inspection, and then a move-out walk through with both parties. The damages coming out of their deposit. A monthly inspection sounds excessive, and you could pretty much count out renewals.

Answer 7

Would you want someone coming into your home every month? It my by your house, but it's their home, when you take their money, that's the agreement you make. My adivce would be do more in screening your potential tenants. You pop in once a month, you will just upset people and they will move, then you have all that extra expense. Best to get good tenants and keep them happy.

Answer 8

As long as you give 24 hour notice that you are doing the inspection you should not have any problems, just don't go barging in this is against the law.

Answer 9

monthly seems a bit intrusive. quarterly or spring/fall when major temp changes are coming would probably be okay. Put it in future leases that excessive wear and tear will cost the tenant

Answer 10

That's a bit stiff. I'd say the maximum you can get away with is quarterly, and even then, you should do NO more than twice per year.