Use YouTube as a permanent record of your video inventory. Remember to ask tenant to sign your copy of their inventory. Keep your phones SD card indexed to the property and tenants it contains.
Hi Mark,
I took a tenant to court for the damage they did to one of my properties and the presented original pictures I took m at the start of their tenancy and images at the end of the tenancy . The judge was quite happy with the validity and awarded me full compensation.
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I agree you should take pics, all this stuff about tenant having to sign ect, what a nonsense, its evidence full stop.
Deposits are not enough to cover damage anyway and its a lot of hassle with the DPS when you have to claim, my last claim took a year to get the cash out of them.
I found a tenant smokes against the rules, I cant stop him, the damage is thousands,redecoration, carpets, even the kitchen doors are stained, so I have just put up the rent to cover when he leaves.
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Good luck proving that the tenant ever received an inventory if they donât sign one and claim they never had the one you spent hours putting together.
That would be nonsense.
Hi David
Just wanted to add that digital platforms like smarterinventories act as the middleman. Both LL and tenant sign up to the platform. You then both communicate through the platform. So when you have completed your inventory you donât send it to the tenant directly, you upload it to smarterinventories and then they send a notification to the tenant to say that âthe document is ready for signing.â Every action is then recorded, so as well as the time/date stamped photos anything that is uploaded/downloaded, sent, received and signed for is automatically recorded with time and date to produce a full audit trail.
There are other digital platforms that apply the same principal to managing the whole tenancy process. The landlord uploads their tenancy agreement and all associated docs EPC, GSC, EICR etc. The platform sends a notification to the tenant that the docs are available for signing. Once all the docs have been signed the tenancy becomes active. The platform then sends notifications when things like GSC and EICR needs renewing to help you stay compliant. This is particularly useful for both private landlords and letting agents alike who have multiple properties to manage.
I hope this helps.
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Sign up for Dropbox itâs a free to use cloud server. I use it to upload videos to send to viewing enquiries that are long distance. I also upload all my inventory pictures and documents for the tenant. You share these with sending them a link with various tools to use such as password protection, share only once or no restrictions. You can upgrade for more storage if required but you can create multiple accounts by using emails such as for example bob@ bobs.com bob01@bobs.com etc. hope this helps
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Yes, Ive been looking at the Smart Inventories offer. I think it may make sense.
Most images are date stamped, proof.
Besides you can now keep the deposit legally, bird in the hand.
Its easy to change the date in the image properties.
I donât follow you here. Are you talking about insured schemes? Even so, you canât âkeep the deposit legallyâ if youâve no basis on which to do so.
As David says, image EXIF data is very easy to change.
U tube. I do it all the time
My inventories are live on the day of check in. A tenant can go around with the preview and ask if they want for any additional photos or descriptions to be changed. They only then sign on the iPad live. I also them send a pdf copy. I also take a video on the day they move in and send a copy of that.
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I found the inventory service provider through Openrent (maybe depending on location, Iâm in London) to be of good value, mostly as it saves me a lot of time, but I know âvalueâ is subjective. My properties are unfurnished (so inventory cost is slightly cheaper than furnished) and I receive a detailed 48-50 page document the next working day. I have a good relationship with my tenants and generally they stay for multiple years, so I havenât had to spend extra on the check-out reports, unless I already know there is damage and the tenant is likely to dispute it. The couple of times this scenario happened, I had the check-out report done via Openrent and sent all documents to the adjudicator. I was awarded the majority of the deposit, so in my view, it was worth the cost. I donât know if the outcome would have been different had I done my own inventory / check-out (but then again, I hate admin!).
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Signed videos and photoâs are convenient - especially if setting up tenancies with tenants viewing remotely - but for disputes donât forget the old fashioned verbal description.
This is especially useful for appliances where you can include such useful info as the date of purchase model and serial number - and descriptions like âno scratches or marksâ - âfully functionalâ.
Also for carpets âno damage stains or discolourationâ
Or surfaces like walls or ceilings - âsmooth plaster - no holes plugs or visible repairs.â
You then get the tenant to sign a document to say they agree with with the description AND you also sign it.
on two copies one for you and one for tenant. No keys until signing done .
- use digital signing if you canât meet and do it in person
Use photos as support but a signed verbal description is less open to dispute on grounds of photo quality or doctoring pictures later etc .
verbal accompanies my photos. And to save myself a bunch of time, I have a clause that basically says that if anything ISNâT detailed here itâs accepted as being âfully functionalâ with âno scratches or marksâ or âdamage, stains or discolorationâ etc. It includes all lightbulbs present and working and all sockets working.
That way, you only have to write it once.
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