Privately Landlord Inventories

Compiled by private landlords, these inventories (as above) can be either highly competent documents, or brief, handwritten scrawls. The same warning about objectivity applied to in-house inventories should also be applied here. They may be free, or chargeable. Ask.

Sensible service providers need accurate records and so do tenants. I always now take digital photos of properties on moving in day and ask tenants to sign them as accurate. Tenants too could do exactly the same thing and get them developed with a dateline. Get yourself some evidence of the original condition of rented property – under both existing and new systems of deposit systems, evidence can save you money.

Here’s an excerpt of a very simple inventory to give you some idea of what to expect. Many are much more detailed – some much less so.

Many of us separate the contents and the building, therefore a schedule of building condition may be part of your inventory package and may look something like this.

What To Check

However formal or informal, these inventories are meant to represent the contents of the property, and the condition of its contents on moving in day. In some instances they also state the decorative condition of the premises you are about to rent (schedule of condition). You need to check any documents you are asked to sign extremely carefully. Too often, embarrassed tenants simply smile at the landlord and say they’re sure it’s OK. This has happened to me many times. I always insist that tenants both read and check the inventory because it is our mutual protection.

Draw any deficiencies (if anything’s been missed by accident) to the attention of the landlord/ agent. If you are asked to sign an inventory in an agency office having previously visited the property, ask to revisit before signing a thing – you must check the property conditions against the inventory and don’t take no for an answer.

Signing accurate inventories is a vitally important part of your deposit return process that can’t be skipped if at all possible. If you find for example that the inventory simply says ‘sofa’ but you can see a couple of cigarette burns or it looks slightly soiled, ask politely for this to be noted on the inventory. If you meet with a refusal to change the inventory, start asking yourself why.

This process can actually take a little time. Some landlords and agents can look rather pained if you want to be thorough. Ignore the clearing of throats and glancing at watches that can accompany this process, and don’t sign anything just to get hold of the property. Obvious deficiencies can truly come back to haunt you in this business.

Inventory Safeguards

Property is expensive – and so are its contents. Responsible landlords/ agents ensure that their paperwork is accurate. But the unwary fall victim to scams too numerous to mention. Here’s a tale from a leading financial journalist passed over to me only last month.

Inventories matter. Properties that don’t automatically generate new, accurate inventories will be problematic simply because you’ll be dealing with someone who is either not sure what they’re doing, or someone deliberately trying to undermine your deposit rights. Rent property that comes with an accurate paper-trail. If you really can’t – then at the end of this Lesson I tell you how to draw up a document of your own that could well help to protect your interests.

Safeguarding Your Deposit

This all sounds so easy, doesn’t it? Ask to visit the property, take the inventory, have all the time you want to examine it, ask for anything that concerns you to be included on it before you sign, and bingo, you’re all set!

The reality can sometimes be a little different, as every relatively experienced tenant reading this will know. This particularly applies at the lower end of the price range. You may be renting a property with stains too numerous to mention on the furniture. You may be struggling to find something which you can afford, and the agent is telling you that he has eight other people interested! You may very well, on this type of property, never even see a written inventory.