Protect Yourself With A Professional Landlord Inventory Report
The importance of a properly completed inventory cannot be underestimated. It must be robust and defensible if it is to be held up as a proper indicator of the facts and therefore viewed as acceptable by an adjudicator or court.
It's important that you get an inventory report completed correctly – failure to do so could void it as evidence in a court of law, rendering you powerless against fraudulent claims and costing you money. Before a tenant occupies your property, take the time to get a professional report completed and instantly benefit from the peace of mind it brings.
The Purpose of Inventory Reports
The primary focus of your inventory report is to document everything about your property to protect you against false claims. A common example of this would be furniture damaged by cigarette burns:
The furniture was immaculate when you handed the keys over to the tenant and now they're claiming they should be entitled to their entire deposit when they move about, claiming that the burns were already on the furniture.
An inventory report in this instance – in combination with the declaration they signed during the check-in report – would allow you to justify partially or fully withholding of their deposit depending on the level of repair required.
The furniture was immaculate when you handed the keys over to the tenant and now they're claiming they should be entitled to their entire deposit when they move about, claiming that the burns were already on the furniture.
An inventory report in this instance – in combination with the declaration they signed during the check-in report – would allow you to justify partially or fully withholding of their deposit depending on the level of repair required.
What The Report Documents
- Schedule of Condition – a brief overview of the condition/cleanliness of different components of the property, for example walls, flooring, windows etc.
- Any maintenance issues or items requiring attention are featured at within the Schedule of Condition.
- Meter Readings – all readings are recorded within the inventory & photographed
- Front & Rear Spaces – full description of each space, its fixtures and supporting photographs
- All accessible spaces within the property, with all rooms broken down into sections: Ceiling, lighting, coving, walls, skirtings, flooring, windows & doors, furniture.
- Our standard reports normally feature four photographs showing each aspect of every room, plus additional photographs to show the ceiling, lighting, walls, flooring & furniture items together with any major defects – all of which will be clearly described within the inventory.
In short, the report aims to be as thorough and straightforward as possible to avoid tenants exploiting vague descriptions, abbreviations and loopholes. For furnished properties, we also document the condition of the items your tenant will have access to.
More Information
Reports are delivered in PDF format via email (a hard copy can also be made available upon request) within 24 hours of the inventory - normally sooner. You can also download a sample Inventory Report to review at your leisure.
Would you like to find out how we can help protect your investment? Contact one of our advisors and we'll get back to you as quickly as possible.
Would you like to find out how we can help protect your investment? Contact one of our advisors and we'll get back to you as quickly as possible.
0781 381 0965 | [email protected]