As a landlord, you know how important it is to make regular visits to your rental property. Periodic visits to your property will help ensure that it stays in good condition, as tenant screening is not enough to guarantee this. It's also a good way to make sure you don't end up with a destroyed home due to a marijuana grow op.
Unless you live right next door, and can keep a constant eye out, you'll need to make arrangements to visit the property. You can do a drive-by whenever you want, but how often can you actually go inside and inspect the premises?
This issue is not always easy to resolve.
Laws are on the books that designate when you can visit your rental property. This is a quote from the law in BC: "A tenant is entitled to exclusive possession of a rental unit, including reasonable privacy, and quiet and peaceful enjoyment."
If you drop in without giving the proper notice, you are in violation of the law, and could face nasty consequences. On the rental agreement, state that there will be regular inspections, so that the tenants are aware. In BC, you can inspect your property once a month, if you like.
Landlords in BC are able to enter their tenant's unit when:
An emergency situation arises and the property or life needs to be protected. If further harm to the property is imminent and it's an urgent situation that can't wait, this is a case where you can enter.
A landlord must provide written notice to a tenant to enter the unit with at least 24 hours notice, and not more than 30 days before.
The tenant gives permission to enter to the landlord. If it's not an emergency, you should provide written notice to the tenant and to record the circumstances that required you to enter the unit. If a landlord just drops by, tenants may later say that they give permission only because they felt intimidated by the landlord.
Entry is required for the landlord to provide housekeeping or similar services under, if included in the tenancy agreement.
It appears the unit has been abandoned by the tenant. This would be situations like no appearance of occupancy on the unit, or if the rent has not been paid.
An order has been provided by an arbitrator allowing entry to the unit.
If a landlord enters a property too frequently, even if it's for what is considered a "reasonable purpose", the tenants may not consider it to be reasonable. In the province of BC, landlords are restricted to entering their rental properties only one time every month.
If the landlord works around the schedule of the tenant to arrange for visitation times, the process goes much more smoothly.
When looking to minimize any issues when doing inspections, landlords should:
Provide at least the legally required notice to tenants before property inspection.
Make sure you have a valid reason for visiting, such as, repairs or regular inspections.
Log the visitations in a notebook with the reason for visiting, and the date and time.
Go over the inspection expectations with the tenants right away, before they even move in. They should be aware that inspections will be done on a regular basis.
When the tenants know what to expect, they will be more agreeable to visitations in the future. And regular inspections will let you rest easy, knowing that your home is being used as a home, and not a criminal venture.
Unless you live right next door, and can keep a constant eye out, you'll need to make arrangements to visit the property. You can do a drive-by whenever you want, but how often can you actually go inside and inspect the premises?
This issue is not always easy to resolve.
Laws are on the books that designate when you can visit your rental property. This is a quote from the law in BC: "A tenant is entitled to exclusive possession of a rental unit, including reasonable privacy, and quiet and peaceful enjoyment."
If you drop in without giving the proper notice, you are in violation of the law, and could face nasty consequences. On the rental agreement, state that there will be regular inspections, so that the tenants are aware. In BC, you can inspect your property once a month, if you like.
Landlords in BC are able to enter their tenant's unit when:
An emergency situation arises and the property or life needs to be protected. If further harm to the property is imminent and it's an urgent situation that can't wait, this is a case where you can enter.
A landlord must provide written notice to a tenant to enter the unit with at least 24 hours notice, and not more than 30 days before.
The tenant gives permission to enter to the landlord. If it's not an emergency, you should provide written notice to the tenant and to record the circumstances that required you to enter the unit. If a landlord just drops by, tenants may later say that they give permission only because they felt intimidated by the landlord.
Entry is required for the landlord to provide housekeeping or similar services under, if included in the tenancy agreement.
It appears the unit has been abandoned by the tenant. This would be situations like no appearance of occupancy on the unit, or if the rent has not been paid.
An order has been provided by an arbitrator allowing entry to the unit.
If a landlord enters a property too frequently, even if it's for what is considered a "reasonable purpose", the tenants may not consider it to be reasonable. In the province of BC, landlords are restricted to entering their rental properties only one time every month.
If the landlord works around the schedule of the tenant to arrange for visitation times, the process goes much more smoothly.
When looking to minimize any issues when doing inspections, landlords should:
Provide at least the legally required notice to tenants before property inspection.
Make sure you have a valid reason for visiting, such as, repairs or regular inspections.
Log the visitations in a notebook with the reason for visiting, and the date and time.
Go over the inspection expectations with the tenants right away, before they even move in. They should be aware that inspections will be done on a regular basis.
When the tenants know what to expect, they will be more agreeable to visitations in the future. And regular inspections will let you rest easy, knowing that your home is being used as a home, and not a criminal venture.
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