Property Management Risk Management and Best Practice

Please find below some questions recently requested for best practice advice from a Real Estate Excellence Platinum Elite Member – the best practice advice responses will be provided in the Mid July Real Estate Excellence Member Update. If Members require the answers to these questions prior to the Mid July Member Update, simply email Stacey Holt and request. Thank you.

1.      If a landlord breaks their management with another agency and comes across to us, and their existing tenant is in arrears by 5 plus weeks, does the previous agency need to follow through to try and recoup or do we have to take that on.  (The tenant is also looking to break their lease on the grounds of hardship? 

2.      What happens when a tenant moves into a property and maintenance issues arise and then the landlord doesn’t want to fix them or takes their time in attending to the problems, and then the tenant says I want a rent reduction dating back to the beginning of their lease and the landlord says no.  How would you recommend I handle this?

3.      Would you recommend it to be best practice to take photos of the house at the time of completing an entry condition report and again at exit for proof should anything go wrong?  Is it legal.. .would a Tribunal look at them or could they be deemed to have been altered given the photos were taken with a digital camera?

4.      We have a few properties on our books where we are charging the tenants excess water as the owners have said they water wise.  Is this sufficient or do we need a plumber to issue a certificate?  If so, how should we handle the properties that don’t have certificates in place and have been charged water today?

5.      End of Month – Can end of month be done on the first day the following month I.e. that is we will do ours tomorrow (which is what we normally do) or do we actually have to do them on the last business day of the month?

6.      I have a landlord whose home is approximately 30 years and they have a veranda with a railing (photo attached) which wouldn’t comply with today’s standards (did back then).  We have tenants with small children; one child crawled through on to the roof of carport.  I have put all this in writing to him to have it fixed immediately.  He has asked for a handyman to go round and put a rail down the bottom so a child couldn’t crawl through  - this would no doubt fix that problem, however my concerns are that this could then allow a child to easily climb over.  The handyman went around but won’t do what he has asked because his licence etc. will be at risk.  The owner doesn’t want to spend any more on the home i) because he can’t afford to and  ii) to be fair does address maintenance issues as they arise but he doesn’t feel he should fix it since it was legal when they built the home.  20 other properties in the area have verandas like his and he raised his children there with no problems.  He also says the tenant took the property with the railing the way they are and also asked isn’t it her responsibility to supervise her children.  I sympathise with him but feel I need to give him notice.  However, he has asked the tenant put in writing her concerns.  Can I have her breach the landlord? 

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