Landlords

When we get complaints about noisy tenants the first thing we do is send a letter to them saying we’ve had a complaint and that we take complaints seriously etc. We don’t identify who made the complaint.

As always, rule number one is to imagine how one would rationalise the case to a PRTB adjudicator. We […]

I think all landlords are familiar with the phenomenon of tenants leaving an apartment and not paying the last month’s rent. So, you keep the deposit but there’s nothing left over for damages and cleaning. Or a tenant leaves owing more than a month’s rent (and damages and cleaning). The legislation/PRTB works against landlords in […]

1. It is a common phenomenon for a tenant in arrears to suddenly report problems. Tenants in arrears will find problems that they should have reported a long time ago to use as a distraction from their rent arrears. The worst type of tenant will even invent problems.
2. It is common for tenants in financial trouble to […]
   

1. Always picture how you would justify this to a PRTB adjudicator. See my previous post on deposit retentions.
2. Try to get photos of the damage or ask the tenant to send them. The PRTB pay most attention to photos.
3. Get a 3rd party contractor to inspect and do the work so they can act as an independent […]
   

We can’t stress enough how important it is to always bill tenants the current market rate (or very close to it just to stay competitive).

Remember you can only increase rent once in any 12 month period. A new lease is not needed to increase the rent.

1. There is no good way to tell tenants […]
   

First and most importantly, do you have photos of your properties before your tenants moved in? If not you should have, to act as a starting reference. You can’t prove much without these and the PRTB pay most attention to photos. Take photos and attach them to the lease when it’s being signed, have […]