The Inventory Checklist- Use it!

It stuns me how often the private landlords do not use this required tool. The law states the property owner “will” make use of the inventory checklist. If you find yourself in Court and you are not using the checklist, you’ll lose.

It really is an amazing  tool that can save lots of grief at the end of the relationship.  When a tenant moves in he or she is presented with 2 blank inventory checklists, the tenant fills them out and returns one within 7 days to the landlord. Since the property owner completes an inventory checklist prior to move in, any disagreement in the conditions of the rental will become apparent at the commencement of the tenancy.  It is a whole lot easier to work through disagreements in the first weeks of the lease rather than set yourself up to defend the differences in Court down the road.

Many private landlords don’t know you cannot assess costs against the tenant’s deposit. If the tenant disagrees and does not owe rent, when they leave the only way you can keep any part of their deposit is by their agreement. If the tenant disagrees the landlord can only keep the money by suing the tenant and winning. If the landlord fails to sue after 45 days the tenant is entitled to double what was retained of his or her deposit and the landlord is no longer able to file suit.

Looking for more information about checklists and landlord tenant relationships, in general? Click here to download the legislature’s booklet.