How detailed should the inventory be...

need_an_answer

Had an inventory company round at the tail end of last week to produce inventory for property thats being rented from tomorrow onwards...

Guy arrived almost an hour late claiming he couldnt find property listed on google.

spent 2 hours detailing inventory and promised me as landlord a copy to approve yesterday....

There are numerous mistakes in what I have been sent ranging from admittedly typo errors to describing my front door as panelled and newly painted...instead of factory painted and newly installed composite.
Areas of the house have been marked as laminate flooring and not carpet and in total I have at least 15 points that do not directly correspond with the items in the property or are mis represented

In some rooms door stops have been included...in others not...
The telephone has been listed and photographed in onbe room and a second phone in another room photographed but not listed.

An area of the front garden has been totally ignored.

Generally there seems no consistency to the report.

He poined out a minor fault on an appliance which I was fully aware of and expected to be documented but then has totally ignored a cracking to the casing of a second appliance and taken the photo at an angle that doesnt show the fault....
I find this type of misleading unaccepable, hopefully I am a fair landlord albeit very new to the position but I dont think its the tenants responsibilty to spend time going round the house rectifying the inventory...surely it should be clear and concise and above all correct

Ive left a documented email with the inventory company asking that an upadted and correct inventory be supplied to the tenant but wonder what everyones thoughts are regarding asking for the £130 fee to be waived because of the poor documentation of items in the property...am I being to fussy as the landlord ...or should the tenant be pointing out the errors on the report before signing?

Thoughts please...thanks in advance

tim123456789

oh you're the LL

yes you have every right to be aggrieved

tim

need_an_answer

Thats right Tim im the LL...and new to it...when I spoke with LA yesterday they said I should speak to inventory company..which I will be doing first thing tomorrow...

There are too many errors for my liking and the comment made by the LA suggesting its the tenants responsibility to challenge the inventory if they note a problem within 7 days seems ridiculous in my mind considering that I am able to already see so many discrepancies

ca55ie

I'd be tempted to tell the inventory company that with so many glaring errors you dispute the charge they are asking you to pay.
Can't you make your own inventory? If it was my property I'd want to hand the tenant a fully up-to-date inventory so there was no areas for "discussion" at a later date.

need_an_answer

ca55ie wrote: »

I'd be tempted to tell the inventory company that with so many glaring errors you dispute the charge they are asking you to pay.
Can't you make your own inventory? If it was my property I'd want to hand the tenant a fully up-to-date inventory so there was no areas for "discussion" at a later date.

im new to letting and have opted for a managed package with a respected agent in the area...who use this inventory company.

The tenants are due to move in tomorrow and in honesty I probably now dont have the time to prepare a different inventory...I do however conceed that I could have made a far better job of it myself...but hindsight as they say is a wonderful thing.

G_M

Either/or

* amend the inventory yourself, give to tenant and, assuming tenant agrees with it, get each amendment initialled by the tenant, as well as the final inventory signature. Then photocopy it, keep original, and give/send photocopy to tenant. In this way, you can get asigned inventory when tenant moves in

* write/email list of all errors to inventory company and insist they amend and re-issue. This will of course take time. The risk is that tenant has by then moved in, might refuse (or 'forget') to sign/return the inventory, and you then don't have one. Not much you can do...

* Refuse to pay invoice and/or negotiate a reduced fee.

Having said that, getting the inventory done last minute (with just a weekend between inventory and tenancy start date) was rash. It is inevitable you would need to check/amend to some extent.

Guest101

If this is a package from the LA, who has the contract with the inventory company. Did you pay the LA agents for this service?

BobQ

Guest101 wrote: »

If this is a package from the LA, who has the contract with the inventory company. Did you pay the LA agents for this service?

Good question. I would not chase the inventory firm at all. Let the LA correct the problems you highlight. I suspect they will not be reluctant to withhold payment for shoddy work while still expecting you to pay them!

need_an_answer

G_M wrote: »

* write/email list of all errors to inventory company and insist they amend and re-issue.

* Refuse to pay invoice and/or negotiate a reduced fee.

Having said that, getting the inventory done last minute (with just a weekend between inventory and tenancy start date) was rash. It is inevitable you would need to check/amend to some extent.

this is how I am proceeding

I put house up for rent 3 weeks ago and have been led by the LA with the process...they advised me of dates and times various people would be conducting testing etc..gas testing done last week etc

I was told that the inventory was to be done 2 days before move on because it would cover things like the issues of cleanlieness and also document meter readings etc...I was not the one who set the timescale for the inventory.

need_an_answer

Guest101 wrote: »

If this is a package from the LA, who has the contract with the inventory company. Did you pay the LA agents for this service?

not paid anyone for the service yet...I understand it will be added to my accumulative fees from the LA...

But it is my intention to request a reduced figure based on the quality of the report...just not sure if I approach the inventory company or the LA first...either way both will be aware of my reluctance to pay for such a mixmashed report.

whalster

I suppose if its your first let then it is difficult to know where to draw the line however we do our own inventory always have done ,its better not to go over the top with this general condition some photos say of plasterwork floor coverings kitchen .don' t fret too much most people are fine and letting yourself as you are you will save a fortune in agent fees so don't worry too much about the odd pin hole from a picture hook it is nothing that can't be repaired in two minutes .
I have literally just walked back in from doing a handover on a flat they have been in over two and a half years it needs a paint nothing too much which is wear and tear it has a small hole in a stud wall where one of the door handles has gone through it once again a bit of filler I class as wear and tear The things i did speak with them about as it always seems to be is cleaning oven not good enough shower screen and tray once again carpets not cleaned .allin all not a lot but sixty or seventy quid in time and a guy to clean the carpets ,they are fine with this intact they were more embarrassed than anytng when we looked in the oven.
So don't place too much store in these inventory companies use our common sense ,it has been a numpty non job created from nowhere in the last couple of years if this nonsense does not stop in another couple of years you will be getting an itemised report on the number of individual fibres in the carpets and a microbial review of the ceramic wall tiles in the bathroom oh and this will be another hundred quid or so on top.
A large dose of common sense required !