As a landlord, you know how important it is to make regular visits to your rental property. Of course, screening your tenants will weed out a lot of the bad apples, you still need to visit the property from time to time to be sure that it is in good condition. Don't forget about the major damage that could be caused to your home from a marijuana grow operation.
For landlords that are not living on the property, it's important to arrange with your tenants for visitations. You can do a drive-by whenever you want, but how often can you actually go inside and inspect the premises?
That's a sticky issue.
There are laws around how and when you can visit your property. In BC, the law says that "A tenant is entitled to exclusive possession of a rental unit, including reasonable privacy, and quiet and peaceful enjoyment."
Proper notice must be given by a landlord before showing up at the residence, and if a landlord breaks these rules, there may be serious negative results. It is a good idea to note in the rental agreement that you will be making regular inspections. The maximum amount you can inspect your property in BC is once a month.
In BC, landlords can enter a tenant's rental unit if:
There is an emergency and entry is needed to protect life or property. 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.
Permission is given by the tenant. It is still always best to provide written notice, and to record the circumstances of the entry. If a landlord just drops by, tenants may later say that they give permission only because they felt intimidated by the landlord.
If the landlord has agreed to provide housekeeping or other services in the tenancy agreement and entry is required to perform the service.
The rental appears to be vacated by the tenant. This would be situations like no appearance of occupancy on the unit, or if the rent has not been paid.
An arbitrator has provided an order allowing entry.
Landlords may believe that their visits may be for a "reasonable purpose", and this may be true, but if the visits are too frequent, it is no longer 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.
Landlords who would like to have property visitations go smoothly should:
Give tenants the proper notice before visiting the property.
Visitations should only be when required for general inspections or to complete repairs or to do upgrades that are necessary.
Record the reason and the time of every visit.
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.
If they're expecting the visits, rather than being surprised, it's much less likely that they'll complain. When you have done proper inspections on your home, you will be able to avoid some serious problems in the future, including illegal activities.
For landlords that are not living on the property, it's important to arrange with your tenants for visitations. You can do a drive-by whenever you want, but how often can you actually go inside and inspect the premises?
That's a sticky issue.
There are laws around how and when you can visit your property. In BC, the law says that "A tenant is entitled to exclusive possession of a rental unit, including reasonable privacy, and quiet and peaceful enjoyment."
Proper notice must be given by a landlord before showing up at the residence, and if a landlord breaks these rules, there may be serious negative results. It is a good idea to note in the rental agreement that you will be making regular inspections. The maximum amount you can inspect your property in BC is once a month.
In BC, landlords can enter a tenant's rental unit if:
There is an emergency and entry is needed to protect life or property. 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.
Permission is given by the tenant. It is still always best to provide written notice, and to record the circumstances of the entry. If a landlord just drops by, tenants may later say that they give permission only because they felt intimidated by the landlord.
If the landlord has agreed to provide housekeeping or other services in the tenancy agreement and entry is required to perform the service.
The rental appears to be vacated by the tenant. This would be situations like no appearance of occupancy on the unit, or if the rent has not been paid.
An arbitrator has provided an order allowing entry.
Landlords may believe that their visits may be for a "reasonable purpose", and this may be true, but if the visits are too frequent, it is no longer 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.
Landlords who would like to have property visitations go smoothly should:
Give tenants the proper notice before visiting the property.
Visitations should only be when required for general inspections or to complete repairs or to do upgrades that are necessary.
Record the reason and the time of every visit.
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.
If they're expecting the visits, rather than being surprised, it's much less likely that they'll complain. When you have done proper inspections on your home, you will be able to avoid some serious problems in the future, including illegal activities.
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