Today tonight in Brisbane recently aired a story on tenants who werenot paying there rent and trashed her house.It appeared she was managing the property herself and she has lost tens of $1000s.These stories pop up every second year on current affair shows of bad tenants.A quick search of forums reveal some bad experiences with tenants and other issues with landlords insurance not covering some malicious damage etc.This seems to be a major issue ,but only when it happens to you.Whether you manage your IPs yourself or pay a PM doesnot seem to make a huge difference.My PM has a black list,but it only covers renters in the state{qld}who have been caught out not paying rent,squatting, trashing homes.Hasnot the time come for a national database for people applying to rent a $500000 home ie for good ok and bad tenants.AAA rating down to a black list.You have a credit check on you when borrowing $5000 to buy a car.You are charged a late fee if you take a DVD back to the shop late.Do your tenants cop an extra fee if they pay the rent late???It just makes sense to me to have a national database run by the REIQ or nat realestate body,not a government body which PMs have access too and if you manage yourself pay a small fee to access or check potential renters.It would save a lot of time, money and emotional heartache.Any comments.
Very tricky to critique on a national database though what they would consider personal judgements. That and if the database exists tenants as well as landlords are able to tap into their details and request amends or even deletion as a breach of their human rights!
Maybe we should start our own list – one for bad landlords and one for bad tenants. Could be a good way to go but not entirely sure of the legality of it all!!
I think the best thing is to never take your PM’s word without challenging it – plenty of bad one’s out there. In reality I think I’ve had more bad property managers than I’ve had bad tenants.
And besides – since when do we actively listen to reports on Today Tonight as being true?! It’s a ratings show – not a cutting edge documentary…
REInv thats a valid point .The 3rd family that rented my first IP have been there 7.5 yrs and though we have had some disagreements,have been able to discuss the issues and work through them.We must both be doing something right.Friend sent me a quote."BEING A PM IS THE EASIEST JOB TO DO BADLY AND A DIFFICULT,BUT REWARDING JOB TO DO WELL.
I would think that the owners of a property have more rights than the tenants, but it appears that this is not true. i know that TT and ACA are not 'documentaries' however as was shown on the program mentioned above when the police were called, the poor owner was told that until she had a court judgement she could not access her own (badly trashed) property. Yes i agree that tenants have rights, but landlords need to have equal rights. Fortunately i have only had one troublesome tenant who was a problem with regards to getting on with her neighbours, rather then doing any damage to my property or not paying their rent.
I have always said to myself that if someone were to do that aka squatting that myself and a few friends would also go and squat with them for a few days……………………………..
I completely agree there should be some form of 'credit checking' or rather 'tenant history' database that is accessible to all landlords, surely Veda could include rental information as part of their revamp of positive credit checks? All that any landlord would need is exactly what is currently on a standard tenancy application form,
"Agreement & Authorisation
I believe the statements I have made are true and correct. I hereby authorise verification of information
I provided and communication with any and all names listed on this application. I understand that any
discrepancy or lack of information may result in the rejection of this application. I understand that this
is an application for tenancy and does not constitute a rental or lease agreement in whole or part."Throw in "I agree to the lessor conducting a check on my rental history, I have advised the lessor of any discrepancies in my prior rental history'
And surely this would meet Privacy Act requirements?
I have suffered through some terrible tenants in my investing history and am currently going through the tenancy tribunal for one that was recommended to me by my property manager whom claimed the tenant had a clean history. She was right, they did have a clean history in Moruya, but as I later found out – not in the rest of NSW!
I am cautious and manage several properties myself, I always have prospective tenants complete an application form and will never offer my property to anyone that I can't verify details for.
Property law is 9/10ths in favour of the tenants, I think by allowing landlords access to the information which will allow them to make sound decisions is a small win for property owners
Those 'Today tonight' stories annoy me. I have never seen one where the owner is insured…. Landlords insurance is relatively cheap. The company I use is very cheap and it even covers accidental damage by the tenants. Most only cover malicious acts.
What about late fees written into leases? May scare off potential tenants though……
Simon
Property Managers can search the national tenancy database – it costs approx $12.00 per person and shows if the tenant has ever had a VCAT order against them, been lodged on the database by a previous PM or landlord as a good or bad tenant and any comments on how they left the property (eg. abandoned, rent owing and how much, damage etc etc). $12.00 well spent I think! So much can be ascertained about a tenant by their rental references from AGENTS and not private landlords who could just be friends. Agents have an unwritten rule that we are honest to each other when given references, otherwise it comes back to bite you big time. Whereas private landlords will often give a tenant a great reference to get rid of them.
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