Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I have 1 property that was managed by a property managment company for 8 years. I took over doing it 4 months ago. The tenant gave a 30 days notice; however, I neglected to inform them of their right for an inspection. They requested it 2 days prior to moving out and we made arrangements for it on their last day of tenancy. My question is, I found several other items that need repair after they left....can I add these to the walk through papers and charge them? They also stated before leaving the property they would fight any repairs in small claims court as I did not notify them of a pre-inspection giving them time to fix things. Can they do this?

The short answer is yes, they can. Generally an inspection should take place approximately 2 weeks before the tenant leaves in order for all issues to be documented and to give the tenant time to either repair or reimburse. It both protects the landlord and the tenant to have this window. You cannot charge items after the fact or add items to the walk-through papers once they have left.

Posted by Lynn S, GA on Monday, August 16, 2010

California Law states: The landlord must give the tenant written notice of the tenant's right to request an initial inspection of the rental and to be present during the inspection. The landlord must give this notice to the tenant a "reasonable time" after either the landlord or the tenant has given the other written notice of intent to terminate (end) the tenancy . If the tenant has a lease, the landlord must give the tenant this notice a "reasonable time" before the lease ends. If the tenant does not request an initial inspection, the landlord does not have any other duties with respect to the initial inspection.

Posted by Donna , NC on Tuesday, August 17, 2010