4
Tenants Responsibilities
Tenants should treat the property like it’ s their own property. This encourages the landlord to respond speedily to most requests by the tenant. Where damages are wear and tear, the landlord is obliged to do the repairs, but where the tenant has caused the damage, then the tenant must fix the damages speedily because they know they caused the problem.
Sometimes landlords would blame the tenant for a fallen ceiling, where there is not even a trap door. It’ s pretty obvious the tenant had no access to this ceiling in any way and therefore it could be a fault from the ceiling installation or something to do with the property itself. Therefore, the tenant that generally looks after the property would be more believable than a careless one. Also, it’ s important for the tenant to understand their responsibilities and gain clarity on which items are his / her responsibility.
The biggest responsibility a tenant has is paying the monthly rental on time, every time. The tenant must also not remove items that belong to the landlord, even if they love this special light for example, they are not allowed to take it or even replace it with another one.
5
Continued Property
Inspections From Landlords In commercial rentals, there is not much that is expected to be left unattended to unless it is not really a business. Naturally a commercial property would be well kept if it’ s use is for commercial reasons.
However, with residential properties, it is important that an inspection is done prior to the tenant moving in, and all parties must agree to the defects if any. It is important that all damages and possible repairs are stated to the tenant, and that the tenant notes the condition of the property prior to moving in. The landlord is obliged to remedy defects that would render the property uninhabitable. Sometimes even if it’ s not an actual structural defect, but something like an infestation of cockroaches would be something the landlord would be required to address.
These inspections have to be documented so that on termination of the lease, all parties can refer to the inspection document to ensure that the tenant has not caused any damages.
The most important caution, however, is the fact that sometimes landlords march into their rented properties, and demand to do‘ things’ on the property. It is important that the landlord understands that inspections should be arranged timeously, unless asked by the tenant or agent to attend to something. The act of just going
36 NOV 2021 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine