Landlords, don't be lazy..... do your homework

Even after all these years in the industry, I am still surprised at just how little landlords know about the business they are about to embark on

I think renting a property us the only business people embark in without doing a single piece of research on their chosen subject.

In not other industry would you find a complete novice signing a legally binding contract handing over the most expensive purchase he ever made to the hands if a complete stranger, without even checking the legitimacy of that person

I mean, would you happily hand over the keys of your shiny new car to a guy you'd never met in the hope he brings it back in one piece.... No, of course not because that's just madness

Yet everyday landlords are happy to hand over they and exclusive possession of their properties to tenants who they don't know and then run around like headless chickens whinging that the property got wrecked, the rent went unpaid..... What did you really expect from a complete stranger?

Landlords are in the news a lot in the last week because of this very reason, I'm sure we all saw the latest programme with Landlord Action explaining how they successfully evicted another tenant.....

But the bit they fail tobtell you is the fact the landlord was too dam lazy to do the job properly in the first place

•Did the landlord check the prospective tenants Immigration status as per the new regs?
•Did the landlord carry out referencing of the prospective tenants?
•Did the landlord ensure his tenancy agreement is up to date and not still harbouring clauses now seen as unfair under OFT guidance?
•Did the landlord protect the tenants deposit & issue PI within the time frame
•This list is quite extensive and I am still shocked when I see how slapdash landlords are when it comes to renting a property

I can guarantee a landlord will spend longer reading the small print ofbhis new phone contract than he will researching the rental industry and checking a applicants tenantability

If you are a lazy landlord and don't do your homework then I'm afraid in my opinion you can't then go around complaining that your tenant was bad...... You'd have already known and avoided that tenant and your current financial headache ifbyou had just taken some time and done your homework

You cannot expect a model tenant if you decided not to be a model landlord