You’ve advertised the property and found the perfect tenants; all that’s left is the administrative tasks. One of these tasks is collecting the security deposit. The main purpose of a security deposit is protection from costs associated with damages that go beyond normal wear and tear e.g. broken windows, appliances, smoke stains etc. or the non-payment of rent. The deposit is taken at the very start of the tenancy, when all the paperwork is being taken care of. It usually amounts to one month’s rent, although some landlords might ask for six weeks’ worth. A separate document should be prepared when taking the deposit, (preferably on company headed paper) stating the tenants’ name, landlord’s name, agent dealing with the property, the property itself, the amount and the date. The tenant should also receive a receipt for the payment, again on headed paper.
Similar to a previous blog on rent payment issues, landlords can also cause some hassle when they owe money for invoices. You’ve organised for the plumber or the electrician to go to the property to fix whatever the problem is, they’ve done a good job and now they’re waiting to be paid. And waiting. And waiting. This can have severely negative effects on the contacts you’ve built, possibly as bad as ending the relationship. Like tenants, landlords may just need a gentle reminder in the form of a phone call. If that doesn’t work, try moving to an email and if they still haven’t paid then a formal letter. In extreme situations, the pressure that a solicitor can bring might be needed. But take a positive outlook and hope that it won’t come to that!
A solution to this problem would be to offer property management and a rent collection service. Offering a property management service without the collection of the rental payments can result in far more headaches then the additional work in the collection of the rents. Your agency will be able to increase revenues by offering full management and rent collection. Not only will this increase your offering but now you will have happy tenants who are getting issues relating to a problem rectified earlier. Happy tenants = Longer tenancies.
Through Rentview your landlords can see the deductions that will be made in advance of the rental payments being made. This way when the rent comes in you as a rent collection agent can make the deductions and pay your service men on time. Your landlord is kept informed in advance of deductions through his own login to his accounts, your landlord can view the invoice relating to the property and have his end of year accounts only a click of a button away. Your workmen are happy to continue to work for your agency on credit. Its a win, win.
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by Andreas Riha