Tenants should attend inventory check-out

All agents will agree that it is good practice to have a detailed and accurate inventory completed at the start of the tenancy, and again when the tenancy ends, but tenants should be encouraged to attend the check-out in order to avoid potential disputes between both sides of the rental transaction, according to the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC). Tenancy deposits are often necessary to protect the landlord in the event of non-payment of rent or loss resulting from the tenant not complying with the terms of the tenancy agreement. Combined with a well prepared inventory, the landlord enjoys a much more risk-free tenancy. But end of tenancy disputes can often arise when the tenant disagrees with the recorded state of the rental property at the end of a tenancy in comparison to its condition when they first arrived, and find that they face having money deducted from their deposit as a consequence. The AIIC believes that the number of potential disagreements between landlords and tenants could be significant reduced if more tenants were present at the inventory check-out. The AIIC’s plea comes in response to data released by the Deposit Protection Service in July, which suggested that almost…