More and more landlords in the United Kingdom (UK) are ending up in litigation with former tenants over disputes regarding the cost of damage to the unit and subsequent payment from the rental deposit. The problem is that more landlords are using photographs to document apartments and their contents rather than providing written inventories, and when it comes time to settle a dispute there is not enough evidence to back up the landlords’ claims. The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks says photos do not capture fine details like cracks, chips and nicks in surfaces or appliances, and that without a written inventory landlords are at a loss. For more on this continue reading the following article from Property Wire.
Too many private property landlords and agents in the UK are using digital evidence to replace essential written descriptions in inventories, at check in and check out, leaving themselves exposed to potentially costly disputes over wear and tear, according to the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC).
orough and detailed reports in deposit dispute cases. Photographs and video can provide good illustration, but are not at all helpful without a detailed inventory, it says.
The association believes that inventory reports should contain a full description of a property and its contents, with detail on every bit of damage and its exact location at the start of a tenancy. This can be supported with photographs and video but these need to be of a high quality, so that any damage can be seen clearly.
‘We want landlords and agents to be better informed in the event of a dispute, that means providing quality evidence to substantiate their claims for withholding the deposit,’ said Pat Barber, chair of The AIIC.
‘The law clearly states that the deposit remains the tenant’s money and that they are entitled to get it back at the end of their stay, provided they have met the terms of the tenancy agreement, so the onus lies with the agent or landlord to provide proof,’ she explained.
‘We have seen some excellent inventories with the right balance of detail, supported by photography and video. But, more often than not, the photographs submitted in inventories are little larger than thumbnails and hence make it extremely difficult to see detail. To back up a damage issue, along with a detailed description, any photographs need to be of a reasonable size, so that the damage can be actually seen clearly. A glossy inventory that relies heavily on photographs will be of little use in a dispute,’ she added.
According to the AIIC, there is no point in producing a picture book for an inventory, with very little proper description and hundreds of photographs as inventories like these just do not provide enough detail. Photography and video are great for large areas of damage such as carpet burns, serious damage to worktops and interior décor etc.
However, they are not so good for showing really fine detail, the sort of problems that occur most frequently on a check out, such as small chips and scratches in sinks and baths, knife marks on worktops, scratches to halogen hobs. All of which, will cause financial loss to the landlord if negligence can’t be proved.
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In a recent dispute, a landlord supplied his tenant with a photographic style inventory at check in. Since none of these were dated and no other written evidence was produced, the tenant won his case and the landlord had to fund some expensive replacements.
AIIC guidelines when photographs as additional evidence are used such as ‘before and after’ photos being taken with a clear narrative as to what the photo is showing such as colours, item descriptions and marks on surfaces. It also says that photographs should include something to show scale within the photo and they should clearly show the condition of the property at any given time.
Even if the photographs are just to be incorporated in the inventory for reference, they need to be a decent size and should be dated which means checking that the camera is set to automatically put the date on the picture or it should be embedded into the dated inventory document either on the relevant pages or as an addendum page.
It also points out that if photographs are going to be printed out, the printer used needs to be good quality. Too often cheap printers distort the colour. Even good printers give false colours when cartridges start to run out.
This article was republished with permission from Property Wire.
