Most landlords already know how essential it is to visit rental property every so often. Of course, screening your tenants will weed out a lot of the bad apples, you still need to visit the property from time to time to be sure that it is in good condition. Don’t forget about the major damage that could be caused to your home from a marijuana grow operation.

Unless you live right next door, and can keep a constant eye out, you’ll need to make arrangements to visit the property. A landlord can always drive by the home to assess the situation, but to go inside, what are the rules around that?

This issue is not always easy to resolve.

You can inspect your rental property according to the laws that are in place where the property is. In BC, the law says that „A tenant is entitled to exclusive possession of a rental unit, including reasonable privacy, and quiet and peaceful enjoyment.“

If you drop in without giving the proper notice, you are in violation of the law, and could face nasty consequences. On the rental agreement, state that there will be regular inspections, so that the tenants are aware. The law in BC states that a landlord can inspect the property every month.

Landlords in BC are able to enter their tenant’s unit when:

An emergency situation arises and the property or life needs to be protected. Basically, this refers to a situation that requires immediate action in order to prevent further damages.

Written notice is given to the tenant not less than 24 hours, and not more than 30 days before.

The tenant provides the landlord permission to enter. If it’s not an emergency, you should provide written notice to the tenant and to record the circumstances that required you to enter the unit. In a case where a landlord simply shows up and asks to enter the unit, the tenants can say later that the only let the landlord in because they felt intimidated.

If the tenancy agreement includes housekeeping or alike, and this requires the landlord to enter.

The unit looks like the tenant has vacated the property. For example, the tenant has not paid rent, and there are no signs of occupancy.

Entry has been allowed by an arbitrator who has provided an order.

If a landlord enters a property too frequently, even if it’s for what is considered a „reasonable purpose“, the tenants may not consider it to be reasonable. In the province of BC, landlords are restricted to entering their rental properties only one time every month.

If the landlord works around the schedule of the tenant to arrange for visitation times, the process goes much more smoothly.

When looking to minimize any issues when doing inspections, landlords should:

Provide proper notice to the tenants before an inspection.

The inspections should have a reasonable purpose like for periodic inspections or for repairs or upgrades.

Every inspection should be logged, including the time and reason.

Go over the inspection expectations with the tenants right away, before they even move in. They should be aware that inspections will be done on a regular basis.

If they’re expecting the visits, rather than being surprised, it’s much less likely that they’ll complain. And regular inspections will let you rest easy, knowing that your home is being used as a home, and not a criminal venture.

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