The Many Benefits Of Inventory Reports Software

By Author: Minesh Patel
Total Articles: 5
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Over the last few years there has been a considerable increase in tenants disputing landlords’ claims over their deposits, with now around a third of all agents making claims. This has become a trend that is causing problems for both landlords and managing agents, especially when they feel certain that they are in the right, yet it costs the tenant nothing to dispute a claim.

Since the introduction of the Tenant Deposit Scheme there seems to have been a considerable increase in the number of people who are just trying their luck, since it doesn’t cost anything.

Many managing agents carry out their own inventory reports, but others consider it better to use an outside inventory clerk on the basis that they are independent and that therefore neither the agent or the landlord have any input on what is damage and what is fair wear and tear. However, and strange as it may seem, this can lead to a tenant claiming bias simply on the basis of the fact that the managing agent or landlord is using and paying his favoured inventory clerk who always gets the business. It does tend to seem that you can’t get it right ...
... whichever way you approach it.

The fact is that the deposit remains the tenant’s money and that the onus is entirely on the landlord to provide proof of damage to the property before he or she can claim any sort of compensation for it.

One managing agent has been increasing the quality of its’ inventories over the last few years by using some inventory report software that helps with providing accurate inventories because it is so much easier to use than doing it the traditional way, which involves walking around the property with a clipboard and templates and simply comparing notes with the previous template.

Apart from anything else, using a clipboard and a biro is extremely time-consuming when compared with using software. You can download one of several apps to your mobile or tablet, and then simply walk around from room to room typing up your notes as you go and adding photographs that you can take with your mobile as well. There is nothing quite so good as a photograph because they are pretty much indisputable. In short, the more photographs you can take of any dilapidations the better.

Furthermore, inventory report software will usually guide you as to what to cover as you go. This way you won’t forget to check the light fittings in a room because the software will prompt you to do so. It is not just the inside of the property either, because there may be things that you need to check outside such as fences, a garden shed, and even plants or trees.

Managing agents and landlords need to realise that the adjudicators in any dispute are only concerned with the evidence actually presented to them in regard to a claim for compensation. They are not concerned with who created the inventory report or documentation, only with the results.

This is why it has become ever more important to make an inventory report as accurate as it can possibly be and also to involve the tenant at every stage. If you have the tenant present at check-in and both you and he agree on a particular situation and then both sign the check-in inventory, there is little chance for the tenant to dispute it at a later stage.

Equally, when you carry out regular interim inventory reports and take sufficient photographs there will be less likelihood of a landlord disputing fair wear and tear because you have the evidence there to support it.

This is why using software to help with inventory reports has become so much more important. It helps you with a predictive text to type descriptions and conditions and also offers ideas on how to cover particular situations – ceiling, lighting, cupboards, furniture, and so on – so that you not only finish up with an inventory which is accurate, but it takes you much less time to carry it out as well.

Anything that you can do to help prevent ongoing disputes has to be of benefit to all concerned.

Reports2Go is an inventory report software that is free to download from the App Store or from Google Play which you can use to type up reports as you go, or even use in audio mode. So you can make all your comments to the app on your mobile as you go and then type them up afterwards.

Reports2Go has created the Reports2Go app which is free to download on to a mobile or tablet and makes the whole process of taking inventory much quicker and simpler, at the same time providing concrete evidence of dilapidations or wear and tear with many photographs.