Wyoming, I need everything documented to protect me, the client, and the customer. I have detailed agreement between myself and the owner that spells out my responsibilities, what I charge, what services I provide, how much they want for rent, and much more. I also document everything with the tenant to ensure there is no confusion about their responsibilities or the services we provide.
A very important part of this documentation is the condition of the home. We document it with pictures and a detailed inspection before the tenant moves in. We do it again when they vacate so we can compare the two and see if the tenant is reponsible for any cleaning or repairs. Unfortunately, I learned the importance of documentation (again) this week.
An owner came to me with a small house to rent in Cody, Wyoming. I inspected it and it was a disgusting, filthy little bachelor bad. His only furniture was in the living room and included a mattress on a frame, an easy chair, and a TV dinner tray to hold his TV remote. Everything was coated in dust. Counters and cabinets had bacon grease and other food splattered on them. The large picture window in the living room had a crack from top to bottom. This was not going to be easy. Because it was in such bad shape, I took pictures but wasn't as detailed as I normally am. After all, why document it when my tenant will likely leave it in better condition?
I managed to find him a tenant pretty quickly, despite the condition and negatives. She cleaned the entire house, top to bottom. She even offered to paint the interior AND renovate his bathroom with new flooring, toilet, vanity and medicine cabinet. We worked everything out, she had a friend do the work, and the place looked better than it ever had before. The owner inspected it six months later himself and was amazed at how the place looked.
She moved out after 18 months and the owner moved back in. He said everything looked great and that she left it nice and clean. Two days later he comes back and tells me a window in the dining room is cracked and she is responsible. I checked my pictures and discovered that because I wasn't detailed enough, I only have one picture of the window and there is a bush covering half of it. UGH!
Without documentation of window condition prior to occupancy, I am stuck. Based on how the owner lived, I suspect it was broken before he left. But I can't prove it. The tenant is long gone, she was an excellent renter, and it wouldn't be worth the trouble of going after her for $200. So, being the honest Broker that I am, I will eat the cost of this window to keep the owner happy.
The moral of the story is to practice what I preach and DOCUMENT COMPLETELY every time. When I get lazy, I make mistakes and it comes back to bite me. This time it was a small bite. Next time it might take off an arm!
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