Inspections as a landlord

[Ryan Sawyer]

We have a property that we are using a management company for the rental.  They are telling me that I cannot go into the property since they are managing it. They said if we want an inspection they have to do it. It has to be one of their employees. So, as an owner I cannot go inspect my property or send a family member or someone I trust to do an inspect the property. Even if I called them first and had them let the tenets know.   He said it was for Liability reasons. 

Is this legal?  Shouldn’t I be able to go into my property if it’s ok with the tenets. How do I fix this????

Thanks,

Ryan

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Ryan Sawyer:

Ryan, when you hire someone, it's important to ask these questions or share your expectations before signing the contract.

You have a legal right to inspect your property, but you should be doing it on the PM terms so you don't screw with their process or cause them additional work. Talk to the PM and ask if there's a way you could tag along for their regular inspections on occasion. Or maybe they will share an electronic copy of their inspection results with pictures and that would suffice.

I don't allow Landlords to inspect the property on their own because they often get into conversations with the Tenants that cause damage. For example, one owner was doing some work on the property. Three months later I went to inspect and found the Tenant had painted rooms black! When I told him they would have to paint them back to the original color, he said the Landlord approved it. I talked to the Landlord and he said, "They asked if they could paint the living room, so I said it was OK. I never approved the other rooms and I never though they would paint it black!" Landlords that don't understand how to clearly communicate and document things can create a lot of problems. If a Landlord wants to physically inspect, they need to coordinate that with me so I can supervise.