Inherited tennant leaving - No condition report

[Alex U.]

I am a fairly new property manager.  I bought my first rental 4 years ago, and inherited a tenant from hell.  Luckily, he just gave me 28 days notice that he is leaving, even though our lease says he has to give 60 days.

When the previous owner rented it to him, no condition report was made.  I did get an email from the old owner, that the tenant sent 4 things that was wrong with the property when he got possesion. This was in a free form email, not on a form or anything.  Then tenant, 2 kids and dog, have been hard on the 2/1 900 ft condo.

Any idea, what I should do in inspecting the property when he exists?  What condition can I compare it too? Ive never lived in the unit, nor did I get a good chance to inspect it even when purchasing it.

thanks

[Deanna McCormick]

Lesson here for anyone acquiring a property with a inherited tenant. YOU DO a WALK Thru with condition sheet within the first 2 weeks of ownership, WHY your protecting  your asset.

Now with no walk thru condition sheet your basically out in the cold. Tenant has you by the deposit and you will be hard pressed to charge him anything. I would take pictures of condition and you could try and see if he had a move in sheet when he first moved in,, but basically it's from when you took ownership. The previous owner could care less to give you any help and this far gone I doubt he's going to even entertain the idea. Did you have any photos from realtor when you purchased the property can you for sure remember that the whole in the wall wasn't there.. 

You could ask tenant for their move in sheet but I doubt he'd give it or if he was given one. You can try and deduct repair expenses over normal wear & tear, keep receipts, if he contests it be prepared to refund him the difference.

Before you rerent, take photo's of condition and make sure next tenant has a move in check sheet. You should get in at least every 6 month's to do a quick assessment of interior.