Apartment Inspections and Why They Matter
By Jim Bauer
@porwest (94237)
United States
October 17, 2023 10:01am CST
I was recently reading a post about someone being annoyed by having an apartment inspection. And I thought I'd weigh in as a former landlord, because it's not the first time I have read such a post.
I get that inspections can be annoying, and I get that it feels like your privacy is being intruded upon.
But consider that the landlord owns the place, and it is his investment and his money at stake. Especially when it comes to an apartment building I think one should look at it another way as well.
Apartment inspections protect YOU as well as the landlord.
In an example I presented in one of my comments I provided the scenario of a GOOD tenant. One who respects the property even if it is not theirs and appreciates that they have a place to live even if they do not own it.
That tenant takes good care of where they live. Yet, the neighbor in the apartment next door is not that kind of a tenant. They live like slobs and now they have roaches. And as roaches go, when one tenant has roaches, EVERYONE else has roaches too.
Now YOU have roaches because one tenant didn't care.
If the landlord does inspections, perhaps he can root out the slobs who would offer roaches and then all the good tenants won't have roaches either.
Always two sides to the coin.
8 people like this
7 responses
@RebeccasFarm (90743)
• Arvada, Colorado
17 Oct 23
Sorry you got scum for tenants.
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (90743)
• Arvada, Colorado
17 Oct 23
@porwest That is not what is going to happen here unfortunately..you do not know this place Jim. The bad tenants will carry on business as usual. Nothing is changing and won't by this 'inspection'. This corporation makes money from bad tenants.
@porwest (94237)
• United States
19 Oct 23
@JudyEv I'd have liked to have not had to deal with the seasonal equation either. I remember I told a judge once about a particular tenant when she said, "people need to eat." "Your honor, the woman is 900 pounds. She has no problem with that. She can afford to eat less and pay my rent."
The judge scolded me. lol
1 person likes this
@kaylachan (73341)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
17 Oct 23
I think people just need to vent. Plus, there's a right way to do things and a wrong way. I had to deal with inspections when I lived in apartments, and in my experience, maintain don't care. I respect they have to put their safety above all else, and as a renter if you are permitted pets you're supposed to crate them when you go out. However, There've been many a time, where maintain has helped themselves to my apartment to do something or another. And, they've just walked on me (and apparently others). The last time it happened to me, they came in, pounded on the bedroom door and caught me as I was getting off the toilet, and well... I sleep in the buff. I knew they would be going around to measure for new countertops, but I didn't have a date or time . In my oppinion they could've communicated better. Luckily none of my cats ran out, and they fled fast when they realized I wasn't dressed. The management team knew I am disabled. They knew I can't move that fast. And.... yet that happened.
1 person likes this
@porwest (94237)
• United States
19 Oct 23
So far as I am aware, it is the law EVERYWHERE in the U.S. that landlords or maintenance people cannot just walk in unannounced. They MUST provide notice. MUST knock. CANNOT enter without permission. Under any circumstance. The ONLY time this can be circumvented is if it is a "safety check," but that would be required to be conducted by the police or other emergency services.
1 person likes this
@kaylachan (73341)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
19 Oct 23
@porwest You would surprised how many places get away with illegal practices. You have tenants that don't understand what their rights are. Granted, they did tape notices on doors and the stairs, but the only knocking I heard that day, was after they were inside and it was on my bedroom door. With the number of blind and disabled people who lived there, I still think they should've had a more accessible notice system. But, printed notices is all they seem to do correctly there.
@NJChicaa (120654)
• United States
17 Oct 23
They don't do inspections here per se. The state comes through every 3 or 5 years to inspect for proper maintenance. The fire company comes through once a year to inspect the fire extinguisher and smoke detector. They don't inspect for cleanliness. If they did the Moroccans would have been kicked out years ago.
It might be in the lease that they *can* perform an inspection with advance notice but in the 4 years I've been here that has never happened.
1 person likes this
@porwest (94237)
• United States
18 Oct 23
Not all landlords do it, and some landlords don't care. As I mentioned before in an earlier comment here, real estate has many ways to make money, even if some of the underlying investments become worthless. In fact, in SOME cases it helps profitability because the losses erase the profits, and then you don't have to pay taxes on the profits.
You can just write shite off.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (183958)
• United States
18 Oct 23
We had a fairly good experience with our tenant. The rent was late upon occasion; but he didn't destroy the house. We would never be landlords again though. Have a good day.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (183958)
• United States
18 Oct 23
@porwest Yes, we always had more expenses that rent. Never again.
1 person likes this
@porwest (94237)
• United States
19 Oct 23
@LindaOHio Some people have the nerve and knack. I will just stick with stocks.
1 person likes this
@thislittlepennyearns (63234)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
18 Oct 23
We have had some scummy renters too. I am sorry you had to go through all this bs.
Nice to see you around though. lol
1 person likes this
@thislittlepennyearns (63234)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
18 Oct 23
@porwest Condos at the beach are a pain too. Because those are always the self intitled aholes.
@porwest (94237)
• United States
17 Oct 23
Exactly. I always provided a clause in the lease agreement that inspections could occur at any time given 24 hours notice than an inspection would occur. There are other reasons other tenants should appreciate inspections, and that is to help keep their own rents down as well. A landlord will recognize his good tenants and be more lenient on rent increases, for example. At the same time, rent increases are of course due to many things. But one of the biggest contributors to rental increases is cost of maintenance.
If I have to replace carpets, fix holes in walls, replace light fixtures, repair toilets, excessively paint or otherwise, eventually those costs will be a factor when I consider raising rents for the entire complex. EVERYONE pays for bad tenants. Including good tenants. And many people don't realize this.
It's like retail theft. Stores lose money initially when something is stolen. Eventually they raise prices on everything else to make up for the stolen items. We all pay for someone else's bad behavior.
That is true of insurance, retail, bad employees, and yes...renters.
1 person likes this
