The accidental landlord: why tenants should always check the letting agent's inventory when they move in to a rental property
My eldest is moving into her first rented property, a big shabby house filled with mismatched furniture and rusty appliances, where she'll live with seven of her mates during their second year at university.
After making a note of the broken chair, loose coat rack and stained carpet in her bedroom, I move on to the kitchen.
I take photos of the holes in the laminate on the worktop, which the inventory clerk has merely described as "stains", and of the rusty hob, which the clerk had described as "in good condition". I drag my hand under the cooker hood and make a note that it's covered in grease.
I tut as I open the freezer and see a gaping hole where there should be a drawer. This hasn't been noted on the inventory, which describes the freezer as "good".
"Good God," I mutter, "you'd think they could have replaced the drawer, they only cost about 20 quid."
My daughter has had enough. "Stop it, mum," she hisses so she can't be heard by her new housemates, who are in the living room trying to install the wi-fi, "you're being fussy".
She's damned right, I am being fussy. I'm being fussy and making a note of all the pre-existing damage in the house because if I don't my daughter and her mates risk losing some or all of their £6,250 deposit.
"Trust me, I know what these managing agents are like," I tell her. "If you don't point out the damage that was here when you moved in, they might charge you for it when you move out.
"Do you really want to pay for a chair that's already broken and for a drawer that was never here?" My daughter gives me a look that says: "Leave. Now."
"These inventories," I go on, waving the paper in her face, "they're never one hundred per cent accurate, they miss all sorts of things."
As a landlord, I've commissioned lots of inventories and I've never seen one that didn't contain at least half a dozen errors. I pull open a cupboard door and throw my arm up in the air.
"See, it's filthy and full of rubbish, but let's check the inventory, oh yeah, see, it says it's in 'good' condition. Pfff."
I carry on making notes, but when I've finished and send my amended inventory to her to pass on to the managing agent, I can see she's not comfortable with the idea.
She tells me that her friends are worried that if they point out that there are errors in the inventory, the agent will think that they're complaining, and that if they complain, they'll get kicked out of the house.
I explain to my daughter that this isn't the case. It's normal for tenants to find errors in inventories, and they have a right to point these out to their agent, who probably hasn't bothered to even look at the inventory.
"They expect you to check it," I tell my daughter, "I always ask my tenants to check theirs and let me know if something's wrong."
Still, I can see that she's unlikely to do as I suggest. She's young and naïve and still has faith that everyone will treat her fairly. Me, however, I'm old and sceptical, so if she doesn't send the revised inventory to the agent, I will.
Victoria Whitlock lets four properties in south London. To contact Victoria with your ideas or views, tweet @vicwhitlock