How is your "Inspections" clause worded in your lease

Question

I am drafting in a new part to my lease to include an inspection, since I have heard from the podcasts that it is really a good way to make sure your units are kept in great shape. I was thinking of wording it as something like

"Inspections will be conducted as necessary"  or

"Mandatory inspections will be conducted every six (6) months. Tenant will be notified as a reminder 24 hours prior or earlier"

Do you have something like this in your lease? Would you mind sharing what you have or your thoughts on what I have written here?

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Hmm...I'm not sure what Rene is saying.

Any good Landlord will inspect at least once a year. I've seen tenants that were really good for several years, then something changes in their life and they start destroying a place. Or they add a pet and don't know how to train it. Or their toddler turns into a 5-year-old boy with a permanent market. Here's mine:

RIGHT OF ENTRY AND INSPECTION. Landlord has the right to enter the Premises for performing inspections inside and out, making repairs, alterations or improvements, in the case of an emergency, due to abandonment, or pursuant to a court order.
Except in cases of an emergency, Landlord shall give reasonable notice of intent to enter and the reason for entering. If you have animals, they must be crated, on a leash, or removed from the property during any visit by Landlord or his Agent. Visits may be recorded with video and/or photographs for office records. Landlord may place signage on the Premises or show the Premises to perspective renters or buyers during the last thirty (30) days of occupancy or any time the property is listed for sale.

Nathan Holt · Answer

ok, thank you! I do have access to an attorney for free through my job so I will be doing that

Lara White · Answer

@Nathan Holt As a few others as commented... be very cautious writing legal documents if you are not an attorney.  I have a lease that my attorney wrote up for my use-- I don't use the state forms either.

It's not expensive in the overall scheme of things. And the lawyer shouldn't have to re-invent the wheel, just add what you'd like put in!

Rene G. · Answer

@Nathan Holt

Are you trying to give yourself more work to do? No one gets into real estate investing to have less free time. There is already plenty of things that you have to do to ensure overall success. If you overengineer your lease to include a bunch of extra nuisance tasks that you have to do, and you fail to do all those tasks, it looks bad on you as the landlord.

To help prevent you from trying to implement every new idea, you must pass it through a well-defined filter. What do you want out of your real estate investing endeavors? Are you in this short-term or long-term? Is your goal to save every penny or are you in this for Real Freedom?

Once you really know what you want, then you can uncover a basic premise for the things you do/don't do. I follow the ABCs (just something I designed up): Automate, Balance, and Control. Everything I do must first pass my ABC filter. If you really want to put that in your lease, here are some questions to ask yourself: How can you automate it? How do you ensure you have balance while keeping control (i.e. how do you oversee without having to actually do the work)?

Patrick Drury · Answer

@Nathan HoltUnless you are an attorney you shouldn't be drafting leases. I know a lot of landlords in the Columbus area that just use replacing furnace filters every quarter or 6 months as a way to check in on the property. Just depends on how many units you have and how busy you are.

Paul De Luca · Answer

@Nathan Holt

Are you drafting the lease yourself? Unless you're a lawyer or having a lawyer write it up, that's not a good idea. You should use existing forms that are compliant with your state and local laws.

Most leases I have seen or read have a clause about the landlord's right of entry like @Nathan Gesner said.

My local lease says:

"Right of Access by Landlord. Tenant shall permit reasonable access toLandlord, and any of Landlord’s invitees, agents, or contractors, in accordance withlocal statues and ordinances, upon receiving 2 days’ notice by mail, telephone,written notice or other means designed in good faith to provide notice. Landlord shallhave immediate access to the Premises in case of emergency and where repairs ormaintenance elsewhere in the building unexpectedly require such access. Landlordshall give Tenant notice of such entry within two days after such entry."

Nate Sanow · Answer

I use the state standard lease from our real estate commission that has language for it, and that language coincides with state law / Oklahoma Landlord Tenant Act…. Id imagine your state has one available and accessible as well. Not saying adding your language is bad, but I am saying you might not have to reinvent the wheel, and use it to your advantage as you are able to quote your state law to your renters.

Eliott Elias · Answer

I like the second one, keep it as straight forward as possible. There are ways to inspect the property without doing a official inspection. ie: termite and pest inspections

Kevin Liu · Answer

Love the necessity for inspections and totally agree on it.

On our leases we just categorize it as "Right of Entry", giving the landlord permission to conduct necessary appointments at the property for what ever reason, with reasonable notice of course. This umbrella term can be useful for not only covering mandatory inspections but also other visits to ensure the safety of your property.

Heres what we have~

RIGHT OF ENTRY: The Landlord shall have the right to enter the Premises during normal working hours by providing notice in accordance with the minimum State requirement in order for inspection, make necessary repairs, alterations or improvements, to supply services as agreed or for any reasonable purpose. The Landlord may exhibit the Premises to prospective purchasers, mortgagees, or lessees upon reasonable notice.

ACCESS BY LANDLORD: The Landlord must provide at least twelve (12) hours notice to the
Tenant(s) before entering the Premises for any non-emergency reason.

How is your "Inspections" clause worded in your lease

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