Page 6 - The Ultimate Lanlord Guide_Neat

5. Call the current/ previous landlord and ask for a tenant reference. Ask specifically
about prompt rental payment and if the tenant has looked after the property without
being a nuisance and without having caused any undue damage.

6. BE AWARE: sometimes if a tenant is particularly bad, the landlord could give them a
rave review in an effort to simply get rid of them and then they become your problem,
so take a holistic view of all of the information above

ALSO: There are fairly advanced scam artists doing the rounds and provide very
realistic looking Passports, ID Documents, bank statements, payslips and proof of
residence documents. Someone will even answer the work phone number on the
payslip pretending to be the HR Dept of Company X! This is why the bank account
verification and TPN checks, showing past rental addresses is vital.

THE LEASE AGREEMENT

Great, your tenant has checked out and all

is fine, you have approved his application
and are one step closer to start earning
your rental and receiving a Return on
Investment.

ALWAYS get your tenant to sign a good, legally binding and lawfully compliant lease.
Your lease should be easily understandable and in plain language. The Rental Housing
Act (RHA) and soon to be promulgated Rental Housing Amendment Act of 2014 should
form the basis of your lease and take into account all the relevant aspects of the
Consumer Protection Act (CPA) including the following:

You may not mislead or deceive a consumer (tenant).
You may not require consumers to waive any legal rights or assume any
obligations, nor may you waive any of your legal liabilities in a lease on terms that

can be deemed to be unfair, unreasonable or unjust.
You may not subject the tenant to fraudulent conduct.

You may not directly or indirectly deprive the tenant of any rights in terms of the
CPA.

Section 14 of the CPA imposes a maximum period of 2 years for a lease agreement,
unless a longer period is expressly agreed by the tenant and there is a

demonstrable financial benefit to the tenant in accepting such longer period.

Etchells and Young Property Brokers P A G E 5