ARPM Inventories, one of the largest nationwide providers to the Lettings Industry, provides some help and advice on amending Inventory Reports. Kate Maddison, Business Development Manager explains more:
“On occasions, it has been known for Clients to ask us to make ‘secret amendments’ to Inventory Reports. For instance, recently a Client asked us to change the flooring details in a property and provided us with a few photographs of the newly laid flooring which has been taken on a mobile phone. Our original Report was correct, but they had instructed us to complete the Visit on the wrong day and following our Visit, new flooring was laid – but they hadn’t realised their mistake until the Tenant had actually moved in (and of course, there was not a formal Check-In, which would have captured the new flooring).
Naturally, it is vital to any business to keep their Clients happy, but when a Client is asking you to do something which is fundamentally wrong, it can leave you in a very tricky situation. In 99% of the cases, Clients are simply unaware of the consequences of requests which they are making and in general the ability to make amendments to Inventories seems to cause a great deal of confusion.
My team at ARPM Inventories strongly believe that once a Report has been completed it should not be amended under any circumstances. Inventory Reports provide documentary evidence as to the contents and condition of a property at the time of the Visit. By making amendments to the documents, you are in affect tampering with ‘evidence’. Any evidence which is tampered with, could be classed as unreliable – throwing the validity of the Report into question and all sorts of issues as deposit release stage. If the ‘secret amendments’ should become uncovered during the course of the tenancy, or any dispute process, the professionalism of the lettings business could be called into question, the Landlord would be unlikely to instruct the Agent again and the whole issue could lead to compensation being paid out. In our opinion, only transparent ‘amendments’ to Reports should be made – e.g. in the form of an ‘addendum’ – which is agreed, in writing, by all parties concerned, so that there can be no dispute”.
If you are considering changing your Inventory provider, then ARPM Inventories would welcome the opportunity to discuss their nationwide services with you. To arrange a without obligation consultation or to request a price list please contact us. Tel: 01923 731110 or email inventories@arpm.co.uk . Remember to follow us on Twitter, find us on Facebook, or connect on Linkedin to receive free tips and advice!
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