Every tenant on our standard lease agreement is required to get an interior inspection of the property done by our inspection vendor at least once a year. Some of our landlord clients require a second yearly inspection. We send these inspection orders off to our third-party inspection vendor, OnSight PROS, about 90 days prior to your lease expiring each year (and six months prior to that if your landlord requires two inspections). Your lease requires you to get the inspection done within 30 days of that inspection being ordered, or 60 days prior to lease termination date. This inspection is required whether you are renewing your lease or moving out.
There are several reasons that we require this inspection:
- We need to verify that the property is being kept in good condition before we can offer a lease renewal
- If you are moving out, we need to get an advance idea of the property condition so that we can see what amount of work is going to be required when you move out
- We need to verify that no illegal activity is going on in the property
- We need to make sure that all lease and neighborhood rules are being followed
- We need to make sure that all necessary repairs are being reported
For these reasons, the inspection is extremely important, and we cannot allow it to go undone. Because of this importance, the lease agreement includes a $150 Inspection Non-Compliance Fee if you do not get your inspection done by the deadline. We will also automatically issue you a notice to vacate if the inspection is not completed by the deadline. If you subsequently get the inspection done, then we can usually withdraw the notice to vacate, but the non-compliance fee will not be waived.
Additionally, if you do not pay the non-compliance fee when it is due, then you will start to accrue late fees, so it is very important that you pay the fee if it is charged.
The following are not considered valid reasons for an inspection not being done on time:
- Sickness or injury
- Work schedule
- Child care
- Vacation
- Etc.
You are expected to schedule the inspection ASAP, and if you personally cannot be at the property to meet the inspector, then you will need to make arrangements with a friend, family member, or neighbor to meet the inspector. The inspector cannot work around your schedule, and if you place restrictions on when they can schedule to come out that would cause you to go past your deadline, we will not waive the non-compliance fee.
We consider these inspections to be extremely important, so we cannot make exceptions to these rules or waive the fees if you do not comply. Please be sure to cooperate with the inspection.
