The ultimate landlord guide

a guide for landlords

What all landlords should know

What all landlords should know about renting and managing property. What you must do, may do, should do and must not do to ensure a rewarding and satisfying rental experience for both you and your tenant.

Get your property ready to rent

When deciding to rent out your property, put yourself in the shoes of your 'ideal' tenant. What condition would you expect your property to be in if you were going to view it and move in?

Finding you the right tenant

How we find and place, quality, paying tenants. How to price your rental correctly and how we screen potential tenants to ensure that your property is well looked after and rent is paid in full and on time every month.

Legalities of renting your property

Etchells & Young provide a legally binding, 100% fully compliant lease agreement which has been drafted with the landlords best interests at heart. Typical questions asked by landlords and the answers thereto.

Handling the tenants deposit

How the tenants deposit must be handled in terms of the Rental Housing Act (RHA). The time frames in which you have to refund a deposit after the tenant vacates, and correct use of the tenants deposit.

Rental inspections

The (RHA) Rental Housing Act requires that a joint inspection between the tenant and the landlord (or agent) be conducted before the tenant moves in as well as when the tenant vacates. How to properly conduct lawful property inspections.
exit-inspection

Landlord and tenant obligations

The landlord and tenant have certain legal obligations to fulfill during the lease period. What are these responsibilities and which applicable to the landlord/tenant during the lease period.

Renewing the lease

What are the landlords and tenants obligations in terms of the (CPA) Consumer Protection Act when it comes to renewing the lease at the end of the initial rental period. How to go about renewing a lease agreement with the current tenant.

South African property legislation

If you, as the landlord, are not 100% informed and fully compliant with the laws and regulations that govern this industry, you risk being exposed to potentially unscrupulous claims.
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Introduction

Finding and placing a good tenant is quick and easy, right?

We have built our success on the principle that correctly screening and placing quality tenants prevents a whole array of problems down the line. But it does go further than that too. Doing all you can to build and nurture a good, rewarding relationship between yourself and your tenant will make it that much easier to resolve the inevitable issues that crop up when people have differing objectives during the renting process.

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Get your property ready to rent

Is your rental property ready for your new tenant?

When getting your property ready to rent, pay special attention to the following:

Security

Electrical + Plumbing
Outdoor areas

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Finding the ideal tenant

Why it is crucial to ensure that your rental property is competitively priced

How we ensure good quality, paying tenants with our stringent tenant screening process:

Credit bureau and TPN checks

Our applications department complete a comprehensive credit bureau and criminal check using TPN (Tenant Profile Network), with access to the tenant's profile and rental payment patterns.

Confirm tenant's employment

Verify tenant's salary

Verify the tenant's bank account

Obtain landlord references

Why Etchells & Young

How will the ideal tenant find your rental property?
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FAQ'S answered

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Handling the tenant deposit

The Rental Housing Act regulates the treatment of the tenant's deposit.

Time frames for refunding the tenants deposit

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Rental inspections

The purpose of doing an entry inspection

Purpose of the exit inspection

Fair wear and tear vs damage

Handling repairs due to damages

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Landlord and tenant duties

The Tenant has the right not to have:

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Their person or home searched.
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Their property searched.
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Their possessions seized (except in terms of the law with a court order).
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The privacy of their communications infringed upon.

The tenant's duties in terms of maintenance and repairs

The tenant has the responsibility to dispose of garbage and waste in a safe and clean manner (per municipal services and containers/bins provided). To maintain the property in a clean, tidy and safe state, and to use all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, and other facilities and appliances in a reasonable manner.

The tenant must refrain from intentionally or negligently damaging the property or common property (intentional and negligent damage is for the tenant’s account).

Maintain, replace or repair electrical globes, fittings and switches as well as being liable for all water-borne taps, stoves, locks, handles and windows. Maintain and keep the garden neat and tidy (if applicable). Maintain the swimming pool, including pumps, hoses and accessories, subject to fair wear and tear (if applicable).

The Landlord’s rights

Landlord's duties
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Renewing your tenants lease

Determining whether to renew the current lease

The Landlords obligations in terms of the Consumer Protection Act

You are required to notify the tenant in writing not more than 80 days, nor less than 40 business days before the end of the lease of its impending expiry date.  If you do not wish to continue or renew the lease, you must intentionally notify the tenant of this and invite them to an exit inspection within 3 days of the expiry of the lease.

Should you wish for the lease to continue, you must invite them to renew the lease and then include in the above notice any material changes. Such changes may include an increase in rent and deposit, or any other changes to the lease that would apply if the agreement is renewed. In addition, changes may include advising the tenant of the options available to him to either accept the renewal for another fixed period, cancel the agreement without penalty on the expiry date, or continue on a month-to-month basis, subject to your material changes.

If neither the tenant nor the landlord has directly expressed the intent to renew or terminate the lease by the expiry date, the lease will automatically continue on a month-to-month basis until such time that the tenant or landlord expressly direct the termination or renewal of  the agreement OR the tenant has agreed to the renewal of the lease for a further fixed term.

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South African property legislation

Criminal offenses in terms of the Rental Housing Act:

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Not attaching a defects list to the lease.
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Not attaching house rules to the lease.
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Non-compliance with a Rental Housing Tribunal ruling, or attempting to deceive them.
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Unlawfully locking a tenant out or shutting off utilities – spoliation is a criminal offence!
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Not repaying a tenant's deposit and interest.
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Not providing a habitable dwelling (i.e. failure to do required maintenance and repairs).
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Not reducing a lease to writing.

The Rental Housing Act (RHA)

This Act regulates the relationship between landlords and tenants and it provides for dispute resolution by the Rental Housing Tribunal. It was brought about to protect the rights of the landlord and the tenants alike. The Bill was amended in 2014 and it is important to familiarise yourself with some of the more notable changes to the Act and how they affect you as the landlord or tenant.

The Consumer Protection Act (CPA)

An Act to promote a fair, accessible and sustainable marketplace for consumer products and services and for that purpose to establish national norms and standards relating to consumer protection. To provide for improved standards of consumer information and to prohibit certain unfair marketing and business practices.

DOWNLOAD THE ACT

The Financial Intelligence Center Act (FICA)

The act exists to prevent money laundering, fraud, tax evasion, financing of terrorism & other related criminal activity that aims to misuse our financial systems. The Act requires certain accountable institutions such as Banks, Estate agents and Attorneys to validate and verify their client's identity before a business transaction can take place

DOWNLOAD THE ACT

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What to
expect from your

rental agent

OUR property rental process
Your agent will begin by visiting your rental property to take photographs, familiarise themself with the property and surrounds, and to note special benefits for advertising. Your agent will also help you set a market related rental price.

Advertising

your property.

OUR property rental process
Your property will be advertised extensively on major South African property portals; namely Private Property, Property24, MyProperty, Property360, Qwengo, Immoafrica and Etchells & Young as well as our social media platforms.

Viewing with

prospective tenants.

OUR property rental process
Your agent will arrange to view the property with prospective tenants. Before scheduling a viewing your agent will ensure that the tenant is suited to the property and meets the financial requirements for the specified rental price.

The tenant

application.

OUR property rental process
Our applications department conduct; A full TPN (Tenant Profile Network), affordability check, previous landlord reference and employment confirmation. Our applications team are highly experienced in detecting fraudulent applications.

Drawing up

the lease.

OUR property rental process
Your agent will coordinate the signing of the lease agreement and any negotiations between yourself and the tenant. We provide a legally binding, 100% fully compliant lease agreement. Drafted with the best interests of the landlord at heart.

The tenants

deposit.

OUR property rental process
We will collect the deposit and first month's rental on your behalf. Should you choose our rental management option, we will keep the tenants deposit in an interest bearing trust account for the duration of the lease and any renewal period after that.

Key handover

entry inspection.

OUR property rental process
Your agent will facilitate the key handover and conduct a thorough entry inspection which is kept on record. If we manage your property we will arrange and coordinate any maintenance during the lease period and for any renewal period after that.

The exit

inspection.

the property rental process
Once your current tenant has vacated, your agent will do a thorough exit inspection. The entry and exit inspections will be compared against each other and any repairs that need to be done as a result of damage done by the tenant will be deducted from their deposit.
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