Property survey question bank

Screening: what a landlord may ask

A tenant screening form has to collect enough to assess whether someone can pay the rent and look after the property: identity, rental history, employment and income, references and the number of occupants. It must not ask for information the state rules prohibit or that invites discrimination, and the rules on what an application may collect differ between states. The tenant screening bank keeps to what a landlord is allowed to ask and groups it by identity, income, rental history and references, so a property manager can check each part against the state's rules.

Inspection: a record both sides agree

The move in inspection is the evidence used when the bond is returned, so it has to be specific. The bank walks the property room by room, records the condition of each fitting with room for comments and photos, and finishes with keys, meter readings and sign off. Vague notes like fair condition are the cause of most bond disputes, because nobody can later show what fair meant. Dates and signatures matter as much as the descriptions, since the record has to show when it was made and who agreed to it.

Maintenance: enough detail to send the right trade

A maintenance request should let a property manager decide what to do without a phone call. That means the location of the problem, a short description, when it started, photos, and whether it is urgent, with a plain explanation of what counts as an urgent repair under the tenancy rules, such as a burst pipe or a failed hot water system. Access details and the tenant's availability save a return visit. Each bank opens with how many questions to ask and the three never to skip, and links a finished form.

Every page in this collection

• Maintenance request questions for rental repairs

  A maintenance request has to tell the property manager which trade to send, how fast, and how that trade will get in, all from one message. These questions pin down the fault, its urgency and the access details before anyone books a job, so the plumber arrives with the right part and a way through the gate.

• Move in inspection questions for a condition report

  A move in inspection has to record the state of every room, fitting and key on the day the tenancy starts, so nobody argues from memory when the bond is claimed. These questions walk the property room by room and add the details usually missing at the end: meter readings, key counts, smoke alarm dates and photos.

• Tenant screening questions that stay within the rules

  Tenant screening has to establish who the applicant is, whether they can pay the rent, and how they have looked after a rental before, without collecting anything a landlord is not allowed to ask. These questions stick to identity, income, rental history and references, and mark the lines state tenancy rules draw around each of them.