Keep Important Documents Safe - A Guide

Many of us have a file for our important papers but I wonder if these pieces of paper are a lot more valuable than you might imagine. You may have a passport, social security card, driver's license and birth certificate as most Americans have these. When you realize the large part of your daily life played by these documents, you may find they require quite a degree of respect.

A passport, for example, is issued by a national government and verifies your identity as well as your citizenship. To obtain one, you much provide documents proving your identity and country of origin. Once acquired, a passport is proof of your name, place and date of birth and sex and also provides a photograph as further proof of your identity. Many people think a passport alone will get you into any country but this is not true. It will, however, grant you re-entry into the country of issuance. International travel does require a passport but another very import use for this document is unquestionable verification of identity.

Now let's talk about your social security card. It provides a one-of-a-kind number unique to only you and is required for each and every American citizen. These numbers certainly aid in the assessment of taxes but they also provide identification. They are also used to identify specific records such as medical, financial and educational ones.

To operate a motor vehicle legally in the United States, your are required to have a drivers' license issued by your state of residence. There are also different types of drivers' licenses depending on the type of vehicle you will be operating. A very large percentage of Americans possess a drivers' license and this provides a qualified means of identification as a picture and description are presented on this important plastic card. This form of identification is often requested when purchasing alcohol, tobacco products or when applying for a job. A drivers' license provides a unique opportunity to become an organ donor in case of your death as this can be indicated on the face of your card.

When a child is born, a hospital issues a birth certificate indicating all the important information pertaining to that child's birth. Birth certificates can be in a long or short form and will include a child's name, sex, place and time of birth as well as the names of parents. These are useful in proving identity, citizenship and relationships and are also required when applying for a passport. You might say this is the beginning of your important papers as it is required when getting almost all others including a marriage license, drivers' license and social security card.

As you can see, important papers come in all shapes and sizes but they are all very vital to your everyday living. Keeping them in a safe place is so important that you might even decide to invest in a safety deposit box so they can't be stolen or damaged. If your identity is stolen or if your documents are counterfeited, there would be great cost and stress undoing the damage so keep these documents in a safe and secure location.

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Landlord Good Practice Guide

Insurance

Tenants are typically viewed to be of higher risk than owner-occupiers, and for this reason regular homeowner insurance policies are often invalid for tenanted homes.

Most mortgage lenders will require that you have buildings insurance in place. Landlords building insurance will cover you against a number of eventualities, and is specifically tailored to offer a policy which covers damage that more frequently occurs in tenanted properties. Each insurance policy differs, and you should ensure that you are aware of exactly what is covered by your own policy.

Landlord contents insurance covers the cost of any damage to contents owned by you the landlord. It also generally protects you in the event of a theft committed by the tenant.

As a landlord you can also protect yourself against tenant related incidents. If a tenant refuses to pay rent or attempts to hold you liable for a personal injury, the following insurances will provide cover.

Public Liability Insurance - This covers you if a tenant holds you liable for an injury caused by a fault in your property and includes your legal expenses and damages awarded to tenants.
Legal cover - This will cover your expenses if you need to take your tenant to court.
Rent guarantee - This will ensure you're still paid, even if your tenant defaults on the rent.

Safety and Energy Performance Certificates

You are required by law to have both a gas safety certificate (CP12) and Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for any property which is let.

A gas safety certificate is extremely important, and ensures that all gas appliances at the property are in good working order. As a landlord, you are responsible for the safety of your tenants, and as such a gas safety certificate must be renewed every 12 months.

An EPC provides information about a property's energy efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions. It is accompanied by a report which gives suggestions and recommendations on how to reduce your property's energy consumption and emissions. It lasts for 10 years from the date of issue.

Whilst electrical safety certificates are not required by law, it is advised that landlords carry out and keep a record of periodic inspections of fixed electrical installations (like sockets and light fittings), as well as annual testing of all portable appliances (such as kettles, toasters etc), known as PAT testing.

References

First and foremost it is important to reference check any tenant who will be contributing to the monthly rent.

A good reference will include an identity check to ensure the tenant is who they say they are, confirmation of their employment status and current salary (and therefore their ability to pay the rent), and their history of paying rent in the past. It will also include both employer and landlord references, details of any bankruptcies and County Court Judgements (CCJ's) and their previous credit history.

If your tenant is rejected on the grounds of a poor reference, they may be able to offer a friend or relative as a guarantor. This guarantor should also be reference checked to ensure their suitability to pay the rent should the tenant default.

Contract

Having a contract is vitally important. It is important to read through the contract and make sure you are in agreement with the terms and conditions of that contract. You may find that an "off the peg" contract does not cover specific requirements you have. You should amend the contract as necessary to your requirements. Ask the tenant to initial each page, and sign and date as appropriate.

You should ensure that you are in receipt of a signed contract prior to allowing you tenants access to the property or giving them keys.

Deposit

Prior to your tenants having access or keys to your property, you should ensure that you have received your deposit and first month's rent, as cleared funds (either cleared funds in your bank or cash, but never a cheque presented to you on the day).

You should not charge more than two month's rent as deposit. If you do, your tenant may be automatically entitled to sublet the property.

Once you have the deposit, you must place it with a Government-backed deposit protection scheme, and notify your tenants within 30 days of taking the deposit, which protection scheme you intend to use.

You should ensure that you are in receipt of the deposit and first month's rent as cleared funds prior to allowing your tenants access to the property or giving them keys.

Inventory

The inventory is a thorough record, with documentary evidence and photographs, which demonstrates the condition of your property at the commencement of any tenancy.

This document then forms part of your contract, and provides a standard to which the property should be kept. The inventory should be signed by both tenant and landlord, and be sufficiently thorough that it can be used to settle any dispute about the condition of your property that may arise at a later date.

You should take pictures/video footage of each room to ensure that there is no doubt as to the condition of the property, or it's fixtures and fittings.

Check in

On the tenancy commencement date, you will meet your tenants at the property, and provided that they have signed the contract and paid the appropriate deposit and rent, you will hand the property to them.

You should walk them around the property, going through the inventory as you do. Take a camera with you, so that if the tenant wants a particular thing noted, you can take photographic evidence (for example, they might notice a mark on the carpet that they wish to be noted in the inventory).

Check the meter readings with the tenant present, and also take a photograph of the meter reading.

It is always a good idea to show the tenant where the stop cock and electricity consumer unit (fuse box) is.

Once you have shown the tenant around, it is important that you ask the tenant to initial each page of the inventory, and sign to say that they are in agreement with information contained within the inventory, the meter readings, and that they have received the sets of keys you have given them.

Interim checks

It is always prudent to make periodic checks of your property to ensure it is being kept in an appropriate manner.

You should give your tenants notice that you will be making a property check, and you should ask that they are present at the time of the check.

During the check, it is useful to have a copy of the inventory with you so that you can compare the standard at the tenancy commencement to current day.

Ongoing maintenance

It is important to take care of your tenants while they are resident in your property.

You should deal with issues when they arise as promptly as possible, and give tenants as much notice as possible if you or a trades person need to enter the property for any reason.

Check out

At the conclusion of the tenancy, it is important to meet the tenant on their final day at the property to check that it is being left in a condition which is on par with the inventory. Take final meter readings with the tenant present, and include photographic evidence of the each meter reading.

It can often be prudent to attend the property (by prior arrangement) a week or so before the end date of the tenancy. At this point, any issues can be highlighted, and potentially dealt with before the tenancy conclusion (for example, carpets which need cleaning, walls which need filling/painting). This can allow the deposit to be handed back to the tenant at the end of the tenancy without deduction or dispute. In the event that the tenant fails to make good any necessary works you will be able to demonstrate that you have given the tenant sufficient warning of the works required.

The difference between the inventory and the property's condition at the end of the tenancy will form the basis of any claim to withhold some or all of the deposit, so it is important for you to attend with the inventory and a camera, and for the tenant to be present.

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