Our Rental Process is Changing

Coronavirus (COVID-19) and how our rental processes are adapting to change

In these unprecedented times, Century 21 is doing everything possible to support our teams and our clients to get through many of the uncertainties we face.

We are all navigating a world that requires us to maintain social distance, working from home options and mobile connectivity to our clients. Our priority is the safety of our people and our clients; we are also guided by what Health Authorities are recommending.

Our teams are across all the required health practices and ways in which we can continue to conduct business with minimal exposure. We have made some critical business decisions that you need to be aware of:

1. We are still operating as usual and will continue to do so albeit at a slightly reduced capacity.
2. Given the need to reduce interaction we have made the decision to cancel routine inspections for the next 4-6 weeks. We have not taken this decision lightly as we know how important this is to our clients however health and safety of our people is paramount and we need to minimise their exposure. We are currently reviewing options using technology to perform inspections via Google Hangouts, Zoom, Skype or Facetime. This would mean the tenant walks us through the property and we both agree on the state and complete inspection reports immediately.
3. We are ready to work from home. Rents will be collected, trades will be paid and all our owners will continue receive their rental payments as per normal procedure.
4. Our team is being extremely vigilant on arrears. Tenants will need to provide proof of hardship as a result of the pandemic and not earning a salary. If any of your tenants are in financial distress we will contact you directly and discuss options before any decision is taken.
5. The team have reached out to trades to assess who will be available to cover emergency repairs during any public isolation period. At this stage like us they are following advice provided by Government and Health Authorities.
6. If we are required to work from home for a period of time, we will have a message on the landline with details of how to contact our team and we will be answering emails on a daily basis.
7. We will continue to conduct timely rent reviews, however given circumstances and Government instructions, we may be required to offer lower rent.

8. Tenants who are vacating between now and mid-April may need to extend their vacating dates, if your property is impacted by this we will let you know immediately.
9. If we have any tenants moving into a property during any isolation period, assuming that they are still able to, we will leave keys and their welcome pack in the property for them.
10. Tenants are being asked to hand back keys in an envelope, which we will sanitise and wait 24 hours before we conduct an exit inspection.
11. We will no longer conduct open for inspections, following a Government ban on this activity. If possible, we may undertake first inspections remotely by the use of Google Hangouts, Zoom, Facetime etc. Any physical inspection may be made by private appointment rather than via open homes, with appropriate distancing between individuals. We also prominently display a warning sign advising not to enter the property if someone has returned from overseas or interstate travel within 14 days and/or experiencing flu-like symptoms common to that of COVID-19.
12. We will monitor any inspections and provide you with feedback as per normal procedure. Please be aware that these numbers may reduce over the coming weeks.
13. We will continue to process applications and forward tenants for approval to you pending a physical viewing of the home.

As we are facing unprecedented times, our goal is to keep our people safe and healthy and our clients up to date on property matters while ensuring rent is collected and monies paid.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact us.