FAQ001

One of the properties we manage has been purchased by another landlord who wants us to continue managing the property. How do we deal with this in the system?

A property on the system will be owned by one or more landlords. When you calculate and post rents the rent charge transactions carry the property code and the landlord code. Where the property is owned by more than one landlord the rent charge is split between the landlords based on their share of ownership. When you enter a tenant, or tenancy, receipt and allocate the receipt against outstanding rent charges the receipt will have the property and landlord codes copied to it, ensuring that the correct landlord receives the money.

The best way to deal with the change of ownership of a property is described below.

Copy the existing property record and make the new landlord the owner of the new property

1. Decide what will be the last date that the old landlord owned the property. It is desirable that these changes are carried out before this date is reached and certainly before rent charges are posted that are for a period that includes this date.
2. Create a new property record by copying the property to a new record with a different code. Open the Properties List. Click once on the property in the list to select it then click on the 'Copy property record' button on the toolbar. In the screen that appears enter a suitable code for the new property. Click on the 'OK' button to copy the record. The new property record will be added to the Properties List.
3. Open the record for the new property. On the Main Details page of the property record click on the 'Manage ownership records' button, to the right of the Landlord(s) dropdown list, to open the list of ownership records for the property. Delete the old landlord from the list then click on the 'New' button to add the new landlord as owner of this property.

Break any existing tenancy between the old and new properties

1. In order that the rent charges, and therefore the tenant receipts, carry the correct landlord code we must now break any existing tenancy, assuming there is one, between the two properties.
2. Open the existing tenancy record for the old property using either the Tenancies List or the Tenancies Page of the Property record. On the Type/Term page change the stop charging rent date to the last date that the old landlord owned the property. This will make the tenancy charging records finish on that date so that rent is not charged beyond that date and any rent charges will have the landlord code for the old property and old landlord.
3. Create a tenancy for the new property having exactly the same details for the commencement date and term, the same tenants and tenancy charging records as the old tenancy. For the new tenancy make the start charging rent date the first date that the new landlord owned the property i.e. the last date the old landlord owned the property plus one day. The stop charging rent date for the new tenancy will usually be the same as its expiry date.
4. Run the 'Calculate rents due' option with a suitable date so that rent charges appear for both the old and the new tenancy. You should notice that the last rent charge for the old tenancy is for the period up to and including the last date the old landlord owned the property. The first rent charge for the new tenancy will be for the period from and including the first date that the new landlord owns the property. Care should be taken where the frequency of the rent charge is based on calendar months that the split rent charges total up to equal the charge for the whole period. If the amounts are incorrect they can be edited, just before posting them, by double-clicking on the amount to open an editing screen