Summary
The rental management mandate
If you entrust the rental management of your property to a professional, who may be a real estate agent or a property manager, you must conclude a rental management mandate with him.
This contract, drawn up between the two parties, details the scope and duration of the assignment entrusted to the agent by the principal.
It includes other elements, such as the identity of the two parties, the mention of the subscription, if necessary, by the principal, of rental guarantee insurance or the designation of the property being rented. The contract also mentions the agent’s remuneration.
Fixed by the contract, the duration of the mandate maybe a year. A tacit renewal clause at each expiry date is often included in the management mandate, without ever being able to exceed a total duration of 30 years. Finally, each party has the possibility of denounce this mandate by registered letter with acknowledgment of receiptrespecting the terms of the contract.
Rental management and its missions
The real estate agency or the property manager, responsible for the rental management of a dwelling, serves asintermediaries between lessor and lessee. As such, they are their usual interlocutors and assume all day-to-day management tasks related to the rental of the property.
On behalf of the lessor, the agent collects the rents for the accommodation, as well as the charges. Each year, it proceeds to the revision of the rent and the possible regularization of the rental charges.
Similarly, the real estate agency or property manager is responsible for sending rent receipts to tenants. They also send the lessor a document used for the tax declaration of his rental income.
These are the most common rental management tasks. But others can be provided for by the rental management mandate. The agent can thus take care of repairs that are not the responsibility of the tenant. He can also take charge of the management of claims that are not covered by the tenant’s home insurance.
The management of late payment of rents can also be entrusted to him. In this case, he is responsible for reminding the tenant of these delays, by reminder letters, and for collecting unpaid debts.
The real estate agency still manages all the formalities related to the tenant’s leave. In particular, it verifies the regularity of requests for notice and the establishment of the exit inventory. It also ensures the return of the security deposit. As an agent, the real estate agency or the property manager can represent the lessor at general meetings of co-ownership.
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Specific fees
If the lessor requires the services of a real estate professional, he will have to provide for rental management fees. They first represent the professional’s remuneration, which is provided for, by mutual agreement, in the management mandate.
It is made up of a certain percentage deducted from rental receipts made by the real estate agency. The lessor must therefore carefully check from which rental costs the agent’s remuneration is deducted.
It can be on the rent alone, on the rent added to the charges, or even on these two values added to the security deposit. It is understood that depending on the base chosen, the remuneration of the agent, and therefore the costs assumed by the lessor, will be different.
The lessor must also check that the agent’s remuneration includes all taxes. If this is not the case, it will be necessary to add VAT to it, which will increase the costs of the lessor.
He will still have to ensure that all the services provided are included in the proposed price. Otherwise, some tasks could generate additional expenses. The best thing for the lessor is to compare the offers and ask for a detailed quote from each real estate agency.
The display of the price in the window, mandatory since 2014, makes it easier for him. It is also necessary to take into account, in the costs of rental management, the subscription, on the part of the lessor, of a rental insurance. It is not mandatory, but highly recommended.
Indeed, this insurance, taken out by most landlords, makes it possible to avoid a loss of income linked to unpaid rents. In fact, it bears the costs of proceedings, and in particular the costs of lawyers and bailiffs, incurred for the collection of rents.
It can also cover the lessor if the tenant leaves the premises without warning or if he dies. In some cases, the insurance can cover the costs of repairing the accommodation attributable to the outgoing tenant, if they exceed the amount of the security deposit.
Read also: 5 tips for managing the rental of your apartment on your own
