Property managers provide a necessary service that allows landlords the freedom from having to handle each tenant themselves. While managing most properties is as easy as dealing with one landlord, that’s not always the case. Sometimes rare instances come up, such as joint tenancy. Knowing how this type of ownership works is the key to understanding how to successfully manage the property.
Before you can successfully manage a joint tenancy property, you need to understand just what this term means. A joint tenancy is when two or more people have legal ownership of a property. All owners have equal rights and obligations in relation to the property. Each owner is referred to legally as a joint tenant.
One very important rule to know about joint tenancy rental properties is that all the owners are responsible for the decision making of the property. You can’t just rely on the word of one owner for decisions. Rather, you should meet with all joint tenants to ensure that they are all in agreement about practices that you’re doing at the property.
Another important aspect you need to be aware of when it comes to joint tenancy properties is the right of survivorship. If one of the joint tenants passes away, the survivors of that tenant obtain the right to the deceased’s ownership. It can seem confusing with the conveyancing process when the real estate property gets transferred. However, know that you’ll need to run decisions by the survivor of the deceased and the other joint tenants don’t have any legal right to the deceased portion of ownership in the property.
No matter how many tenants are involved in the property, each one has the right to transfer their ownership to another individual. This could be an existing tenant that already owns a portion of the property or someone entirely different. Therefore, it’s completely possible for one of the joint tenants to relinquish their ownership and instruct you of a new joint tenant that you’ll be dealing with while managing the property.
As a property manager, you have many different responsibilities on your plate. Ensuring that you’re dealing with the legal owners of a property is a must. When it comes to joint tenancy properties, you now should have a much better idea of how they operate.
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