Unreasonable Lease Agreements, Outrageous Fees and Red Flags

𝗕𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆! I do NOT recommend renting a property with this real estate agency. I went to view a Hatfield apartment with a Just Property agent who over-sold the property and pressed me for a response about "taking" the property and signing the lease agreement. The agent sent me the lease agreement and it is hands down one of the most unreasonable lease agreements I have ever read (and I have read and drafted many lease agreements). The tenant has to pay for every imaginable thing AND the tenant takes on ALL of the liability when it relates to maintenance (which is ridiculous to me because tenants are not plumbers, carpenters, electricians etc. If you are a property owner - it is in your best interest to make maintenance arrangements with reputable experts who won't put a bandaid on a maintenance problem or source the cheapest materials - which is exactly what the tenant will do if you leave maintenance in their hands). I could not agree to sign off on being a plumber, a carpenter and an electrician because I am not. And I could not sign off on being responsible for buying/replacing tap washers and faucets for a property I do not own. There's a line between tenants being responsible for fixing what they damage versus tenants being responsible for replacing tap washers and leaving a fresh coat of paint on the walls before they leave for the sake of it.

The lease agreement was also really odd. All the important (and outrageous) fees are pages after the page where all the signatures are meant to be. It's almost as if they are banking on potential tenants not reading the entire document. Here's a list of all the outrageous fees tenants can expect to pay when renting from Just Property:

1. Lease admin fee - R 1 200 (fee charged to "generate" the lease agreement and validate FICA documents). 2. Cash deposit fee - R 250 (I'm assuming this is deducted monthly along with your rent. Tenants are basically paying Just Property's bank transaction fees). 3. Outgoing inspection fee - R 350 (fee charged for an inspection to be done when a tenant moves out or renews his/her lease). 4. Deposit release fee - R 200 (they make you pay to get your deposit back). 5. Lease cancelation fee - R 1 500 (it was not clarified if this fee app**** when the lease ends or when the lease is canceled prior to the agreed date of termination).

And this is just half of the ridiculous fees listed on the lease agreement I received. Tenants are expected to pay not just their rent, but Just Property's bank transaction fees too. That's absolutely insane.

Whatever you do, 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼. Just Property's lease agreements are unreasonable and they will make tenants liable for rewiring faulty cables (or something odd like that) and they will charge you fees for everything they possibly can. 𝗕𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆!