How to document a tenancy from day one

Ask a landlord who has been through a bad tenancy what they would do differently and you rarely hear a different decision. You hear that they would have written things down.

Documentation is unusual among landlord tasks in that it is almost free at the moment it needs doing, and impossible later. Here is what to capture, in the order a tenancy actually happens.

General information about record-keeping practice, not legal advice. Requirements differ by province — check your provincial tenancy authority.

Before the tenant is chosen

Keep the application and, where lawfully obtained, the relevant screening record for only as long as needed under your documented retention practice. Use the same lawful, relevant criteria for each applicant and restrict access to sensitive screening information.

Apply consistent criteria across applicants and be aware of your obligations under human rights legislation, which apply to tenant selection.

At signing

• A complete, signed tenancy agreement, with a copy the tenant also holds.
• Any addenda or schedules signed at the same time, not promised for later.
• A record of the deposit: amount, date received, and what it is for.
• Contact details for the tenant that you will still be able to use in six months.

The most common failure here is a lease that exists only as a photograph of a printed page. If you cannot produce every page cleanly, you do not really have the agreement.

Before the tenant takes possession

Document the condition of the unit using the report and process required in your province, supported by dated photographs where useful. This creates contemporaneous evidence for any later disagreement about damage or deposits.

Do it before handover, not on the first day of the tenancy, so there is no ambiguity about whether the condition predates occupancy.

Every month, without thinking about it

• Record rent on the date received, not the date it was due.
• Record partial payments as partial payments.
• Record any one-off charge with a note of what it was for.
• Keep utility calculations and what you billed, if utilities are shared.

The reason to log the received date rather than the due date is that late payment patterns matter in disputes, and a ledger that only records the month cannot show one.

Whenever something breaks

Capture the request as the tenant made it, ideally with relevant photos, then record the actions taken and when. A maintenance history showing the request, response, contractor visit and completion can provide useful evidence if the response is later disputed.

Keep the conversation attached to the request rather than in a general message thread, so the context survives.

Whenever you serve anything

Record what was served, the legally permitted service method used, and the date, and keep that record with the document itself. Treat service as a two-part record — the notice and evidence of service — because a party may need to prove that service requirements were followed.

At the end

Repeat the condition documentation at move-out, in the same rooms and the same order as move-in, so the two sets are directly comparable. Then record the deposit outcome and the reasoning behind any deduction.

The test

A tenancy is properly documented if someone else could pick up the file and reconstruct the whole thing without asking you a single question. If that is true, you will never need to remember any of it — which is the entire point.

Related: Tenant screening · Maintenance · All guides