Record-Keeping for Small Landlords
What to track for taxes, disputes, and a clean handoff at move-out.
What to keep
Keep the signed lease and any addenda, every rent payment and receipt, all expense receipts (repairs, supplies, mileage, professional fees), insurance and tax documents, and a log of maintenance requests and your responses. Dated move-in and move-out photos belong here too.
Why it pays off
Good records turn tax time from a scramble into a copy-and-paste, substantiate every deduction if you're audited, and win disputes over deposits or unpaid rent because you can show exactly what happened and when. The cost of keeping them is minutes a month; the cost of not having them is measured in lost deductions and lost cases.
Keep it simple
A folder per property and a simple income/expense sheet is enough to start. Generate receipts as you collect rent, and track your cash flow as you go so you always know how each property is performing.
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Not legal advice. LandlordKit provides general informational tools, not legal advice. Landlord-tenant laws change and vary by city and county. Verify the cited statute and consult a licensed attorney before acting on any result.