Why is a property paper trail so important?
Why is a property paper trail so important?
Every property has a past, and every landlord has a future that can be ruined if these important details aren’t managed properly.
Important information like your property’s gas safety certificates, tenancy agreements and property insurance documents are a key part of your business’s history, and making sure they are properly stored for the correct amount of time is vital to keeping yourself out of legal hot water.
Is your filing legal?
It can be tempting to rip up old documents the minute a new one is in your hand. However, in some cases, this (satisfying) filing process could actually be breaking the law.
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In order to comply with the regulation 36(3)(c) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, you are required to keep gas safety records for at least two years, so this ripping reaction could pose you a problem.
Under GDPR, it is recommended that you only keep hold of a tenant’s personal documentation for 12 months after they move out of the property, however your tenant can request for details to be removed from your records earlier than this. All the time they are your tenant, you have a right to hold certain information on them (you are join via a legal agreement, and therefore you are entitled to hold certain key details)! However, when this agreement ends, you are no longer required to hold personal information on the tenant, and if they request you to delete it, you must do so.
With regards to Right to Rent checks, you have a duty to hold these for 12 months after the tenancy ends. These details can not be deleted under a GDPR deletion request.
Digital document storage
It is wise to keep all documentation relating to your property for a minimum of five years, but we would recommend keeping everything in a secure digital store.
There’s no need for reams of paperwork, you can access everything on the go and with some options, you even get handy alerts when you’ve got a renewal due…
