Lease administration checklist for property managers

The signed lease, every addendum and every disclosure the market requires are stored together, with the date each was signed and by whom.

The deposit or bond has been received, receipted, and lodged or held exactly where the market requires, with the tenant told where and by when (the Cuvanti checklists for the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Canada hold each market's cap, deadline and account rule).

The condition report or inventory is completed with dated photographs, signed by both sides, and stored with the lease.

The tenant has the owner's or agent's contact details for repairs and emergencies, and the agency has the tenant's.

Utilities, keys, access devices and parking are recorded, with who holds what.

Insurance is in place where the market or the lease requires it, with the certificate on file and its expiry date in the diary.

Rent due dates and the frequency (weekly, fortnightly, monthly), with the arrears trigger the market and the lease allow.

Rent review dates, the notice period each requires, and the cap or formula that applies.

Lease end date, the notice period for non-renewal on each side, and the date by which a renewal offer must go out to keep the choice open.

Break clause dates, if any.

Deposit deadlines: protection or lodgement after receipt, and return after move-out.

Statutory inspections and safety certificates: smoke alarms, gas, electrical, pool, fire, with the interval each market sets.

Insurance renewals, including the tenant's where required.

Licence and registration renewals for the property, where the market requires them.

Every receipt is matched to a charge and dated to the day the bank received it, not the day someone entered it.

Owner money and agency money never share an account where the market requires a trust account; the trust account is reconciled monthly to the bank statement and to each owner's balance (see the Australian trust accounting guide).

Arrears are chased on a fixed rhythm the lease and the market permit, with each contact logged.

Fees charged to owners follow the management agreement to the cent, and every deduction on an owner statement ties back to a receipt or an invoice (see the owner statements guide).

The monthly close has a checklist of its own: bank reconciled, statements issued, disbursements paid, arrears reviewed (see the bank reconciliation guide).

Every notice uses the form the market prescribes and is served in a way the market recognises, with proof of service kept.

Entry notices give the market's minimum period and state the purpose.

Rent increase notices carry the right notice period and, where applicable, the reference to the cap or formula.

Repairs requests are logged with the date received, the date attended and the outcome, whatever channel they arrived by.

Complaints and disputes are logged the same way, with dates, and escalated to the tribunal or ombudsman process the market provides before positions harden.

The final inspection is completed against the entry condition report, with dated photographs.

The deposit is returned, or the claim against it itemised, within the market's deadline and by the market's method.

Final rent, utilities and charges are reconciled and the tenant's ledger closed to zero.

Keys and access devices are returned and recorded; locks are changed where the lease or the market requires it.

Forwarding details are recorded for the deposit and for any later correspondence.

The lease, condition reports, notices, receipts and correspondence for each tenancy are kept for the period the market requires, commonly five to seven years after the tenancy ends, in a form that cannot be altered.

Trust account records, where they apply, are kept for the period the trust rules set, and are available to the auditor.

Personal information is kept only as long as needed and disposed of in line with the privacy law of the market.