Essential Documents Every Tenant or Landlord Should Have Ready

By Sawiara Khan

Posted on July 22, 2025

Whether you’re a tenant or a landlord, it’s very important to keep documents closely to you. That’s important because the last thing you want is to lose those and not find them when needed. Having a proper record of the tenant, payments and all repairs/requirements they have is crucial and it can definitely make things easier. The same is valid for tenants, you want to show exactly what you paid, that you have everything on time and there are no issues. Adequate protection is crucial, and you get that from keeping all the documents you need.

Rental or lease agreement

Why is it a crucial document? It highlights all the info related to the rental agreement. That means it covers everything from the rental terms to the amount the tenant needs to pay, security deposit terms, guest rules, utilities, pet policies, termination clauses and many others. For a landlord, you have a guarantee that there are lease requirements in a legal document. Tenants also have a guarantee that their payments are recorded, and the same thing is valid for their deposits as well.

The rental application form

The role of this document is to help landlords acquire more info about tenants. It can make it easy to screen the background and credit for tenants. It also allows you to verify employment and income, which is a crucial thing to keep in mind. Additionally, it can include contact info, social security number, landlord references, employment and income info, etc. You always want to make sure that the rental application is detailed and comprehensive. The more info you have there, the better it will be, since you can avoid any issues or problems that could arise.

Use a utility bill generator

You will have times when you need to have a duplicate of utility bills. Maybe you want to keep a record of all your utility bills and the tenants lost some of those bills. Thanks to a utility bill generator, you can easily generate those utility bills and manage everything without a problem. It’s a quick, seamless process and one that can help deliver an excellent result.

Create a move-in and move-out checklist

Naturally, you and the tenant should have these lists and handle them individually. The main idea here is that you want to document all the existing issues, and also create a security deposit for any deductions. Another thing you need to consider is what items you left for the tenant and what their condition was at that time. Additionally, the tenant needs to sign these lists and ensure that they confirm all the current conditions for these items. Once that’s done, it becomes much easier to manage and handle everything.

Rent payment records

A crucial document for a tenant or landlord is a clear record of the rent being paid. Not only is that type of document mandatory for legal reasons, but there are taxes related to that as well. You can use rent collection software and issue digital receipts or printed ones, if you want. However, aside from that, you also want to have a ledger that tracks the amount paid, when it was paid, the payment method used, etc. If there are any late fees, you also want to highlight those as well.

Security deposit documents

Most landlords need to have a security deposit from the tenant. That way, they are certain that the tenant will not just say they want to stay there and they move right away. With a security deposit, the landlord has more certainty, and the tenant also has a guarantee that they will stay at that spot for a while.

Generally, you want to have the deposit receipt, a written explanation of the deposit deductions, the final inspection report, but also a return confirmation featuring the tenant’s signature. All of these documents can be set aside, as they help document the security deposit and all the info related to it, which is something to keep in mind.

Repair/maintenance records

From time to time, you are forced to deal with certain repairs for the property. As a landlord, you want to log all the repair and maintenance requests, and you also want to keep any invoice from contractors. Additionally, you should use property management software, as it can help better organize records without a problem.

Tenants, on the other hand, should always submit a maintenance record if they need any repairs. Keeping a record of what was reported and what was not will help, because it allows you to better organize and track everything, which is always very important to keep in mind.

Insurance documents

Of course, insurance is crucial because you never know when issues can arise. And instead of going out of pocket as a landlord, you can have the insurance company pay for any damage. Property insurance usually covers the structure and not who is inside. Then, you can have rental loss protection, liability coverage and many others. A tenant can go for renter’s insurance. If the tenant uses such insurance, they can have coverage for any accidents, but also for their personal belongings and any temporary relocation situation. Knowing those things matters, and it will only make the experience much easier.

Verification and identification documents

These days, a lot of tenants can be fraudulent and they try to scam landlords to get free rent. A very good idea here is to verify the identity of the tenants and request a photo ID. Keeping those copies secure and maintaining compliance with the laws is crucial, and it will surely help more than expected. The tenant should also keep the landlord’s full name and their company info, if possible, as that helps quite a bit.

Communication logs

Having the communication logs is also very helpful, as you want to keep any notices shared from you, the landlord, to the tenants. That includes notices to enter the property, to increase rent, to evict, a lease renewal or anything like that. Keeping a communication log for all texts, emails and calls will help a lot, especially if the conversations are related to conflict resolution, repairs, rule violations or lease changes.