Records for an accommodation request
For landlords
Twenty minutes across the life of a request, and it is the difference between a defensible decision and an expensive one.
What the file should contain
- The request, with its date, however it arrived. An email, a note, a record of a verbal conversation you confirmed in writing.
- Your written acknowledgement, with its date.
- Exactly what you asked for and why, where you sought documentation.
- The documentation received.
- Your licence check: the board searched, the date, the result.
- The decision, in writing, with reasons.
- Any alternatives discussed, and why they would or would not work.
- The accommodation recorded on the tenancy record so the next manager does not re-litigate it.
What should not be in it
A diagnosis, clinical notes, or medical records. If a tenant volunteered more than the two facts you were entitled to, you are now holding sensitive information you did not need and cannot un-know. Note that documentation was received and satisfied you, and do not retain the clinical detail.
Who should see it
The people administering the accommodation, and nobody else. Not the maintenance team, not other residents, and not a general staff channel. Accommodation information should be kept confidential and used only to evaluate and administer the request.
How long
At least as long as the tenancy, and beyond it for the limitation period on a fair housing claim, which is generally two years for a civil action and one year for a HUD complaint. A file destroyed at move-out is a file you do not have when a claim arrives.
Common questions
- Do I need a separate system for this?
- No, and access to it should be narrower than access to the general tenancy file, because the information is more sensitive.