Question on record keeping as the landlord

[Jessica Yuan]

Hey all, I'm currently reading "the book on rental property management" by Brandon and Heather Turner, and the chapter about Faire Housing Laws talks about keeping excellent record in the event a discrimination charge is brought up to you. 

Here's the quote from the book: 

"In the case of renting out your unit and speaking with potential tenants, keep notes of each contact you had with the potential tenant, including the date and time they occurred. If they apply for your rental, you will also want to keep records of your screening results and the reason behind whether or not they were approved. If they were denied, send them an Adverse Action Notice, and keep all the information you collected about that applicant should the need arise to prove no wrongdoing on your part. We have a file called 'Prospective Applicant', 'Denied Applicant', the same goes for current and past tenants.  During a tenant's tenancy, keep records of anything having to do with that tenant, such as phone calls, emails, letters, texts, complaints, notices, maintenance requests, repairs. Not only could it protect you in the event of a Fair Housing complaint, but accurate and detailed record keeping will also make your job as a landlord much easier". 

My fellow investors, when you use a management company or self-manage, is it a common practice to keep a file for every applicant and every tenant? and is it reasonable to require management company to keep all records as mentioned above, and provide if requested? 

[Greg Scott]

I'm not sure the important parts of Fair Housing compliance were in that passage. Just because you noted that someone called or sent an email provides no protection against Fair Housing.  With Fair Housing the important issue is that you behave in a way that is compliant with the law.  Only then does record keeping become important.  

Most property management systems track the sorts of items you were referring to.