When something is going wrong with your landlord or tenant

Landlord-tenant disputes are won and lost on paper. The party with a clean, dated record of what was promised, what was delivered, what was asked for, and what was said in response almost always has the better position — regardless of who is technically in the right.

The other party is rarely keeping that record. You can be.

What to start documenting today

Whether you're a tenant or a landlord, the same categories of evidence matter:

• The lease and every amendment, signed and dated.
• Every written communication — texts, emails, portal messages, letters — about the unit, the rent, the deposit, or any complaint. Originals, with timestamps visible.
• Photos and video of the unit's condition, dated. Both at move-in and any time a condition changes (water damage, broken appliance, pest issue, etc.). Phone metadata helps; a daily newspaper in the frame helps more.
• Receipts — for rent, repairs, cleaning, replacement items.
• Notices — any notice posted, mailed, or handed over, including envelopes when notices arrived by mail.
• A short log of in-person or phone conversations, written within 24 hours: who, when, where, what was said.

For tenants: the categories that matter most

Habitability and repair issues

Most jurisdictions require a landlord to maintain certain basic conditions (heat, hot water, working plumbing, freedom from infestation, structural integrity). Most also require a tenant to give written notice of a problem before a remedy is available.

What to keep:

1. The first written request for the repair, including how and when it was sent.
2. Photos or video of the condition on the date the request was sent.
3. Every follow-up request.
4. Any response from the landlord or property manager.
5. Photos of the condition over time, dated.
6. Receipts for anything you had to spend because of the problem (hotel, food spoiled by a broken refrigerator, replacement of damaged property).

Notices to vacate or to "cure"

A notice from your landlord telling you to leave, pay, or correct something is the start of a legal clock. The form, delivery method, and content of the notice matter a great deal.

What to keep:

• The notice itself, with the envelope if applicable.
• A clear photo of where it was posted (if posted) and when.
• Any prior communication about the same issue.
• Your own response, in writing.

Security deposit

Most deposit disputes come down to whether the landlord followed the statutory process (often: return within a specific number of days, with an itemized list of deductions). What you need:

• Move-in condition photos (every room, every appliance).
• The move-in inspection form if there was one.
• Move-out condition photos, dated, after you've cleaned.
• The forwarding address you provided, in writing.
• Whatever the landlord eventually sent back, with the postmarked envelope.

For small landlords: the categories that matter most

Non-payment

The single most common dispute. The record that matters:

1. The lease, with the rent terms clearly stated.
2. A ledger of every payment received and every payment due, with dates.
3. Communications with the tenant about missed payments — in writing.
4. Any partial payments and what was said about them.
5. The first formal notice (often a "pay or quit" notice), with proof of how it was delivered.

Damage beyond ordinary wear and tear

To withhold from a deposit, most states require itemized documentation. What you need:

• Move-in condition records the tenant signed off on.
• Move-out photos, taken the same day you finished the walk-through.
• Receipts or estimates for every repair or replacement charged.
• The itemized statement you sent the tenant, with proof of mailing to their forwarding address.

Lease violations beyond rent

Unauthorized occupants, pets, smoking, subletting, business use, noise. The record that matters:

• The lease provision being violated.
• The dated evidence of the violation (photos, neighbor complaints, communications).
• The written notice to cure, with proof of delivery.
• Any response from the tenant.
• The continued violation, if any.

What an organized record looks like

For any of these situations, what wins in housing court or in a deposit dispute is a folder — physical or digital — that contains:

• The lease, on top.
• A simple timeline document: every event in order, with one line per event and a reference to the file proving it.
• The supporting files, labeled with the date and a short description.
• A communications log: every text, email, or in-person conversation, in order.

This is the work AitaraPilot was built to do automatically, but a manual version of it in a single folder will already put you ahead of most parties in a housing case.

What not to do

• Don't communicate verbally about anything important. Always follow up in writing ("Just to confirm what we discussed: …").
• Don't lose your temper in writing. Text and email threads end up exhibited.
• Don't withhold rent informally as a tenant, and don't shut off utilities or change locks as a landlord. Both are tempting and both go badly.
• Don't delete anything, even after the issue feels resolved. Disputes resurface.