It's Tuesday morning. A landlord calls, furious. "You told me the rent would be £1,200 per month. I'm looking at the portal and it says £1,000. What's going on?"
You check your system. It shows £1,000. You're sure you discussed £1,200 with the landlord last month, but... when did it change? Who changed it? Did the landlord approve the reduction, or is there a mistake?
You have no way to know. Your system doesn't track changes. You can't prove what was agreed, when it changed, or who made the update. The landlord demands answers you can't provide.
By Friday, that landlord has withdrawn all three of their properties from your management. Not because you were wrong—but because you couldn't prove you were right.
This happens more often than agencies admit. Disputes over rent changes, tenancy terms, repair histories, certificate uploads—where both parties remember different versions of events, but there's no paper trail to settle the argument.
This week, we solved this problem in LetAdmin. Every property update, status change, photo modification, and user action now creates a permanent audit log entry—timestamped, attributed to the specific user who made the change, and stored with before/after values. This article explains why audit trails matter for letting agencies, how the system works, and what it means for compliance and accountability.
The Problem: Letting Agencies Need Proof of Actions
Regulatory compliance is tightening. Council inspections, selective licensing schemes, deposit protection audits, right-to-rent checks—all require documented evidence of when actions occurred and who performed them.
Why Agencies Need Audit Trails
1. Landlord Disputes
When a landlord questions rent amounts, marketing decisions, or maintenance timelines, you need proof:
- What rent was originally agreed?
- When did it change, and why?
- Who approved the change?
- What was communicated to the landlord?
Without audit logs, these become "he said, she said" arguments. With audit logs, you pull up a timestamped record showing exactly what happened.
2. Regulatory Compliance
Compliance officers need evidence for:
- Safety certificate uploads (who uploaded the EPC, when?)
- Right-to-rent documentation (who verified the tenant's status?)
- Deposit protection (when was the deposit registered?)
- Licensing applications (can you prove the property met standards on the application date?)
Audit trails transform "I think we did that in May" into "Certificate uploaded by Sarah on 14 May 2025 at 10:23am."
3. Team Accountability
For agencies with multiple staff members:
- Who changed this property's status to "Let" when it's actually vacant?
- Why was this property unpublished from Rightmove yesterday?
- Who updated the tenant contact details?
Audit logs answer these questions instantly, enabling management to identify training needs or process issues.
4. Insurance Claims
When claiming for property damage or loss of rent, insurers ask:
- When was the damage first reported?
- Who inspected the property?
- What was the condition on the inspection date?
Audit trails provide timestamped evidence that strengthens insurance claims and speeds up payouts.
How LetAdmin's Audit System Works
Every significant action creates an audit log entry. This happens automatically in the background—your staff don't need to remember to "log" anything. The system handles it.
What Gets Tracked Automatically
Property Changes:
- Price updates (£1,000 → £1,200)
- Headline changes
- Description edits
- Status changes (Available → Let)
- Address updates
- Photo additions/removals
User Actions:
- Login times
- Account changes
- Password resets
- Permission updates
Tenancy Events:
- New tenancy created
- Move-in date set
- Contract end date changed
- Deposit amounts
Certificate & Document Actions:
- EPC upload (who, when, expiry date)
- Gas safety certificate
- EICR electrical certificates
- Inventory uploads
All entries include:
- Who: The user who made the change (e.g., "Sarah updated...")
- What: The action performed ("...rental price...")
- When: Exact timestamp ("...on 2 Sep 2025 at 14:35")
- Before/After: Old value and new value (£1,200 → £1,250)
Real-World Example: Resolving a Rent Dispute
Scenario: A landlord claims you agreed to £1,400/month rent but the property is advertised at £1,200.
Before audit trails (typical agency workflow):
- Landlord calls, angry about the discrepancy
- Agency staff check current system: £1,200
- Staff search emails for original agreement
- Can't find the exact email (buried in 3-month-old thread)
- Ask other team members if they remember
- Eventually conclude "we think it was always £1,200"
- Landlord disagrees, loses trust, threatens to leave
Result: Lost landlord, damaged reputation
With LetAdmin audit trail:
- Landlord calls about discrepancy
- Agency opens property → Activity History
- Sees: "Property created by Tom on 12 Jun 2025, price: £1,400"
- Sees: "Price updated by Sarah on 15 Jun 2025 from £1,400 to £1,200"
- Checks notes: "Landlord approved reduction via email 15 Jun"
- Shows landlord the audit log and email
Result: Dispute resolved in 2 minutes, landlord satisfied
The difference? Proof. Timestamped, attributed, permanent proof of what happened and when.
Where Agents See Activity History
1. Property Activity Feed
On every property detail page, a timeline shows recent changes:
- "Sarah updated rental price from £1,200 to £1,250 on 2 Sep at 14:35"
- "Tom added 3 new photos on 1 Sep at 09:20"
- "Mike changed status from Available to Let on 31 Aug at 16:45"
This provides at-a-glance context when reviewing properties.
2. Global Activities Page
The Activities dashboard (accessible from main navigation) shows all recent activity across your entire portfolio:
- Today's changes
- Yesterday's updates
- This week's activity
- Earlier history (searchable)
Why this matters: If a manager asks "what did the team work on yesterday?", you have a complete record. If a compliance officer asks "show me all certificate uploads from last quarter", you can filter and export them.
3. User-Specific Activity
Click any user profile to see their recent actions:
- What properties did Sarah work on this week?
- When did Tom last log in?
- What changes has Mike made in the last month?
This enables performance reviews, quality assurance, and training identification.
How It Works Behind the Scenes
No extra work for your team. The audit system runs automatically using database callbacks—whenever a property is updated, a background job creates the audit log entry. This happens in milliseconds without slowing down your staff's work.
Permanent records. Audit logs can't be edited or deleted by users (only system administrators with special access). This ensures the trail remains trustworthy for legal or compliance purposes.
Fast searches. Even with years of audit data (millions of entries), searches remain instant thanks to database indexing on agency, user, and date.
Compliance Benefits for Agencies
Selective Licensing Evidence
Many councils require proof of property management activities for licensing:
- When were safety certificates uploaded?
- Who conducted property inspections?
- What maintenance was performed and when?
LetAdmin's audit trail provides this evidence automatically.
Right-to-Rent Compliance
When the Home Office audits your right-to-rent checks:
- Who verified the tenant's documents?
- What date was verification completed?
- Were documents checked before tenancy start?
Audit logs answer these questions with timestamped proof.
Deposit Protection Audits
Deposit protection schemes require evidence of timely registration:
- When was the deposit received?
- When was it protected?
- Was it within the 30-day legal deadline?
The audit trail provides definitive answers.
What Happens When Something Goes Wrong
Scenario: A property was accidentally unpublished from Rightmove overnight.
Without audit trails:
- Notice missing enquiries the next morning
- Spend 30 minutes figuring out why
- Blame gets thrown around the team
- Still unclear what actually happened
- Can't prevent it happening again
With audit trails:
- See in Activity History: "Property advertising toggled off by Mike on [date] at 23:47"
- Speak to Mike: "I accidentally clicked the toggle while checking the property on my phone"
- Solution: Add confirmation dialog for advertising toggle
- Issue prevented in future
The audit trail doesn't just show what happened—it enables process improvement by revealing exactly where mistakes occur.
Privacy and Data Protection
Who can see audit logs?
- Users see activity for properties/tenancies they have access to
- Managers see team activity across their offices
- System administrators see all agency activity
Data retention:
- Audit logs stored for minimum 7 years (regulatory requirement)
- Can be exported for legal proceedings
- GDPR-compliant (personal data redacted where required)
We'd Love to Hear from You
How do you currently track property changes? Spreadsheet notes? Email records? Nothing?
Have you ever lost a landlord due to a dispute you couldn't resolve with evidence? Most agencies have—it's more common than people admit.
What compliance requirements do you struggle to prove? Certificate uploads? Inspection records? Tenancy timelines?
Get in touch: paul@letadmin.com
LetAdmin is in active development, built by letting agents for letting agents. This audit trail system is being used at Phillip James (370+ properties) to maintain compliance, resolve disputes, and provide accountability. If you're tired of "I think we did that" and want "Here's the proof we did that", we'd love to hear from you.