Understanding Tenant Statuses (Active vs. Past)
Learn how the Landager automation engine categorizes tenants as Active or Past based on whether they have a currently active lease, and how to filter them.
Your master Tenant Directory can grow to hundreds of names over a few years of managing properties. To keep this list useful, Landager automatically categorizes every person into one of two statuses: Active or Past.
The Two Tenant Statuses
1. Active (Green Badge)
An "Active" tenant is someone who currently owes you rent.
They logically possess at least one Lease whose Start Date is in the past, and whose End Date is either blank (month-to-month) or in the future.
2. Past (Grey Badge)
A "Past" tenant is someone whose legal relationship with you has concluded.
They logically possess zero active leases. Their previous leases have either naturally expired or were manually terminated.
How the Status Updates Automatically
You never manually change a tenant's status between Active and Past.
Just like Unit Occupancy Updates, the tenant status is a reflection of real-world contracts. It is tied entirely to their leases.
- Becoming Active: The exact day a tenant's new lease begins, the system automatically flips their profile to "Active."
- Becoming Past: The exact day their lease ends (and assuming they don't have a renewal signed), the system automatically flips their profile to "Past."
Why Keep Past Tenants in the Database?
You might wonder why you shouldn't just delete a tenant the moment they move out. There are three critical reasons Landager preserves Past Tenants:
- Historical Ledger Integrity: To survive an IRS audit, you must prove who paid you the rent logged in 2022. If you delete the person who paid it, your historical ledger loses its paper trail.
- Security Deposit Reconciliation: Even after a lease ends and a tenant moves out, you technically still owe them a security deposit reconciliation. Keeping their profile Active allows you to document the final payout.
- The 'Do Not Rent' List: Keeping a bad tenant's profile in the system serves as an internal blacklist. If they apply for another one of your properties years later, their name will pull up their old profile, complete with the private notes detailing why you shouldn't rent to them again.
You can easily hide Past Tenants from your daily view using the Directory Filters.
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Related Reading
Filtering the Tenant Directory
How to navigate a growing list of tenants using the search bar and status filters. Quickly hide past tenants to focus on your currently active rent roll.
What is a Tenant Profile vs. a Lease?
Understand the critical data difference between a Person (the Tenant Profile) and a Contract (the Lease) to properly manage renewals, roommates, and evictions.
How Unit Occupancy Automatically Updates
Learn how the Landager automation engine flips unit statuses between Vacant and Occupied instantly based on the creation, starting, and ending of Leases.