I am buying property with an existing tenant. What evidence should I keep if a dispute starts?

Key takeaways

• Define the disputed issue before collecting a large unsorted file.
• Preserve originals and native electronic exports, not only screenshots or summaries.
• Reconcile the tenant deposit, interest, rent and arrears with independent records.
• Keep inspection, repair, access and condition evidence with dates and authors.
• Retain each notice with proof of delivery or service.
• Escalate Tribunal, court, transfer and contractual deadlines promptly.

How to use this guide

Keep native emails and message exports, original photographs with metadata, bank and ledger records, and proof that notices were delivered. Do not trespass, secretly alter records, threaten an occupier or use lockouts, service interruption or removal of possessions to create evidence or force an outcome.

1. Open an issue-based evidence ledger

Name the actual dispute: lease terms, identity of occupants, rent, arrears, deposit, property condition, repairs, access, cancellation, vacant occupation, disclosure, transfer or payment instructions. A file may involve several issues; create a separate ledger entry for each.

For every item record:

The property dispute checklist can structure the first handover without deciding the legal merits.

2. Preserve the agreement versions

Keep the signed sale agreement, offer versions, counteroffers, annexures, amendments and proof of authority. Preserve the complete lease, addenda, renewal or option records, house rules, inventory and any messages said to vary the agreement.

Do not overwrite a file with a “clean” version. Keep the original and make a clearly labelled working copy. If parties rely on different versions or an oral variation, record who supplied each version and when.

3. Secure the money trail

Preserve:

• rent ledgers and source accounting exports;
• bank statements, payment confirmations and receipts;
• concessions, credits and arrears arrangements;
• the deposit payment, account, interest and custody evidence;
• utility, levy and management statements;
• proposed deductions and supporting invoices; and
• transfer-date apportionment calculations.

Compare the ledger with independent payment records. Do not edit a ledger retrospectively without retaining the prior version and a clear adjustment note. The lease-deposit dispute guide provides more detail on rental money evidence.

4. Preserve condition and access evidence

Keep incoming and outgoing inspection reports, defect lists, dated photographs, video, maintenance requests, contractor quotations, invoices, access requests and responses. Preserve original image files rather than only cropped copies inserted into a report.

Record who took each photograph, where, when and under what lawful access arrangement. Do not enter the tenant's home without authority or manufacture a confrontation. Residential tenants have privacy protections, and inspections require the lawful notice and arrangement.

5. Keep notices with delivery proof

For every breach, cancellation, access, repair or eviction-related notice, keep:

1. the final version actually sent;
2. the lease or legal provision relied upon;
3. sender and authorised capacity;
4. date, time and destination;
5. email headers, message export, registered-mail record or service return;
6. attachments; and
7. response or non-delivery evidence.

A draft notice is not proof that the final notice was delivered. Use the eviction notice guide to identify questions for an adviser. Eviction itself requires the lawful court process; evidence preservation does not authorise self-help.

6. Export communications in native form

Save complete email messages with headers and attachments. Export message conversations where the platform permits, and retain the device or account source. Keep call notes made at the time, identifying participants, date, subject and next action. Do not invent quotations or admissions after the event.

South African electronic-communications law does not reject a record merely because it is electronic, but reliability, integrity and attribution affect its weight. A cropped screenshot may omit the sender, date, surrounding conversation or attachment. Preserve it only as a convenience copy alongside the native record.

7. Preserve transfer and official records

Keep conveyancer correspondence, title and deeds-search results, municipal and levy statements, clearance information, finance conditions, practitioner disclosures and handover schedules. If the dispute reaches a Rental Housing Tribunal or court, preserve complaint forms, reference numbers, directions, affidavits, orders and proof of filing or service.

The tenanted-property document checklist remains the broader transaction pack. In a dispute file, mark which documents are agreed, disputed, missing or awaiting verification.

8. Build a neutral chronology

Create one line per event with the date, event, participants, source evidence IDs, disputed points and next deadline. Distinguish what a record shows from what you infer. If a date is approximate, label it as approximate rather than silently choosing one.

Update the chronology without changing earlier entries. Corrections should show what changed, when and why. This gives a lawyer, conveyancer, Tribunal or court a traceable path back to the original material.

9. Protect access and confidentiality

Store the master file in a controlled location with backups. Limit access to people who need it, especially where records contain identity numbers, bank details, children's information or private communications. Use secure sharing rather than public links or messaging entire files to unverified recipients.

Preservation is not publication. Do not post the tenant's records or allegations online to pressure a result.

10. Escalate deadlines with the evidence pack

Mark the next sale-agreement, finance, transfer, Tribunal, notice or court deadline. Send the adviser a concise issue list, chronology, evidence index and the decisive original records. Ask what must be preserved, what may be disclosed and which action is required before the deadline.

The goal is not to collect the largest file. It is to preserve reliable, lawfully obtained material that allows the disputed question to be tested without losing the transaction timeline.

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