Move-in and move-out inspections

A move-in or move-out inspection must be offered to the tenant at least twice. OneRental keeps a record of each offer and of who attended, and prints both on the report.

Offer the first time

The time you pick when you schedule the inspection is the first time offered. It must be between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. If you pick a time outside those hours, tick The tenant agreed to this time. You cannot schedule it without that. Until a final time is offered, rescheduling the inspection moves the first offer with it. Once a final time is offered, the date can no longer be changed.

Offer a final time (RTB-22)

If the tenant does not take the first offer, offer a final time.

You can also choose Download signed RTB-22 to print it, then Record served another way to note that you handed it over, mailed it or posted it. That records service on every tenant on the report, at the date and time you enter, which must be before the final time. The notice cannot be served until it is signed, and it cannot be served once the final time has passed. The final time can be changed until the notice has been served.

Record what happened

On the last step of the inspection, choose what happened. Select the chosen answer again to clear it.

• The tenant attended in person
• The tenant's agent attended in person
• The tenant did not attend either offer
• The tenant abandoned the unit (move-out only)

Attendance is in person only. A tenant who joins by video or by a link has not attended.

Finish the report and collect signatures

Choose Finish Inspection on the last step. OneRental freezes the report as a numbered version and fingerprints it (a SHA-256 hash). From then on nothing on the report can change, and the PDF you download is the stored copy of that version, not a new rebuild. The inspection shows Awaiting signatures.

Who signs depends on what happened:

• When the tenant attended in person, the landlord's representative signs for the landlord ("Signed for landlord by" on the report) and every co-tenant on the lease signs. Your platform administrator can relax this to at least one tenant. The setting in force when you finish the report applies to that version.
• When the tenant's agent attended in the tenant's place, the landlord's representative and the agent sign. The tenants can sign too, but the report does not wait for them.
• When the tenant did not attend either offer, the landlord's representative signs alone. This needs the final offer on record, the RTB-22 served on every tenant on the report and deemed received before the final time (an email to the tenant's address for service counts as received on the third day after it is sent, mail on the fifth, a copy handed over the same day), and the final time passed. OneRental does not email the RTB-22 once an email would only be deemed received after the final time: hand it over in person instead.
• When the tenant abandoned the unit, the landlord's representative signs alone. No offers are needed.

Each tenant is emailed as soon as you finish the report. A tenant with a OneRental account is sent to the tenant portal to sign in. A tenant without an account gets a link that is only for them. The link works until they sign or until the time to sign ends. That time ends before the copy is due, so there is room to serve it (3 days after a move-in walk-through, 11 days after a move-out once you have the forwarding address, never more than 30 days, and never less than 24 hours). The inspection page shows who has been emailed, who has been reminded, who has signed and who has not, and when the links stop working. Choose Resend email to send it again, which gives a tenant without an account a new link and replaces the earlier emailed one. Once the time to sign has ended, no new link can be sent.

A tenant who has not signed is sent a short reminder 24 hours and 72 hours after the first email, while the time to sign is open. A reminder is a courtesy and is not service of anything. You are emailed when the time to sign ends with a tenant silent, and when a copy still needs to go out.

A tenant on site can scan a QR code instead: choose Show QR code next to their name and they scan it on their own phone. The code is only for a tenant who attended in person. Joining by video or phone does not count as attending, and a link or a code never replaces being there.

The tenant reads a short summary, can open the full report as a PDF, and says whether they agree with it. They can also disagree with single items, explain why and add their own photos. Every disagreement needs a comment. Disagreeing does not stop them signing: their comments and photos become part of the report, on separate pages after the signature page, and never change what you recorded. Then they tick that they agree to sign electronically, draw their signature and sign. They are emailed a copy of the report with their signature and comments.

The landlord's representative signs on the inspection page: choose Sign next to their name, draw the signature and tick that they agree to sign electronically. When the representative is a member of your organization, only that member can sign, in their own account. A representative from outside your organization signs on your device, the landlord's device, with Sign on the landlord's device. Each signature stores the time, the consent and the version signed. It also stores the IP address and browser details of the request. These are kept while the tenancy can still be disputed, at least 2 years after it ends, and are used only to show that the signature is genuine. They are not printed on the report.

Signing from a link

A tenant without an account signs from a link emailed to them. The link goes to their address for service when they have one. Anyone with access to that mailbox could open it, so the tenant also types their full name before signing. The signature page prints the address the link was sent to, whether it was an address for service, the name they typed and a line saying the link is single-use with no second step.

Signing on the landlord's device

A tenant who has no device with them can sign on yours. Choose Sign on the landlord's device next to their name. OneRental emails a 6-digit code to the tenant's address for service, or to the address on file if they have none, or for the tenant's agent if you gave one when you scheduled the inspection. They type the code, draw their signature and tick the consent box. The code works for 10 minutes and only once, and five wrong tries cancel it. Only a limited number of codes can be sent to one person for one report. The report says how they signed ("Signed on the landlord's device") and that their identity was checked by an email code, and they are emailed a copy automatically.

If there is no email address on file, nobody can sign electronically for that person. Choose Attended, did not sign next to their name. The report records that they attended and did not sign.

If a tenant attended and will not sign, choose Attended, did not sign next to their name and add a reason if you want to. A tenant recorded as declined no longer holds up the report. If every tenant declined, the report is completed with the landlord's signature alone and says Signed by the landlord. This cannot be undone except by correcting the report.

A tenant can also decline themselves, in their account or on their link, with a reason if they want to. The inspection page shows Declined to sign and you are emailed. The report is recorded as what happened and nothing more: there is no formal "refused to sign" outcome, because the Act does not address refusal.

If a required tenant never answers, wait until the time to sign has ended. The inspection page then offers Complete without their signature. It records the tenant as Did not respond, completes the report with the landlord's signature, and serves the final copy straight away, because the tenant still has to be given one. The report is never completed this way automatically.

When every required signature is in, the report is completed. Its PDF ends with a Signatures and evidence page. Routine, maintenance, safety and emergency inspections have no signers: they are completed when you finish them.

Give the tenants their copy

When a move-in or move-out is completed, OneRental emails the final copy to every tenant on the report. It goes to the tenant's address for service, and that email counts as service. A tenant with no address for service is sent a courtesy copy to the address on file, recorded as Emailed, not service: it counts toward no deadline, and the section tells you what to do (hand it over, mail it to the postal address for service, or record an address for service and email it again). The copy is the stored report with its signatures page, the tenants' comments and any deduction agreement. The Copy of the report section on the inspection shows, for each tenant, how and when it was served, the address it went to, and the day it is deemed received. A tenant with no email address at all is not emailed. OneRental also checks every hour for a completed report that still owes a tenant a copy, and sends it once. A copy that could not be emailed is not sent again automatically. Choose Email the final copy to try again. You are emailed on the latest safe day to send a copy that is still missing, and again when it is overdue.

To record a copy you handed over, mailed, posted or served another way, choose Record a copy served another way. Pick the tenants, how it was served, the date and time, who served it and, for mail, the address. The time must be after the report was completed.

The law treats a document as received on a set day, not the day it is sent: an email on the third day after it is sent, mail on the fifth day, a copy posted on the door on the third day, and a copy handed over the same day (RTA s.90). A copy served another way is counted from the day you record. OneRental works the deemed-received day out from how you served it, in Pacific time.

Copy due by. The landlord must give the tenant a copy of the report within 7 days after the day of the move-in inspection, counting calendar days and not counting the inspection day itself. For a move-out it is 15 days after the later of the inspection day and the day you received the tenant's forwarding address (Reg s.18). The count runs from the walk-through, not from the day the last signature came in, and a Sunday or holiday is not skipped. Record the forwarding address the tenant gave you in writing, and the day you received it, on the lease (the inspection links to it); the same address starts the deposit clock. Until you do, a move-out has no due date. Once any copy has been served, the received day can only be corrected to an earlier day. A copy counts as in time when it is deemed received on or before the due date, so send it well before then. The section shows the latest safe day to send for each method: three days before the due day for email or a copy posted on the door, five days before for mail, and the due day itself when handed over in person. The inspections list shows Copy due by and flags Overdue. A landlord who misses the deadline can lose the right to claim against the deposit for damage (RTA s.24(2)(c) for a move-in, s.36(2)(c) for a move-out).

If a tenant agrees to the deductions after the report was completed, the copy they hold no longer has the agreement. OneRental emails every tenant who is missing it an updated copy, recorded as a new service. The report itself does not change, and an updated copy never makes a tenant late: the earliest day a tenant is deemed to have received a copy decides whether the deadline was met.

If a tenant's address for service changed since an earlier notice was sent, the section shows both addresses so you can check the copy goes to the right one.

Address for service

In BC an email is service only when it goes to an address the tenant provided as an address for service (Reg s.43). The email on file for the tenant, one used to log in, and one on an application are not enough. The tenant gives it in any written form: form RTB-51, a clause in the tenancy agreement that names it, a written notice, or by setting it themselves in the tenant portal or when signing the lease.

Open the tenant and find Address for service. Choose Record an address for service, say what the tenant gave you, enter the email address, a postal address or both, the day the tenant gave it and upload the form or notice (a PDF, JPEG or PNG, up to 10 MB). The file is required for form RTB-51 and for a clause in the tenancy agreement (upload the form or the page that names the address). For a written notice it is optional. A new record replaces the current one, and the earlier record stays in the history. If the tenant withdraws it in writing, choose Record a withdrawal with the day you received it. From that day no email counts as service on that tenant. The inspection shows each tenant's address for service, or what to do when they have none.

Correct a report

A finished report cannot be edited. If something is wrong, choose Correct report, say why, and confirm. OneRental voids every signature on the current version, keeps that version and its signatures as history, and reopens the inspection. Make the change, finish the inspection again, and everyone signs the new version. The page shows what changed since the previous version. Earlier versions can still be downloaded. A note added after the report was finalized is a follow-up note: it is never part of the report.

Deposit deductions on a move-out

On the last step of a move-out, list each deduction as its own line: what it is for, what kind of cost it is (damage, cleaning, unpaid rent, utilities or other), the amount, which deposit it comes from (security or pet damage) and, if you like, the room and item it is about. Choose the kind for every line: the right to claim for damage can be lost, and an agreement to deduct for damage is then refused, but not one for the other kinds. The photos of that item show under the line. The totals for each deposit, and the total deducted, are worked out from the lines.

The lines are part of the report. Enter them before you finish the inspection. To change them afterwards, correct the report.

To record that the tenant agrees to the deductions, choose Deduction agreement next to their name once the report is finished. It is separate from signing: they can agree before or after they sign, and after everyone has signed. The tenant reads the list and the total on your device, gets their own 6-digit email code and ticks "I agree to $X being deducted from my deposit for the items listed." The agreement is for the whole list, not item by item. It is recorded apart from their signature, tied to this version of the report and to the exact list they saw, and printed on the signatures page. A tenant can also agree themselves, without your device: in their own tenant portal session, or from their review link while it is still live. Those need no email code, because the signed-in session or the link is the proof. From a link the tenant also types their full name, as when signing, and the signatures page prints it with the address the link was sent to. An impersonated session cannot agree, and a spent or expired link cannot. The same record is kept, with how it was given (own session, review link or the landlord's device). If they do not agree, the report says no agreement was given.

The agreement has to be given inside the 15 days to deal with the deposit (the later of the day the tenancy ended and the day you received the forwarding address, plus 15 days). After that it is refused. It is also refused when the list has a damage line and the right to claim for damage is gone (the move-in report copy, or the move-out report copy when the inspection was held with the tenant, was not given in time). Any line charged to the pet damage deposit is refused too in that case, whatever its kind, because that deposit covers only pet damage. A cleaning line that mentions painting or replacing something shows a note suggesting it be recorded as damage: repainting and replacing are damage, not cleaning. See Ending a tenancy.

How long signing evidence is kept

The IP address and browser details recorded when someone signs, declines or agrees to deductions are kept while the tenancy can still be disputed. They are removed 3 years after the tenancy ends. The signature, the frozen report versions and the service records are kept. If a dispute is open, open the lease and choose Set hold in Dispute hold, with an RTB file number if you have one. While a hold is set, nothing is removed. Choose Clear hold when the dispute is over.