Tidy the files you control
Complete field guideWhat should I do with my own copies after a rental decision?
A finished property application can leave drafts, attachments and messages mixed with your next one. Start by separating them, not by deleting everything.
- Market
- AU
- Jurisdiction
- Australia
- Updated
Short answer
Review the copies on your own device or storage and separate the closed property’s working files from your active search. Keep original personal records and anything still needed for an application, lease, unresolved issue or another purpose. Decide individually what to retain or remove. Tidying your local folder does not delete copies held by an agency or application service.
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For your next property, prepare a personal rental profile with current details. Fill before choosing whether to pay for a PDF export; it complements the required application process.
Continue with the Rental Passport guide.
- Create a personal rental profile, delivered as a shareable PDF, to complement the process required by the agent or landlord.
- Fill your application before you choose whether to pay for a PDF export.
- RentFiles helps organise the file; the agent or landlord decides the application outcome.
Guide map
In this guide
Jump to the part that matches the decision in front of you.
Key points
Keep closed-property material out of the next draft
Before the next application, open the active folder and check that the selected cover note and attachments belong to that property. A local cleanup note is not a replacement for the original sent receipt or correspondence.
Useful context
Confirm which local folder you are tidying
Identify the property and the outcome actually recorded. If its status is unclear, do not mark the file closed on an assumption. Keep the decision message with the property concerned.
This routine concerns files you control locally. It does not change an application status, close a portal account or revoke anyone else’s access.
Action plan
Copy a local-folder closeout note
Local review: [date] Property: [address] Outcome record: [message or receipt held] Keep separate from active search: [closed-property working copies] Preserve for an ongoing purpose: [originals, agreement, correspondence or other records] Uncertain file: [label and question to resolve] My next review: [date I choose] External agency or portal copies: not affected by this local review.
Use short file labels without adding identity numbers or financial details to the note. Keep this personal review date separate from any actual deadline stated by another party.
Working checklist
Ask before removing any copy
The purpose of a file matters more than whether it is sitting in an old application folder.
- Is this an original personal record or only an extra working copy?
- Is it still needed for an active application or a signed agreement?
- Could it relate to an unresolved question, dispute or another ongoing purpose?
- Would removal lose the only copy of a confirmation or correspondence?
- If its purpose is uncertain, can I separate it for review instead of deleting it?
Keep in view
Local organisation is not recipient erasure
Provide information relevant to the recipient's application process and handle identity or financial material carefully.
This guide sets no legal retention period and does not advise deleting original identity or financial records, a signed lease or dispute evidence. Questions about another party’s copies require a separate enquiry to that party.
Practical example
Filled example: a closed-property folder
Fictional example: Amira receives an outcome for 23 Example Road and reviews her local copies on 11 October 2026. The choices below illustrate sorting, not a legal retention schedule.
- Next-property draft | Still active | Keep in the current search folder after checking its property details.
- Old property-specific sharing copy | Concerns 23 Example Road | Move out of the active folder for Amira’s own retain-or-remove decision.
- Original personal record | Has uses beyond this application | Preserve separately; do not delete it as part of routine folder tidying.
- Decision email and correspondence | Explain the closed property’s outcome | Preserve together; review any unresolved issue before considering removal.
- Uncertain duplicate | Purpose not yet checked | Keep separate and review on Amira’s chosen date.
Keep building
Continue with a related guide
Questions
Common questions
Clear answers for the decisions people usually pause on.
Does deleting my local copy delete the agency’s copy?
No action on the agency’s copy is established by your local folder review. Ask that party separately about its information-handling process.
How long should I keep every rental application file?
This routine gives no universal retention period. Check the file’s ongoing purpose and any relevant current guidance before deciding; preserve originals and unresolved evidence.
Your next step
Put your application documents in one clear pack
For your next property, prepare a personal rental profile with current details. Fill before choosing whether to pay for a PDF export; it complements the required application process.
Create your Rental Passport