Blog Post: Closing the Gap on Abandoned Check-Out Reports

Release v0.1.277 | Workflow Automation

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Every deposit dispute starts somewhere. Often, it starts with an incomplete check-out report that sat in draft status for days after a tenancy ended — forgotten in the rush of a move-out, left half-finished while everyone assumed someone else would complete it.

With v0.1.277, we've closed that gap.

The Problem We're Solving

Existing deadline reminders do a good job of prompting landlords and agents to begin a check-out report before a tenancy ends. But what happens when someone starts the report, gets interrupted, and simply never comes back to it?

Previously: nothing. The report would sit in draft indefinitely — no escalation, no alert, no compliance flag. The tenancy would be marked as ended, the tenant would have moved on, and a ticking clock of disputed liability would be left unaddressed.

The Renters' Rights Act puts time pressure on deposit deduction decisions. A stale draft is not a neutral outcome — it is a compliance risk.

What the Sweep Does

Every morning at 06:00 UTC, a new automated sweep runs across all tenancies. It looks specifically for the combination that indicates an abandoned draft:

• The tenancy has ended.
• A check-out report exists — meaning someone started it.
• That report is still in draft status.
• The tenancy end date was more than 5 days ago.

The 5-day window is intentional. It gives agents reasonable breathing room to finalise a report they may still be actively working on in the days immediately following handover, without triggering false-positive alerts for reports that are nearly done.

Once a tenancy crosses that threshold, the sweep takes two immediate actions:

1. A high-priority compliance check is created, surfacing the incomplete report in the compliance dashboard where it can be actioned and tracked to resolution.
2. An in-app notification is sent to the responsible landlord or agent, making it clear that the report needs to be completed or the situation reviewed.

How It Fits With Existing Reminders

This sweep does not replace or duplicate the existing check_out deadline reminder — they cover entirely different moments in the tenancy lifecycle:

• The deadline reminder is prospective: it fires before the tenancy ends to prompt the report being started.
• The staleness sweep is retrospective: it fires after the tenancy ends to catch reports that were started but not finished.

Together, they create a complete safety net — prompting action at the right time, and escalating when that action is left incomplete.

Why This Matters

A check-out report is the evidentiary foundation of any deposit deduction decision. Without a finalised report, there is no defensible basis for making deductions, no clear record for the tenant, and no compliance trail if the case escalates. Every day a draft sits unfinished after a tenancy has ended is a day of compounding risk — for the landlord, the agent, and the integrity of the deposit process.

Fair, fast, and stress-free outcomes depend on the process being completed, not just started. This sweep makes sure nothing gets left behind.