Supporting documents read, filed and chased when they are missing
The documents for each file arrive one at a time by email, and someone opens, renames and files them while keeping track of what is missing. A per-file tracker could file each document and prepare reminders, with people still making the decisions.
Illustrative use case. It describes a problem we come across often and what we could build to solve it. It is not a client project: no results are claimed.
The starting point
For each rental application, the agency expects several documents from the applicant and their guarantor: identity, address, employment, income. They arrive by email, a few at a time, with file names like “scan001.pdf”. A property manager opens each file, works out what it is, renames it, files it and updates a tracking spreadsheet. Reminders go out when someone remembers.
The actual problem
Filing takes time and lets mistakes through: a document filed under the wrong applicant, an expired document nobody noticed, a file marked complete with a document still missing. Reminders are irregular, so files drag on. And in France, the list of documents a landlord may ask for is set by decree, with a fine for asking for anything outside it. The tracker therefore also has to stop the team from requesting what isn’t allowed.
What could be built
- A list of expected documents per type of file, aligned with the regulatory list and nothing more.
- Recognising the type of each document received, renaming it and filing it under the right application.
- Reading a few details for checking: the holder’s name, the document date, the expiry date where there is one.
- A status per document: received, to check, valid, missing, expired. Doubtful cases go to a review queue.
- Reminders prepared automatically for missing or expired documents, sent once approved or on a schedule set by the team.
- A dashboard of applications and their progress, with the original document always one click away.
What would change for the team
- Documents are filed and named the same way in every application.
- You can see at a glance what is missing in each file, without reopening emails.
- Reminders go out regularly instead of depending on everyone’s memory.
- Property managers spend their time on doubtful documents, not on filing.
- The list of documents requested stays within what is allowed, for every manager.
What stays under human control
- Deciding that a file is complete, and any decision about the application itself.
- Checking documents flagged as doubtful: uncertain reading, a name that doesn’t match, a hard-to-read scan.
- Sending sensitive reminders and talking to applicants.
- Updating the document list when the regulations change.
Going further
The article AI document extraction with human review explains what AI reads well, where it gets things wrong and how to organise reviews so only the exceptions reach a person.
In France, the documents a landlord may request are listed in decree no. 2015-1437 of 5 November 2015 (consolidated version on Légifrance, in French).