The audit log for AI actions: what a landlord should be able to see
If an AI assistant can read or change your rental records, you should be able to answer four questions afterward: what was asked, what the assistant did, whether you approved it, and when. A good log records each tool call with its time, its result (including refusals) and the approval behind any money or legal step, without copying sensitive data into the log itself.
Why you want a log
Three situations make a log worth having. A tenant disputes a fee and you need to show who approved it and why. Your bookkeeper asks why an entry exists. Or something looks wrong and you need to find out whether a person or the assistant caused it. Without a record you are reconstructing from memory.
NIST's AI Risk Management Framework puts the same idea in general terms: organizations should be able to track and review what their AI systems do. For a landlord it is a plain list with a date on each line.
What each entry should hold
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Date and time | Lets you line the entry up with a bank deposit, a message or a call. |
| Who acted | You, your assistant, a team member or an automatic job. These are different things. |
| What tool or action | A rent roll read, a repair created and a payment request are different risks. |
| Result | Done, queued for approval, refused or failed. Refusals matter as much as successes. |
| The approval, if any | Who approved a money or legal step, and when. |
| What it touched | Which property, lease or bill, by name or ID. |
What to leave out: full bank numbers, tax IDs, passwords and the full text of tenant messages. The log should point to the record, not duplicate sensitive data. The FTC's guide to protecting personal information says to keep only what you need, and a log is a place that quietly collects more than it should.
How to read it in five minutes a month
- Scan for anything done by an actor you do not recognize.
- Look at refusals. A cluster of refused requests can mean someone, or some text, is trying something.
- Match each approved money item to a bill, a lease or a ledger entry.
- Check that nothing money-related has a result of done with no approval behind it. That would be a gap in your controls.
Example a made-up owner reviews a month and sees 112 reads, 9 changes made after a draft was confirmed, 4 approvals accepted and 2 rejected. Each accepted approval lines up with a bill. The two rejections both say "wrong amount." Nothing needs fixing, and the owner now knows the normal shape of a month.
How long to keep it
Keep it at least as long as the records it explains. Rental income and expense records support your tax return, and the IRS says to keep records that support a return for as long as the period of limitations runs, usually three years from filing, longer in some cases. Ask your tax preparer about your situation, and keep leases and deposit records for what your state requires.
How DoorKeeping handles it
DoorKeeping writes an audit row for each tool call from your AI assistant. A read keeps its inputs, not tenant data. A request that needs approval is logged when it is queued, and again when you decide, with the approval it belongs to. A refused call is logged too, including an assistant's attempt to accept something: it is recorded as denied and changes nothing. Approvals and their decisions are kept with the time and who decided. See the connect page for how approvals work.
Sources
- NIST: AI Risk Management Framework, read Oct 30, 2026
- FTC: Protecting Personal Information, A Guide for Business, read Oct 30, 2026
- DoorKeeping: Connect Claude or ChatGPT (steps and tools list), read Oct 30, 2026
- IRS: How long should I keep records?, read Oct 30, 2026
Questions
- What is an audit log?
- A dated record of who did what in a system. For AI tools, it shows each action the assistant took or asked to take, and the result.
- Should the log contain tenant details?
- Only enough to identify the record, such as a lease or property ID. Keep tax IDs, bank numbers and full messages out of it.
- Do refused requests belong in the log?
- Yes. A refusal shows a control worked, and a pattern of refusals can show something is probing your setup.
- How long should I keep it?
- As long as the records it explains. The IRS ties rental record keeping to the period of limitations on your return, usually three years, so ask your preparer.