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What should a landlord do if their email is hacked or they clicked a phishing link?

DoorKeeping team

3 min read

Change the email password from a clean device, turn on two-factor sign-in, sign out every other session, look for forwarding rules and recovery changes the hacker added, then warn tenants and vendors not to act on any message sent in the last days. Your email is the key to every other account because password resets go there, so act within the hour. If tenant personal information was in the mailbox, check your state's breach notice law.

How phishing reaches a landlord

Phishing is a message that pretends to be a trusted sender in order to get a password, a code or a payment. Landlords see versions that fit the job: a "tenant" with a maintenance link, a "bank" warning to verify your account, a "vendor" sending an invoice with a new payment address, a "software" notice that your subscription expires or a shared document that asks you to sign in.

  • The sender's address looks close to a real one but not identical.
  • The message is urgent and warns that something will be closed or fined.
  • A link goes to a sign-in page, and the web address is not the company's real one.
  • An attachment you did not expect asks you to enable something.
  • A request to change how money is paid.

The FTC's small-business pages describe these patterns. The rule they give is to go to the site yourself by typing the address or using a saved bookmark, and not to use the link in the message.

The first hour after a hack

  1. From a device you trust, change the email password to a new, long, unique one.
  2. Turn on two-factor sign-in for the email account, using an authenticator app if possible.
  3. Use the provider's security page to sign out all other sessions and review recent sign-ins.
  4. Check for forwarding rules, filters that hide or delete messages, added recovery addresses or phone numbers and connected apps you do not recognize, and remove them.
  5. Change passwords on the bank, rent portal, accounting and other accounts that use this email, starting with money. Use a password manager.
  6. Call your bank if you clicked a link on a banking page or if money moved.
  7. Run a security scan on the device you used to read the email.

CISA recommends multifactor authentication as one of the most effective ways to stop a stolen password from being enough.

Who to warn, and what to say

A hacker with email access can read old threads and send convincing messages, such as a new bank detail for rent or a vendor payment. Send a short note to tenants and vendors from a clean account or by phone, saying that your email was compromised on a date, that anything asking for money or new payment details since then should be ignored and that payment details do not change by email.

Check what the mailbox held. A search for "lease," "application," "ID," "SSN" and "bank" shows whether tenant personal information was exposed. Many states have a breach notification law that can apply to a landlord who held names with Social Security numbers or similar data, and some require telling affected people within a set time. Check your state's law, and consider an attorney and your insurer.

Cut the odds for next time

  • Use a unique password and two-factor sign-in on email.
  • Keep business email separate from personal email.
  • Delete old threads that hold IDs and numbers, and use secure links instead of attachments.
  • Confirm any payment change by calling a number you already had.
  • Report phishing to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and report money lost to the FBI's IC3.

DoorKeeping sign-in supports an authenticator app and ten one-time recovery codes, tenants pay through their own sign-in, and money and legal steps wait for the owner's approval. It is $2 per unit per month and does not replace securing your email.

Sources

  1. FTC, Cybersecurity for Small Business, read Oct 30, 2026
  2. CISA, More than a Password (multifactor authentication), read Oct 30, 2026
  3. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), read Oct 30, 2026

Questions

What is the first thing to do if my email was hacked?
Change the password from a trusted device, turn on two-factor sign-in and sign out all other sessions. Then look for forwarding rules and changed recovery details.
Do I need to notify tenants if my email was hacked?
Warn them about fake payment messages right away. A formal breach notice depends on whether personal information was exposed and on your state's law.
How do I report a phishing email?
Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and forward it to your email provider's phishing report address. Report lost money to the FBI's IC3.

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