Employee Training Checklist

Document the new hire's role (Leasing Agent, Assistant PM, Maintenance Tech, Community Manager) and which portfolios or properties they cover. Role drives the rest of this checklist — a leasing agent needs FCRA adverse-action training; a maintenance tech needs OSHA and PPE drills.

Send via DocuSign or the firm's HRIS. Include the offer letter, at-will acknowledgment, and confidentiality agreement. Real-estate-licensed roles get the brokerage supervision agreement attached.

Create accounts in the property management platform (AppFolio, Buildium, Yardi, RealPage, or Rent Manager), email and SSO, the e-sign tool, the screening provider (TransUnion SmartMove or RentPrep), and the inspection app (HappyCo or zInspector). Set role-based permissions — leasing agents don't need owner-statement or trust-account access.

Section 1 of the I-9 must be completed by end of day 1; Section 2 (employer review of identity documents) within three business days of start. State new-hire reporting filed within 20 days.

Cover PTO, sick leave, on-call rotation, after-hours pay, vehicle policy, and the social-media policy regarding tenants and properties. Capture acknowledgment signature.

Master keys, fob credentials, laptop, phone, branded apparel. Log every key and fob in the access register — at termination this register is what gets reconciled.

AppFolio University, Yardi eLearning, Buildium Academy, or RealPage University depending on the firm's stack. Focus the new hire on the modules they will actually use — leasing agents do listings, applications, and lease execution; maintenance does work orders and vendor dispatch.

Post a payment, reverse an NSF, apply a late fee, prorate a partial month, and run a delinquency report. Sandbox or test property only — no live tenant ledgers.

Create a ticket from a tenant request, triage emergency vs. routine, dispatch to a vendor with a current COI on file, and close the ticket with photos. Walk through the after-hours escalation path (Latchel or the on-call rotation).

Use NAA's Fair Housing course, NARPM's equivalent, or the state association's. Cover the seven federal protected classes plus state and local additions (source of income, age, marital status, occupation in many jurisdictions). Tested scenarios: showing requests, application denials, accommodation requests.

Service animals and ESAs with proper documentation are not pets — no pet rent, no pet deposit, no breed or weight restriction. The intake question is never "do you have a pet?" Role-play three scenarios: undocumented ESA, documented ESA, and trained service animal.

Any application denied based on a credit or background report triggers an adverse action notice with the reporting agency's name, address, and phone. Walk through the firm's template and where it sits in the screening tool.

Cover the operating state's security deposit return window (commonly 14-30 days), required entry notice (usually 24-48 hours), eviction notice periods, and the lead-paint disclosure requirement for any pre-1978 building. Missing the deposit window can forfeit the right to deduct and trigger 2-3x statutory damages.

Sit in on showings, application reviews, owner calls, and at least one difficult tenant conversation. The new hire takes notes only — no live decisions in week three.

Use HappyCo or zInspector. Capture dated photos of every room, test smoke and CO detectors, log the rekey, and obtain the tenant's signature on the inspection form. Without the signed move-in walk-through, deposit deductions at move-out are nearly indefensible.

Verify identity, income (typically 3x rent), rental history, and screening report. Apply criteria uniformly — voucher status is not a basis for denial in protected jurisdictions. Mentor reviews before any approve/deny notice goes out.

Pull the vendor's certificate of insurance and confirm GL + workers comp are current and name the property as additional insured. Lapsed COI on file leaves the firm exposed for any vendor accident on premises.

Hiring manager and mentor jointly assess the new hire against the role's competency rubric. Outcomes drive whether they move to unsupervised work or get an extended ramp.

Two more weeks paired with the mentor on the weakest competency area — typically deposit accounting, fair housing scenarios, or owner reporting. Re-review at day 45.

Review delinquency rate, work-order close time, leasing conversion, and any tenant escalations on properties the new hire owns. File the signed sign-off in the personnel file.