Why can't I delete this? (Deletion rules)

If TenantLedger won’t let you delete something, it’s almost always because another record depends on it. To protect your financial history, the app blocks a delete until you remove the things attached to it first. This page lists, for each kind of record, what blocks the delete and what to remove first.

How deleting works

• Deleting hides, it doesn’t erase. Removing a record performs a soft delete — it disappears from your lists and reports, but the underlying history is preserved.
• You work from the bottom up. To delete a parent record (like a property), first delete the things under it (leases, units, charges, bills). To delete a charge, first delete the payments on it, and so on.
• The app tells you what’s in the way. When a delete is blocked, you’ll usually see a message naming what’s attached. Remove those items, then try the delete again.

Properties & people

Record	What blocks the delete	Remove first (in order)
Property	Any lease, unit, charge, or bill on it	Leases → units → charges → bills
Unit	An active lease on the unit	End/remove the active lease
Owner	Any property assigned to them, or any owner contribution	Reassign/delete their properties → delete their contributions
Tenant	Being on a lease, or having any charge, credit, or payment	Remove them from every lease → delete their payments → credits → charges
Vendor	Any bill, bill payment, or work order	Bill payments → bills → work orders

Removing a tenant from a lease has its own rules: you can’t remove a tenant who is the main responsible tenant, or who has charges or recurring charges on that lease. Reassign responsibility and clear that tenant’s charges first.

Leases, charges & payments

Record	What blocks the delete	Remove first (in order)
Lease	Any charge, credit, or payment on it	Payments → credits → charges
Charge	Any payment applied, or any credit applied	Delete the payment(s) → remove the applied credit(s)
Payment	It’s part of a deposit, or it was paid from a security deposit	If deposited: delete the deposit first (if the deposit was reconciled, delete the reconciliation, then the deposit). If paid from security deposit: reverse the security-deposit application first
Credit	It’s been applied to a charge	Remove the credit application(s) (un-apply it)
Refund	Its payment has been reconciled	Delete the reconciliation first

Charge example: If you try to delete a charge that has a payment against it, you’ll see “This charge cannot be deleted because it has 1 payment(s) applied. You must delete the payment(s) first.” Delete the payment, then delete the charge.

Bills, banking & reconciliation

Record	What blocks the delete	Remove first (in order)
Bill	Any payment applied to it	Delete the bill payment(s) first (if a payment was reconciled, delete the reconciliation first)
Bank account	A property uses it as its default bank, or it has any deposit or bill payment	Reassign the default bank on those properties → deposits → bill payments
Deposit	It’s been reconciled	Delete the reconciliation first
Reconciliation	Any deposit or bill payment is still linked to it	Use Unreconcile to detach the transactions, then delete
Owner contribution	It’s been deposited	Remove it from the deposit first
Miscellaneous transaction	It’s been deposited	Remove it from the deposit first

Circular case (deposit ↔ reconciliation): a deposit won’t delete while it’s reconciled, and a reconciliation won’t delete while a deposit is attached. The way out is the Unreconcile action — detach the transactions, then delete.

Settings & lists

Record	What blocks the delete	Remove first
Chart of Accounts account	It’s used by a charge, payment, or bill; it has sub-accounts; or it’s a system account (Prepaid Rent, Rent Income)	Reassign the charges/payments/bills → re-parent or delete sub-accounts. System accounts can never be deleted
Category	An active work order uses it	Reassign or delete those work orders first
Work order	A bill or an asset is linked to it	Delete the linked bill(s) and remove the linked asset(s) first

Category note: if a category is in use, the delete simply won’t go through. Reassign or remove the work orders that use it, then try again.

Always deletable (no restrictions)

These have no dependency block — you can delete them at any time:

• Recurring bill (deleting the template does not delete bills already generated from it)
• Recurring lease charge (deleting the template does not delete charges already generated from it)
• Lease increase
• Custom field
• Asset
• User

Still stuck?

• Read the message on screen — it names what’s attached.
• Work from the most-detailed record up: payments before charges, charges before leases, leases before properties.
• If you can’t find what’s blocking a delete, contact support with the record name.