Can a resident cancel or remove a portal request they submitted?

Yes — but only under specific conditions.

When Cancellation IS Available

A "Cancel this request" button appears only when all of the following are true:

• The resident is logged in with the same account that submitted the request (the system checks that the account email matches the record).
• The request is still in "Submitted" status — meaning the municipality hasn't yet acted on it.
• The request hasn't been accepted, completed, rejected, or had payment finalized.

In short: the cancellation window is the period right after submission, before town staff process it.

What Happens When They Cancel

1. The request's status changes to "Cancelled" and is marked complete.
2. A history entry logs "Cancelled in portal by [resident's email]" for audit purposes.
3. A confirmation email is sent to the resident.

When Cancellation Is NOT Available

Once a request moves past "Submitted" (accepted, completed, refused, or paid), the cancel button disappears — the resident instead sees a "Start a new request" button. The system's own messaging in this case tells residents: only requests in "Submitted" status can be cancelled online, and to cancel a pending request they'll need to contact an official directly.

There Is No "Delete" Option

Residents can't fully delete a request. Cancellation is the only self-service option, and it preserves the record with a "Cancelled" status rather than erasing it.