How to Add a Tenant

Add a tenant to keep their contact details in one place and invite them to DigitalTenant, where they can set up their own login.

Before you start

• Adding a tenant does not put them in a unit. A tenant is linked to a unit when you add them to a lease. Plan to create a lease right after.
• Have these details ready:
  • Email address (required)
  • First and last name
  • Phone type and 10-digit phone number
  • Mailing address (street, city, state and 5-digit zip)
  • Optional: middle name, date of birth, company, job title, photo, notes, emergency contacts, dependents, pets and vehicles
• If you are a team member and see Access Denied or No Access, ask your account owner to give you the Contacts → Tenants → Add permission under Settings → User Roles.

1. Open the Add Tenant form

Use any of these:

• Contacts → Tenants, then Add New Tenant
• Create New, then Tenant
• The Contacts page, then Add Tenant on the Tenants card

The form has 6 steps: Email, Personal Details, Emergency Info, Dependent Info, Pet Info and Vehicle Info.

2. Enter the email

Type the tenant's Email and click Next. The app checks the email:

• Email Verified Successfully: this is a new tenant. The next step opens with a blank form.
• Tenant already exists on the platform: this person already has a DigitalTenant profile. The next step opens filled in. Details the tenant has already entered are grayed out and only they can change them. You are connecting to their existing profile, not making a copy.
• A red message under the email: this email cannot be used, often because it belongs to a different kind of account. Use a different email.

Check the email carefully before clicking Next. It cannot be changed on the next step, and there is no Back button. To use a different email, leave the page with the back arrow at the top left and start again.

3. Fill in personal details

• First Name and Last Name (required). Middle Name is optional.
• Phone Type (Mobile, Home or Office) and Phone No (required, 10 digits).
• Date of Birth (optional). If you add it, the tenant must be at least 18.
• Company and Job Title (optional).
• Address Line 1 (required). Start typing and pick from the dropdown to fill in City, State and Zip Code.
• Address Line 2 (optional).
• Country (required, USA or Canada), City, State and Zip Code (required, 5 digits).
• Your Photo and Add Notes (optional).

Click Next. If anything is missing, a red message shows under the field.

4. Add emergency contacts, dependents, pets and vehicles

These four steps are optional. Click Next to skip any of them. Use the + Add Another link to add more than one.

• Emergency Info: name, email, phone, relationship and description.
• Dependent Info: name, email, phone, date of birth and relationship.
• Pet Info: pet type, name, weight and breed.
• Vehicle Info: vehicle type, make, model, year, color and license plate.

On the last step, click Submit. You will see Tenant added successfully (or Tenant updated successfully if they already had a profile). Click Go To Tenants.

5. Invite the tenant

New tenants show on the Tenants list as Inactive. This means they have not set up their login yet. It changes to Active once they do.

If your tenant has not received an invite, open the ⋮ menu on their row and click Resend Invite. This option is only shown while the tenant is not Active. You will see Tenant invited successfully.

Your tenant then:

1. Opens the link in the invite email, which opens a Set Password page.
2. Enters a password in Create new password and Confirm Password. It needs at least 8 characters, a number, an uppercase letter and a special character.
3. Sees Account Created and clicks Login.

If the link does not work, send a new one with Resend Invite.

6. View or edit a tenant

Click the tenant's name, or ⋮ → View. The page shows their status and has the tabs Overview, Leases, Tenant Applicants, Notes and Files.

To make changes, click Edit Tenant or ⋮ → Edit. Then go through the steps and click Submit.

• For Active tenants, the email, photo, and any phone, date of birth or address that already has a value are locked. The tenant changes these in their own profile.
• For Inactive tenants, you can change everything, including the email. If the new email already belongs to a DigitalTenant tenant, you will see Failed to Update Tenant. Click Add Tenant Form to connect that person, or Change Email to go back.

7. Import many tenants at once

1. On the Tenants list, click Import.
2. Use the Download template link and fill it in. Save it as .csv or .xlsx.
3. Required columns are First Name, Last Name and Email. Optional columns are Phone, Property Address, Unit Name, Lease Term, Lease Start, Lease End, Frequency, Rent Amount, Security Deposit and Notes.
4. Upload the file and check the preview. Hover over the ? icon to see any row problems.
5. Click Import N tenants. You will see Tenants imported successfully.

Importing is not included on every plan. If you see Feature Not Available, click Upgrade Plan. After importing, check your Leases list.

8. Delete a tenant

1. Click Delete Tenant on the tenant's page, or ⋮ → Delete on the list. You can also tick several rows and click Delete.
2. Type the tenant's full name exactly (or DELETE for several), then click Delete Tenant. This cannot be undone.

If you see Cannot delete this tenant, they still have an open, upcoming or draft lease. Click Go to Leases to cancel or end it first.

Good to know

• Tenant still Inactive? Use Resend Invite and ask them to check their spam folder.
• Grayed-out fields after Tenant already exists on the platform are normal. Fill in what is empty and submit.
• A red message after Submit explains what to fix. Fix it and submit again.
• Next, create a lease for the tenant. This is what places them in a unit.

Need help?

Email us at support@digitaltenant.com, or use the Help button in the bottom-right corner of your dashboard.