When you decide to rent to a prospect, you convert them to a tenant by creating their lease. There is no separate switch. The prospect becomes a tenant when the lease is saved.
Before you start
- The unit the prospect is interested in must still be free. If it has been taken, you will pick a different property or unit.
- Have the lease terms ready:
- Fixed Term or Month-to-Month, start date, and end date (fixed term only)
- First rent date, rent frequency and rent amount
- Security deposit (yes or no, and amount) and any late fee rules
- Any co-tenants. They must already be added as tenants or prospects.
- The lease document, if you have one (optional, one file)
- If you are a team member and see Access Denied, ask your account owner to give you both the Contacts → Prospects → Update and Documentation → Leases → Add permissions under Settings → User Roles.
1. Start the conversion
Use either of these:
- On Prospects, click ⋮ on the prospect's row, then Convert To Tenant.
- On the prospect's page, click Convert To Tenant.
A window explains that you first need to create a lease. Click Create Lease. The Convert To Tenant page opens.
2. Lease Info
Property and Unit are filled in from what the prospect was interested in. If you see Interested property is not available or Interested unit is not available, pick another one. Only properties with free units are listed.
- Lease Term (required): Fixed Term or Month-to-Month.
- Lease Term Start Date (required).
- Lease Term End Date (required for Fixed Term). It must be after the start date.
- First Rent Date (required). It cannot be before the start date or after the end date.
- Frequency (required): Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly. Month-to-Month leases offer Daily, Weekly and Monthly.
- Rent Amount (required). A green box shows what this works out to per month.
- Security Deposit (optional). If you choose Yes, enter the Security Deposit Amount.
- Late Fees (optional). If you choose Yes, fill in When to Charge Late Fees? (days after rent is due), Frequency and Late Fee Amount ($ or %).
Click Next.
If the first rent date is different from the start date
A Proration Questions window asks which fits your lease:
- Rent-free period before rent starts: confirm and click Continue.
- I need to prorate the first payment: check the prorated first payment and confirm.
- The dates need to be updated.: you stay on this step to fix the dates.
3. Tenant Info
Select Tenant is set to the prospect you are converting. To add more people to the lease, click + Add Co-Tenant and pick them from Select Co-Tenant. Fill in or remove each co-tenant row before you continue.
4. Dependents, pets and vehicles
These are filled in from the prospect's profile. Review them, add or remove anything, and click Next. They are all optional. For commercial units, if you see the dependent or pet screens, click Next to skip them.
5. Upload the lease document
Under Upload Document, you can add one file. This is optional. Click Submit.
The step bar at the top may show steps such as Move-in Fees and Billing Info. You set those on the lease after it is created.
6. Check the result
You will see Lease Created Successfully! Click Go To Leases to see the new lease. Then check Contacts → Tenants to confirm the person now shows as a tenant.
Good to know
- Red messages such as Lease Term is required show what to fix on the Lease Info step.
- If the proration window keeps appearing, choose an option, or make the first rent date match the start date.
- If you see a red message after Submit, fix the field it names and submit again.
- This page does not send the lease for signature. To use e-signature, send it from the lease after it is created.
- Next steps: open the lease to add move-in fees and billing details, send it for signature if you use it, and make sure your new tenant got their invite. If not, go to Tenants, click ⋮ and choose Resend Invite.
Need help?
Email us at support@digitaltenant.com, or use the Help button in the bottom-right corner of your dashboard.