How to Create a New Lease

Create a lease when a tenant is moving into one of your units. You set the term, rent, late fees and move-in fees, and you can send the lease to your tenants for e-signature.

Before you start

• You need the Documentation → Leases → Add permission. Account owners have it. If you see Access Denied when you try to create a lease, ask your account owner to give you access under Settings → User Roles.
• The unit must be free. The Property list only shows properties that still have a unit without a lease.
• Your tenant must already be in the app as a Tenant or a Prospect. You can't add a new person from the lease form, so add them first.
• Have these ready: the lease term and dates, the rent amount, how often it's billed and the first rent date, any late fee rules, move-in fees (such as a security deposit or pet fee), other people, pets and vehicles at the unit, and the lease document (signed or unsigned).
• If you want to use DigitalTenant e-signature, have a card ready. The fee is shown on screen.

1. Open the lease form

Any of these opens the same form:

• Leases page → Add New Lease
• Dashboard → Leases card → the + button
• Create New, then Lease
• A property's or unit's Leases tab. This picks the property for you.
• A tenant's Leases tab

The form has 8 steps for residential properties: Lease Info, Tenant Info, Dependent Info, Pet Info, Vehicle Info, Move-in Fees, Billing Info and Document Info. Commercial properties have 6 steps, with no Dependent or Pet steps.

Your lease is saved as a draft as soon as you click Next on the first step. Each later step is saved when you click Next.

2. Lease Info

This step covers the term and the rent.

1. Pick the Property, then the Unit.
2. Choose the Lease Term: Fixed Term or Month-to-Month.
3. Pick the Lease Term Start Date. For a Fixed Term lease, also pick the Lease Term End Date. It must be after the start date.
4. Pick the First Rent Date. It must be on or after the start date, and on or before the end date for a Fixed Term lease.
5. Choose the Frequency: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly. Month-to-Month leases offer Daily, Weekly and Monthly.
6. Enter the Rent Amount. This is the amount for each period you chose, for example the weekly rent if you picked Weekly.
7. If you charge late fees, set Late Fees to Yes, then fill in When to Charge Late Fees? (days after the due date), the late fee Frequency and the Late Fee Amount in $ or %.

The green box at the bottom shows what your rent comes to each month.

If the lease starts before rent does

If the First Rent Date is different from the start date, a window called The lease starts before rent does opens when you click Next. Pick one option and click Confirm & Continue:

• Rent-free period before rent starts: no rent is charged for the days before the first rent date.
• Prorate the first payment: opens a calculator that works out a smaller first payment.
• The dates need to be updated: takes you back to the form so you can fix the dates.

The calculator charges from the First Payment Date to the end of that billing period. To charge for the days before full rent starts, set the First Payment Date to the move-in day. This also updates the First Rent Date on the form.

Your choice then shows on the step, with a Change link. If you later change the start date, first rent date or rent amount, the choice is cleared and the window opens again.

3. Tenant Info

1. Under Select Tenant, pick the main person signing the lease. You can type to search by email. They show as Primary signer.
2. To add anyone else who signs, click + Add co-tenant. They show as Co-signer. Click the X to remove one.

Anyone who is a Prospect becomes a tenant automatically once the lease is created.

4. Dependent Info, Pet Info and Vehicle Info

These steps bring in the people, pets and vehicles already saved on your tenants' profiles. Each one is ticked. Untick anything that isn't part of this lease.

• Use Add Another Dependent, Add Another Pet or Add Another Vehicle to add new ones.
• A row marked Incomplete is missing required details. Fill it in or untick it before you continue.
• Wait for the list to finish loading before you click Next, so nothing is left out.

You can leave these steps empty.

5. Move-in Fees

These are one-time charges collected before the lease starts. Each fee becomes its own invoice.

• A Security Deposit card is already there. Click Remove if you don't take a deposit.
• Click Add Fee for more. For each fee, pick the Fee Type, enter the Amount, and optionally set a Due Date (it defaults to the lease start date), whether it's Refundable, and a Memo. Your tenant sees the memo on the invoice.

6. Billing Info

1. Under Generate invoices from this lease?, choose Yes, bill automatically to create the deposit and first rent invoices now, plus a recurring rent invoice for the rest. Choose No, I will bill manually if you'd rather bill from Receivables later.
2. If you chose Yes, pick the Payment collection method. Online lets tenants pay by card or bank transfer into your connected bank account. Offline means you record cash, cheque or transfer payments yourself.
3. Check the What will be created in Receivables preview. It lists every invoice and the recurring rent. If anything looks wrong, click Back and fix it.

7. Document Info

1. Answer Is the document signed?
   • Already signed: upload the signed copy.
   • Not signed yet: uploading is optional, unless you request e-signature.
2. Click Upload Document to add one file. PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, JPG and JPEG files work.
3. If the document isn't signed yet, choose under Would you like to request a signature?:
   • Request e-signature: this is selected by default and needs a document.
   • Not now: the lease is created unsigned. You can send it for signature later from the lease's Documents tab.

Without e-signature

Click Create Lease. A Lease created window lists the lease, each invoice and the recurring rent, each with an Open link. You can go to Go to Receivables or View Lease from here.

With e-signature

1. Click Pay $X & Continue, check the summary, then click Continue to Payment and pay by card. The fee is charged once per document, however many people sign.
2. A Lease created successfully window appears. Wait 5 to 10 seconds, then click Continue to open SignNow.
3. In SignNow, place the signature fields, with one role for each signer.
4. When you return to DigitalTenant, the Send Document Invites window opens. Pick a tenant email for every role and click Send Invites. You can't add or change people after sending, so check them first.
5. Each tenant gets their own signing link by email. Track progress on the lease's Documents tab and the Signatures row on the Overview tab.

Good to know

• If the property you want isn't in the list, every unit on it may already have a lease.
• If your tenant isn't in the list, add them as a Tenant or Prospect, then come back. Your draft is saved.
• If you just want to create the lease and see Upload a document to send for signature, switch the signature question to Not now.
• The app accepts a First Rent Date in the past. This can add a catch-up invoice for missed rent, so check the Billing Info preview.
• If you close the invites window or get lost after SignNow, open the lease's Documents tab and click Add Invites.
• After paying for e-signature, check your Leases list. If the lease still shows as Draft, don't pay again. Contact our support team.
• Check the dates on the lease page itself, as that is where the final dates are shown.

What to do next

1. Open the lease and check the Overview tab.
2. If you used e-signature, make sure the invites were sent and watch the Signatures status.
3. Check Receivables for the move-in invoices and recurring rent.
4. If you chose Online payment, make sure the property has a connected bank account.

Need help?

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