Create a lease

Who this is for

Landlords and property managers putting a tenant on a unit. Only an account owner can create, edit, renew or end a lease.

Before you start

• Add the property and unit. See Add properties and units.
• eSamaHomes doesn't write leases. A local real estate attorney or your state's real estate association can provide one. You can fill your own lease in eSamaHomes; see Lease templates.
• For a tenant who already lives in the unit, see Move your tenants in.
• Middle names: a tenant's middle name, if one was entered, is printed on the lease and used for online signing, and nowhere else: everywhere else in eSamaHomes shows first and last name only. It is optional and an initial is fine. Enter it under Middle Name (optional) on Add Tenant, Edit Tenant or the quick add in step 2; a renter can give one on their application.

Steps

1. Go to Rentals → Leases and click New lease.
2. Select Tenants: search for a tenant, or fill in First name, Middle name (optional), Last name and Email and click Add tenant. Click Add another tenant for more, up to 4. The first tenant is the primary. Click Next: Select Unit.
3. Select Unit: pick the property and the unit. Each unit shows its status: Vacant, Occupied, Maintenance or Listed. A house has no unit to pick. The rent is filled in from the unit. Click Next: Lease Terms.
4. Lease Terms: choose the Lease Term: Fixed term (ends on a set date), Fixed, then monthly (keeps billing month-to-month after the end date, until you end it) or Month-to-month (no end date). Fill in Start Date, End Date, Monthly Rent, Security Deposit, Late Fee, Due Day (1–28) and Grace Period (days). The end date must be after the start date. Add any occupants who aren't tenants. - If the Start Date is in an earlier month and before the latest due date, eSamaHomes asks whether the tenant already lived there before eSamaHomes. Click Yes, they already live here to turn on Tenant already lives here (see Move your tenants in), or No, bill from the start date.
5. Answer How will this lease be signed? - Start now: signed on paper. The lease starts and rent is billed as usual. Click Create Lease. - Send for signing: saved as a draft that starts when every signer has signed online. Click Save Draft. See Sign a lease online.
6. On the lease page, upload the signed lease under Documents so your tenants can see it.

Example

Lena Park creates a lease for Omar Velez at 40 Cedar Street, Unit 3: Fixed term, November 1, 2026 to October 31, 2027, Monthly Rent $1,450.00, Security Deposit $1,450.00, Late Fee $50.00, Due Day 1, Grace Period 3 days. She chooses Start now.

The lease is Active at once. Two invoices are created: rent of $1,450.00 due November 1 and a deposit of $1,450.00. Rent is then billed for December 1, January 1 and so on. If Omar hasn't paid the November rent by the end of November 4, a $50.00 late fee can be charged.

What happens next

• When a lease starts, the unit is marked occupied, its listing comes down, the first rent is billed on the start date, and a Deposit invoice is created if there is a security deposit. A start date already past is billed from that date as owed, with no new-bill notice to the tenant, no late fee and no late notices. See How rent billing works and Security deposits.
• Edit Terms changes the lease term, end date, rent, late fee, due day or grace period. A new due day moves the next rent to that day in the same month.
• Fixed, then monthly: after the end date the lease keeps billing every month, and its page shows Month-to-month since the end date.
• Bill an earlier rent appears on a lease made with Tenant already lives here. See Move your tenants in.
• Renew Lease (fixed terms only) sets a new end date and, optionally, a new rent. Click Confirm Renewal once the tenant agrees.
• Move Out ends the lease. See Move out and archive.
• Settle deposit appears once the move-out is complete and a deposit is held. See Security deposits.
• Former tenant balance shows on an ended lease that still has unpaid charges. An account owner can click Write off balance once any deposit settlement is finished. See Move out and archive.
• Several tenants: see Several tenants and occupants.

If something looks wrong

• "All required fields must be filled." Fill in every field marked with *.
• "endDate is required for FIXED and FIXED_WITH_ROLLOVER leases." A fixed lease needs an end date. Choose Month-to-month if it has none.
• "The lease end date must be after the start date." Fix the End Date or the Start Date.
• "A lease can have at most 4 tenants." Add anyone else as an occupant.
• "Give a reason for going over the unit's limit." The tenants and occupants are more than the unit allows. Give a reason, or change the unit's limit.
• A unit can be given a second lease by mistake. eSamaHomes doesn't stop you creating a lease on a unit that already has an active one. Check the unit first.
• No buttons on the lease. Only an account owner can change a lease.
• Forgot to tick "Tenant already lives here"? The lease billed rent from its start date and a deposit invoice, for a tenant who already lived there and paid them. On the lease, click Tenant already lived here? Fix billing under the dates. Pick Last rent the tenant paid before eSamaHomes (or None yet), type the Deposit already collected, and click Check what changes. eSamaHomes lists what will be voided, the rents kept as catch-up (still owed, with no late fee or late notice) and what is not changed, with the tenant balance now and after. Click Void … and fix billing to save, or Cancel. The link shows only to an account owner, on an active lease that was made as a new one and has no payment on any of its invoices. If a rent to void falls in the same billing period as the first rent you bill, pick a later last rent paid, or void it with Void invoice on Rent & Payments (on a phone, under ⋯ on the invoice).