Sign a rental agreement online

Rental agreement or lease?

The words are used loosely, but in the US a 'rental agreement' usually means a month-to-month arrangement that renews automatically until one side gives notice, while a 'lease' runs for a fixed term such as twelve months. In the UK, renting a room in the owner's own home is normally a lodger agreement, which gives the occupier far fewer protections than a tenancy.

The term also covers hiring things: cameras, scaffolding, a van, a marquee for a wedding. The signing process is the same; the clauses are different.

What to put in a residential rental agreement

Month-to-month agreements are short, which is exactly why they leave things out. These are the lines worth adding.

• Names of every adult who will live there, not only the person paying.
• Rent, due date, how it is paid, and the late fee if local law allows one.
• Notice to end the agreement. Many US states require 30 days for month-to-month tenancies, some more after a year of occupancy. Check your state.
• Deposit amount and where it is held. Several US states cap deposits at one or two months' rent.
• Utilities, parking, pets and guests.
• Required disclosures, such as the federal lead-based paint disclosure for homes built before 1978.

Equipment and vehicle rentals

For equipment, the agreement should record the condition at handover, the hire period, the replacement value if lost, and who insures the item while it is out. A checklist with photos at collection, initialled by the renter, avoids most deposit disputes.

If you also want the renter to accept responsibility for injuries, that is a waiver, and waivers have their own limits. See the liability waiver page before relying on one.

Validity and witnesses

A rental agreement is an ordinary contract, so an electronic signature is valid under the US ESIGN Act and UETA, and in the UK, EU and UAE. Month-to-month and short residential agreements do not need a witness or notary. Fixed terms long enough to require a deed, or registration with a land registry or a scheme such as Ejari in Dubai, are a different matter and are covered on our tenancy agreement page.

General information only, not legal advice. Residential rules are set locally and change often.

Common mistakes

Leaving an adult occupant off the agreement. Using a template from a different state that allows a deposit or late fee your state forbids. Not dating the condition report, so nobody can say whether a scratch was there on day one.

How to send it with Sign PDF

Upload the agreement, or photograph a printed one with your phone; Sign PDF turns JPG, PNG or WebP photos into a PDF. It places renter and owner boxes from the wording, and a co-signer box if there is a co-signer block. Use the assistant to 'add renter initials beside the damage clause' or 'add a checkbox for the condition report'.

Renters sign on their phones after confirming an email code. The signed PDF carries a certificate with each signer's email, IP address and time of signing. If you rent out a single room or a few items a month, the Light plan at $5 a month for two documents is usually enough.