Creating your TurboTenant lease
There are a few things that you'll want to do before you create your TurboTenant lease. The first step in the process is to make sure you've created your lease profile, this is a folder that will contain your tenant information, charges, and payments, as well as documents.
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What is a TurboTenant Lease?
Leases within TurboTenant are organizational tools that create a connection between renters and your properties. The purpose of the lease profile is to house your tenant information, payment history, uploaded documents, etc. all in one place. We like to refer to these leases as 'lease profiles'.
We currently offer state-specific lease agreements for many states, however, a lease profile in TurboTenant does NOT create a written agreement or legal document.
Video Overview
For a brief walkthrough of the lease process in your TurboTenant landlord dashboard, we recommend you watch the below video.
The Leases Tab
When you first land in the Leases tab you'll see all the active and upcoming leases you have. Each lease profile will display the tenants on the lease, the property address, the start & end date of the lease, a payments tab, and any documents you've uploaded.
Creating a Lease Profile
To add a new Lease, you'll want to navigate to the Leases tab and click Add Your Lease. You will then be prompted to Add Basic Lease Information like the rental property, lease nickname, and start date & end date, etc. Then click, Add Lease and this will then create a draft lease. After this step, you'll get to decide if you are creating a new lease agreement, collecting rent, requesting an electronic signature, or storing a lease document!
To complete adding your lease profile, make sure you add tenants by converting an applicant into a tenant or adding a New Tenant, and then adding your rent and deposit amounts.
If you have more than one tenant and they are not roommates, you can create multiple leases to house each tenant(s) information!
Managing Your Lease
For more information about the lease and the tenants on the lease profile(s), click on the lease you'd like to view. Within the lease profile, you'll see each tenant on the lease and any documents you may have uploaded. If you'd like to view the payments for the specific lease you are viewing, you'll want to click on Payments (to the right of Summary). Check out our Rent Payment Guide to learn about creating charges and more!
Uploading Documents
Keep track of lease-specific documents in one place! Add a signed copy of your lease document (or get one signed electronically!), move-in/out checklists, condition report, and any other documents you may need handy. These documents can be shared with your tenants or you can keep the documents private! Note, if you share the document with your tenant, they will be notified by email and will be able to view any shared documents within their tenant portal in the Documents section.
Please note, the following file types are supported for uploading: pdf, docx, doc, txt, rtf, xls, png, jpeg.
Adding or Removing Tenants
When you first create a lease, you will see the option to add renters to the lease. If you need to add more renters, you can do so by clicking Add above your current tenant.
If you have existing tenants that do not need to go through the application process, click here to learn how to add a tenant.
To remove a tenant from the lease, click the trash icon within their tenant box and Remove From Lease OR Move Out Tenant. You can also click the tenant's name and if they applied, you can select Convert to Applicant (these options depend on whether the person had applied on TurboTenant or was added manually.)
If a renter is moving out of your rental property or your lease has ended, you can archive the lease profile and tenant. To do so, click Edit in the upper-right, then change the lease end date to today or a previous date and save the changes. This will automatically end the lease and move your tenant to a Past Tenant status.
Editing Lease Settings
Click Edit on the upper-right to open the Lease Settings dialogue (image below) where you'll be able to Edit Term (dates), lease nickname, rent amount, security deposit, or whether or not you'd like to allow partial payments or enable automatic payments. Leases are converted to Past Leases on their end date unless you edit the end date to renew the lease.
If you edit your lease settings, your tenants will NOT be notified of any changes you've made.
Editing Lease Term Date
To edit the dates, you'll want to click the Edit button, then click Edit Term. In this dialogue, you'll be able to enter the start date & end date, switch month-to-month and decide what will occur after the lease term ends.
Ending Your Lease
Has your tenant given notice or is it move-out time? You'll want to click on the Edit button, then click Edit Term to change the end date of the lease to today or a previous date. You can also scroll to the end and click Convert To Past Lease. The lease will automatically move to the Past bin and the tenants associated with the lease will become Past Tenants (if they are not already attached to a new lease).
Once your lease has reached its end date, it will automatically be archived in the Past tab which you can access by clicking Leases and then Past. This is where you'll find all past leases.
No notifications are sent to your tenant when these changes are made.
Renewing Your Lease
Has your tenant decided to renew the lease or re-sign one with new roommates? If so you can renew the lease instead of creating a new one. Simply click Edit, then click Edit Term and change the lease end date to a future date. Note: This will not create a renewal lease agreement document.
To extend the lease agreement, check out how you can Create a Lease Addendum! You'll want to make sure you update the Term Dates when you are finished!
If you do not renew the lease, your tenants will automatically be moved to past tenants on the lease end date. You can still find their information by clicking See Past Tenants in the Tenants tab.
Deleting a Lease
To delete a lease profile, you'll want to click the Edit button to open the Lease Settings dialogue, then scroll to the end and click Delete Lease.
Any payments currently in transit will still be paid
Any unpaid charges will not be payable
Any in-progress e-sign requests will be canceled
Any documents will be deleted (including signed documents)
Any check-ins will be deleted
Any tenants on this lease will be archived unless they are part of another active or past lease
All notifications related to this lease will stop
Please note: some states require landlords to keep a record of communication with tenants even if they did not move in. We recommend that you archive the lease profile, to store any tenants, documents, and communications within Past Leases for access down the road.
You can archive the lease by simply updating the lease term dates. If the lease end date is in the past, it will move to the Past tab (unless you've indicated it's a month-to-month lease).
By deleting the lease, this action cannot be undone and is not recommended if you have a signed lease agreement and any payment history that you would like to reference later. If you want to keep any lease history, convert the lease to a past lease instead.
Still have questions? Reach out to our Support Team via chat or by email at [email protected].