Residential Lease Agreement Template

A residential lease agreement is the written contract between a landlord and a tenant that sets the terms for renting a home, apartment, condo, or room. It records the basics everyone needs to agree on up front: who is renting from whom, the exact property address, how long the tenancy lasts, how much rent is and when it is due, the security deposit amount, and who is responsible for things like utilities, repairs, and yard care. A clear lease prevents the most common disputes because the answer to most arguments is already written down and signed by both sides.

Use this template when you are renting out a property or moving into one and you want a straightforward starting point. It works for a fixed-term lease (for example, twelve months) or a month-to-month arrangement, and it leaves room to add house rules, pet terms, and any extra clauses your situation calls for. Fill in the bracketed placeholders, delete anything that does not apply, and review the result against the rules where the property is located, because landlord-tenant law is set at the state and local level and often includes mandatory disclosures, deposit limits, and notice periods that this generic form cannot anticipate.

Once both parties have agreed on the terms, you can sign electronically. Under the ESIGN Act (2000) and UETA (1999, adopted by 49 states plus DC, with New York using its own ESRA), an electronically signed lease is generally as enforceable as an ink-on-paper one. Note that some related notices, such as eviction or default notices on a primary residence, are carved out of those laws and may still require paper. Signing on sign.pink gives each party a copy and attaches a tamper-evident audit trail recording who signed, when, and from where, which is exactly the kind of evidence that helps if anyone later questions whether the lease was genuinely agreed to.