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# How do I create a lease agreement?

Once you've found the right tenant, the next step is formalising things with a legally binding lease. We've digitised the whole process — no scanning, no printing, no chasing signatures — and the lease adapts automatically to your property's state, so you meet your legal obligations without needing to become a legislation expert overnight.

Creating your lease is part of our [Rental Management subscription](https://www.propertynow.com.au/digital-lease-agreements/), and it flows straight into automated rent collection once signed.

**Renewing an existing tenancy?** You don't need to start from scratch. See [How do I renew a tenancy or update the agreement?](https://help.propertynow.com.au/en/article/how-do-i-renew-a-tenancy-or-update-the-agreement-9qs1m5/).

### Before you start: get your documents verified

You won't be able to create a tenancy agreement until all four of these are done:

* You've uploaded proof of property ownership
* You've uploaded your photo ID
* Our team has verified your ownership documents
* Our team has verified your ID

If the **Create/Upload Tenancy Agreement** button is greyed out, this is why. Check the verification badges on your property dashboard. If you don't have a listing — for example, you subscribed to manage an existing tenancy — you can upload both documents from your rental management dashboard or from the tenancy agreement page.

### Step 1: Open the lease creator

1. Log in to your **PropertyNow dashboard**.
2. Go to **'Manage Property & Edit Listings'**, then select **'Tenancy Agreements'** from your property overview.
3. Click the green **'Create/Upload Tenancy Agreement'** button (top right).

![new lease agreement](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/8/e/2/9/8e29a91020b04000/image_lfrv11.png)

### Step 2: Enter the lease details

The creator is a step-by-step wizard — the questions adapt to your property's state, and you can save your progress and come back any time. You'll work through five sections:

* **Tenancy details:** names and contact information for you and all adult tenants.
* **Lease terms:** fixed-term vs periodic, start date, rent amount and payment frequency.
* **Utilities:** who's responsible for electricity, gas and water, and how it'll be charged.
* **Property rules:** special terms like approved pets, smoking rules, maximum occupants and nominated repairers. Keep any additional special terms under **2,000 characters** (roughly 300 words). Anything longer won't save, and you won't be able to move on to the Review step.
* **Review:** a final check of every detail before you send it to the tenant.

### Step 3: The digital signing workflow

Once you hit **Submit**, our automated signature system takes over:

1. **Tenant review:** your tenant receives an email invitation to view and accept the terms.
2. **Landlord signature:** after they accept, you'll be emailed a link to sign digitally.
3. **Tenant signature:** once you've signed, it's automatically forwarded to the tenant for their final signature.
4. **Done:** both parties receive a fully executed copy by email, and it's stored in your PropertyNow account for easy access anytime.

Need to fix something before it's signed? See [How do I change lease terms before the lease is finalised?](https://help.propertynow.com.au/en/article/i-need-to-edit-my-lease-agreement-before-the-tenant-signs-gv6w47/)

### Step 4: Set up rent collection

Completing the lease triggers your automated rent schedule. To get rent flowing, both parties verify their accounts:

* **You:** go to your profile and add/verify the bank account where you'd like rent deposited.
* **Your tenant:** they add their bank account and set up a **Direct Debit or PayTo agreement** from their tenant portal.

On a renewal there's no rent in advance, but your tenant still needs a new PayTo agreement (or an updated direct debit amount if the rent has changed) before the new agreement starts. See [Do I need to set up my payment method again for a renewal?](https://help.propertynow.com.au/en/article/do-i-need-to-set-up-my-payment-method-again-for-a-renewal-1fpuc7d/).

From there, [automated rent collection](https://www.propertynow.com.au/rent-collection/) handles the rest — including receipts, records and arrears visibility, all in your account.