Landlord guide

1. Set up once

Your account

Sign up as a Landlord, confirm your email, and sign in. Each sign-in asks for a code emailed to you (two-factor).

Default lease terms

Dashboard → Set default terms. These are the clauses every new agreement starts from: where rent and notices go, late fees, the security-deposit split, occupancy and guest rules, furnishing, parking, pets, entry notice, HOA, and your phone number for the signature block. Set them once; you can still adjust any of them on an individual lease before it's sent.

Payment settings

Dashboard → Set up payments: your Cash App / Zelle / Venmo links and a mailing address for checks. Renters see only the methods you enable on each property. (Bank-to-bank ACH collection is coming; until then you record each payment on the lease and the renter's balance updates.)

2. Add a property

Properties → Add property. A single home is one property with one unit; a duplex or a house with rooms to let is one property with several units (Room A, Room B…). Per unit you set the asking rent and deposit. Add photos (several at once), amenities, utilities included in rent, and the payment methods you accept. Tick screening required if applicants must consent to a background check.

3. Invite people to apply

On the property page, under Applicants, each unit has Invite to apply. Enter the prospect's email and the terms you're offering them: rent, deposit, dates, furnished or not (with the monthly add-on), and a short note. They get an email with a link; they create a free renter account and land directly on the application.

• Different prospects, different terms: send each one their own invitation. Every offer is tracked separately on the unit.
• Two people renting together: put both emails in one invitation. They share the offer, each fills in their own application, and you decide on them as a group.
• Offers in progress appear under Leases → Applications in progress and on the property page, never mixed in with real leases.

Already have a tenant and just need them in the app? Create the lease on the unit and use Send invite on the lease page instead — that invites them to the tenancy, not to apply.

4. Review applications

You're emailed when someone applies. Review (from the property page or the offer) shows every applicant side by side: contact and employer, occupants, their previous landlord's reference (we email the referee a short questionnaire), screening status, and any income documents they uploaded with the extracted monthly figures against the rent.

Approve or Decline applies to everyone on that offer. Approving an applicant automatically declines the other open offers on the same unit and emails those prospects. If screening was required and isn't finished, approval is blocked unless you tick the override.

Fair housing: decide on the same criteria for everyone. If a consumer report influenced a decline, the applicant is told they can request a copy.

5. Finish the agreement

The approved offer is now a draft lease with the offered numbers already filled in. Open it and click Edit agreement terms & addendums:

• Money due before move-in — the deposit, first month's rent (prorated automatically if the start isn't the 1st), and optionally last month's rent. Other fees from §6 join the receipt.
• Agreement options — pre-filled from your defaults; change anything for this lease only.
• Addendums — anything you agreed beyond the standard clauses (pets, snow removal, early termination). Each becomes "Addendum A, B…" and the renter initials it when signing.

Preview agreement shows the exact document both of you will sign. A checklist on the lease page tells you what's missing before it can be sent.

6. Sign

Click Send for signature. The terms freeze and the renter gets a link. They review the full agreement, initial each addendum, type their name, give a phone number, and agree to sign electronically. When every renter has signed you're emailed to countersign. The moment you do, the lease becomes active, the move-in charges post to the renter's ledger, and everyone gets the signed copy link.

Need to change something after sending? Recall to draft — any signatures are voided and you send a fresh copy.

7. Collect rent and run the tenancy

• Rent charges post to each active lease on its due day; renters are emailed. The renter pays you by any method you enabled; you Record a payment on the lease and their balance updates.
• Rent roll shows who's paid, who's late, and what's vacant; Tax summary totals the year.
• Maintenance requests come from renters with photos; you move them through open → in progress → done.
• Messages on the lease are a kept record for both sides.
• At the end, End or Terminate the lease, then Start deposit statement to itemize deductions and return the deposit within the legal window. A lease past its end date can be rolled month-to-month.

Questions

Something not covered here? Email no-reply@mail.plainsight.homes. See also the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.