I know some of you are just going month to month on your leases.

I prefer to have a lease.

I am using lease renewal as a way to:

1. force myself to evaluate and raise the rent

2. limit people leaving in the winter as my leases end in march, april, or may.

3. I am sending renewals by e-signature and one of the items on my lease is something that I think either came from Jeffrey or Brad but the statement:

CONTACT PEOPLE IN EVENT OF DEATH OR EMERGENCY OF TENANT

In the event I cannot be reached, the following persons are trusted friends or family members I designate as approved to receive mail, notices, phone calls, texts, messages, deliveries, etc. for me from Owner / Management.

Name

Address

City ST Zip

phone

email

relationship to you: mom dad etc

This allows me to have emergency contact people who have been authorized by the tenants to handle emergencies.

They have to put something in the blanks or the lease won't be signed.

Just a suggestion after seeing Tom(MI) with his Lost Rent post.

Dropbox has a e-sign program if you are already using dropbox it's easy.

Docusign is popular

There are things out there to make it easier for you to get your leases renewed.

If the price of an e-sign program is what is holding you back just include a "Renewal lease fee" to pay for it.

Just throwing this out there for you to chew on

Thanks Bonanza

I'm still in the old days I guess as I only do MTM.

I do have in the lease that at the one year mark there will be an increase of 3% minimum and if more I will contact with 30 days notice.

In the short time I have done this I have had no push back. I am still not convinced that a yearly lease gives me an upper hand.

We have cold winters. I don't want someone to move out then, but they usually don't unless I press the issue because of a violation.

The ETF is really making me think about yearly leases though as that will hold them or possibly make them pay to leave. But giving 30 days is what I am in right now.

The other bonus with a new lease is that everyone gets on the same version of the lease. I am always adding things (less so nowadays) so a tenant who has been around 8 years might have a lease that doesn't include key clauses.

I have a master lease in word. Use T1 for the first tenant and T2 for the second tenant and use the replace function to replace the T1 with the tenant's actual name. I think there are 5 places in the lease with the tenant's name. I do the same for the house address. Change the monthly rent, add any renewal fees and save the new document with a new name.

Open up dropbox and use their signature section on the left. Add the tenant names and email address, it then opens up the word document, creates a PDF, lets you add boxes for text, signatures, intials, etc. It's all drop and drag. When ready send it out for signature. I order the signatures so they have to sign before I do. I get an email that they have signed, then I sign and all parties get a copy of the executed document.

I have a lease initiation fee of $75 when I onboard a new tenant. I could charge a lease renewal fee and I don't think anybody would care. I just haven't so far.

Dropbox signature is $180 a year. It has been surprisingly easy to use once you get the hang of it and very useful in my business.

Docusign is more expensive ($240) unless you get the personal version ($120) that limits you to 5 signatures (I assume per month)

I am M2M with the following -

This Month to Month Rental Agreement to be UP DATED and RE APPROVED on a 12 month basis. Items for review and approval include but are Not limited to Rate of Rent, New or Revised Requirements and number of Occupants.

I haven't done online signing as it is my time to train or retrain folks on my expectations. I use Mike Butler's video and then go down my list of items for renewal.