Lease agreement template

Use this free lease agreement template to streamline your real estate contract management processes in 2024.

Our templates are for general information only. You should not rely on them, and Juro is not liable for any reliance on them. The templates might contain errors, including unlawful provisions and might create risks and liabilities if used. The templates are not legal advice, nor a substitute for it. By accessing any template, you accept these terms and agree that any use is at your own risk. Some of these templates were created using generative AI with human-assisted prompts.

Our templates are for general information only. You should not rely on them, and Juro is not liable for any reliance on them. The templates might contain errors, including unlawful provisions and might create risks and liabilities if used. The templates are not legal advice, nor a substitute for it. By accessing any template, you accept these terms and agree that any use is at your own risk.

What is a lease agreement?

Also known as a rental agreement, a lease agreement is a legal document outlining the terms under which one party agrees to rent property from another. It guarantees the lessee, also known as the tenant, use of a property or asset in exchange for a regular payment.

While lease agreements can seem daunting, they are a critical tool for landlords and tenants alike, providing a legally enforceable framework for the rental relationship. They are also among the most common business contracts, with applications everywhere from residential and commercial real estate to equipment hire and vehicle leasing.

Who is responsible for managing a lease agreement?

Lease agreements can involve various teams and individuals, each with different roles and responsibilities. The responsibility for creating a lease agreement often falls on several key players, depending on the specific use case. These typically include:

  1. Real estate agents: Real estate agents often draft lease agreements for residential and commercial properties. They use standard contract templates that comply with local and state laws, modifying them as necessary to fit the specific terms of each lease.
  2. Legal teams: In many organizations, the legal team is responsible for creating lease agreement templates. They ensure that the agreements comply with all relevant laws and regulations and protect the organization's interests. They also review and approve any amendments to the templates.
  3. Property managers: Property managers, who act on behalf of property owners, often create lease agreements for the properties they manage. Like real estate agents, they use standardized contract templates and modify them to fit the terms of each lease.
  4. Business owners: When leasing commercial spaces or equipment, business owners may create their own lease agreements. However, they often consult with legal counsel to ensure that the agreements are legally sound.
  5. Landlords: Individual landlords often create their own lease agreements, especially for smaller properties or informal rental arrangements. They may use online resources or legal services to help draft the agreement.

But lease agreements don’t need to be difficult. Just ask apartment hotel operator, Placemakr, whose team successfully halved the time spent on contract creation and management by implementing Juro’s AI-enabled contract management software.

In a previous process, Placemakr’s sales reps would have to go into Word to find a template, manually input all of the client’s information, send it for negotiation, move it into DocuSign for signing, and then store it in Sharepoint.

It was a painful process with lots of manual touchpoints, and it created friction for apartment lease agreements that now take seconds to generate in Juro.

Now, they’re better equipped for real estate contract management. With Juro, Placemakr have:

With a platform like Juro, your team can automate lease agreements and reduce the burden on legal teams in terms of repetitive contract admin. For more on how this works, and what benefits it would offer your business, book a demo or keep reading.

When should you use a rental lease agreement?

Lease agreements can be used in various different contexts. Let's run through a few of the most common use cases for a lease agreement.

1. Renting a residential property

‍When you rent a residential property such as an apartment or a house, a tenancy agreement is typically used to outline the terms of the rental. This includes the rental amount, the duration of the lease, and the responsibilities of both the landlord and the tenant.

2. Leasing a commercial space

‍Businesses that rent commercial spaces like offices, retail stores, or warehouses will also use a lease agreement. These office lease agreements, or commercial lease agreements, may include additional terms related to business operations, such as permitted uses of the space and hours of operation.

3. Leasing equipment

‍Lease agreements aren't just for real estate. They're also used when leasing equipment, vehicles, or other high-value items. These agreements outline the terms of the lease, including maintenance responsibilities and what happens at the end of the lease term.

4. Subleasing a property

‍If a tenant wants to rent out their leased property to another person, they'll use a sublease agreement. This agreement is subject to the terms of the original lease and usually requires the landlord's approval.

5. Leasing agricultural land

‍Farmers and landowners use lease agreements to outline the terms for renting agricultural land or equipment. These agreements can cover everything from crop share arrangements to responsibilities for land maintenance and improvement. These are often known as land lease agreements.

6. Renting a vehicle

When you rent a car, you will typically sign a car lease agreement. This agreement outlines the terms of your rental, including the duration, the cost, and the responsibilities of both the rental company and the renter.

What should a lease agreement template include?

A robust lease agreement template should cover all the essential aspects of the leasing arrangement. It should provide a clear and comprehensive outline of the rights and responsibilities of both parties.

Here are the key elements that a lease agreement template should cover:

  1. Identification of parties: The lease agreement should clearly identify who the landlord (lessor) and tenant (lessee) are. This includes their full names and contact information.
  2. Description of the property: The lease agreement should provide a detailed description of the property being leased. This includes the property's address, type (residential, commercial, etc.), and any specific features or amenities.
  3. Lease term: The lease agreement should specify the duration of the lease. This could be a fixed term contract, such as one year, or a month-to-month arrangement.
  4. Rent details: The lease agreement should clearly state the amount of rent, when it is due, and how it should be paid. It should also outline any penalties for late payment or non-payment.
  5. Security deposit: The lease agreement should detail the security deposit, including the amount, how it will be used, and when and how it will be returned at the end of the lease.
  6. Maintenance and repairs: The lease agreement should outline who is responsible for maintaining and repairing the property. This includes routine maintenance, major repairs, and who is responsible for damage caused by the tenant.
  7. Insurance requirements: The lease agreement should specify any insurance requirements for the tenant and landlord. This could include liability insurance, property insurance, and any other types of insurance required by local or state laws.
  8. Rules and regulations: The lease agreement should include any rules or regulations that the tenant must follow. This could include rules about pets, noise, and other behaviors that could affect the property or other tenants.
  9. Termination conditions: The lease agreement should specify the conditions under which the lease can be cancelled or renewed. This includes the notice period required and any penalties for early termination.
  10. Dispute resolution: The lease agreement should outline how disputes between the landlord and tenant will be resolved. This could include mediation, arbitration, or court proceedings.
  11. Signatures: Finally, the lease agreement should include spaces for both the landlord and tenant to sign and date the agreement, showing that they accept the terms laid out.

Remember, a lease agreement is a legally binding document. Therefore, it's crucial to ensure that it is comprehensive, clear, and complies with all relevant laws and regulations. It should also include the core elements of a contract.

How are lease agreements typically managed by businesses?

As we we’ve already mentioned, managing lease agreements is a complex process that often involves multiple stakeholders, including landlords, tenants, legal teams, and sometimes intermediaries like real estate agents or property managers.

The process often involves several stages, each with its own set of tools and challenges.

1. Drafting the agreement

The initial step involves creating the lease agreement template. This is often done using word processing software and by compiling parts of other standard templates, which are then customized to fit the specific terms of each lease.

This process of drafting a contract can be time-consuming and requires meticulous attention to detail to ensure all necessary clauses are included and tailored correctly.

2. Review and approval

Once the lease agreement is drafted, it typically needs to be reviewed and approved by a legal professional. This ensures that the agreement is legally sound and protects the interests of all parties.

However, this can be a bottleneck, especially if multiple rounds of revisions are required, leading to delays in finalizing the agreement. These delays are intensified by fragmented negotiation processes that span several different tools and contract versions.

3. Contract signing

After the lease agreement is approved, it needs to be signed by both parties. Traditionally, this has involved coordinating in-person meetings or sending documents by mail for signatures.

This can be logistically challenging and time-consuming, especially when dealing with multiple parties or those in different locations.

4. Storing the agreement

Once signed, the lease agreement needs to be stored securely. This often involves physical storage, such as filing cabinets, which can be costly and difficult to manage, especially for those dealing with a large number of properties, or leasing equipment at scale.

5. Post-signature contract management

Lease agreements need to be monitored for renewals, terminations, and any changes in terms. This is often a manual process, involving keeping track of key dates and sending out reminders. This stage of the contract lifecycle requires careful management to ensure nothing is missed.

6. Continuous communication

Throughout all these stages, effective communication between all parties is essential. This often involves a mix of email, phone calls, and meetings. Managing communication effectively can be a challenge, especially when dealing with multiple lease agreements simultaneously.

To summarize: the traditional approach to managing lease agreements involves a mix of different processes, each with their own limitations and challenges.

As the scale of operations increases, these challenges can become more pronounced, making efficient management of lease agreements a crucial aspect of operations for landlords, real estate professionals, and legal teams alike.

Can you automate lease agreements?

The good news is that you can reduce the administrative burden of managing lease agreements by adopting a contract tool like Juro.

Juro's all-in-one contract lifecycle management platform enables businesses and individuals to streamline and automate the management of lease agreements - just like Placemakr.

By digitizing and automating various stages of the lease agreement process, Juro can help save time, reduce errors, and improve efficiency.

Here's how Juro can transform the way you manage lease agreements in a few simple steps:

1. Automated lease agreement templates

Juro's platform allows you to create custom templates for lease agreements. Once the template is set up, creating a new lease agreement is as simple as filling in the specific details for each lease.

Or, you can integrate Juro with your CRM or real estate platforms like Placemakr did, enabling you to automate full lease agreements in just a few clicks.

This not only saves time but also ensures consistency across all your lease agreements.

2. Collaborative review and approval processes

With Juro, you can collaborate in real-time with your team and legal counsel to review and approve lease agreements. You can make changes directly in the platform, eliminating the need for lengthy email threads and numerous document versions.

The same applies to lease agreement negotiations, too. This is because Juro's collaborative contract management platform empowers counterparties to add their own comments, suggestions and redlines without leaving the platform.

3. Electronic signatures

Juro enables teams to sign contracts electronically with legally binding electronic signatures that are valid across most geographies.

This makes it easy for all parties to sign the lease agreement no matter where they are. Not only does this speed up the signing process, but it also creates a fully digital audit trail.

4. Automated reminders

Juro can send automated reminders when a lease is due for renewal or when a termination notice period is approaching. This ensures that you never miss important dates.

This makes it easy for real estate agents and their teams to track, extend, renew, terminate and manage lease agreements at scale.

5. Secure storage and instant access to data

All lease agreements signed through Juro are stored securely in the cloud. You can easily search for and access any agreement, making it easy to manage your portfolio of properties.

This is perfect for estate agents and landlords managing lots of lease agreements at any one time.Ready to automate Lease Agreements in Juro?

By automating and streamlining the lease agreement process, Juro can help landlords, real estate professionals, and legal teams manage their lease agreements more efficiently.

This not only saves time and reduces the risk of errors but also allows these teams to focus on more strategic tasks.

Juro’s AI contract collaboration platform enables your team to create, execute and manage contracts 10x faster than traditional tools. With Juro, you can:

To find out more about how Juro can benefit businesses in the real-estate industry, check out this guide to real estate contract management, or book your personalized demo by hitting the button below.

Want more free lease agreement templates?

It's worth noting that different states will have different laws around leasing, and your lease agreement templates should comply with, or be varied to comply with, these. Below are some state-specific, simple lease agreements to help you get started:

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a lease agreement and a tenancy agreement?

The biggest difference is that a tenancy relates to a renting a property, while lease agreements can also include the renting of other things, like equipment, or vehicles.

Can a lease template be used for commercial properties?

Yes, lease templates can be used for commercial properties, but they must be tailored to address the specific requirements of commercial leases, which are often more complex than residential leases. Commercial leases may include additional terms related to property use, maintenance obligations, and business-related clauses. We also offer a separate commercial lease agreement template.

Do lease agreements need to be notarized?

Notarization of lease agreements is not typically required, but it can provide an additional layer of authenticity and protection. However, some jurisdictions or specific agreements may require notarization, so it's important to check local regulations.

Is it legal for tenants to sign a lease agreement remotely?

Yes, tenants can legally sign a lease agreement remotely. This practice is increasingly common, especially with the rise of electronic signatures.