Leasing & Tenants
Lease Lifecycle
Every lease moves through a lifecycle. Knowing what each status means helps you keep your rent roll and reports accurate.
Statuses at a glance
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Created but not yet in effect. No rent is being billed. |
| Active | In effect within its term. Rent invoices generate on schedule. |
| Expired | The end date has passed but the lease wasn't renewed or formally ended. A lease shows as Expired as soon as its end date is in the past, and a daily job also flips the stored status from active to expired. |
| Ended | Formally closed, with move-out and deposit settled. |
Draft → Active
A draft becomes active when its start date arrives (or when you activate it). Once active, scheduled rent invoices begin.
Expiring leases
As a lease nears its end date, it shows on the Leases Ending report so you can act in time. You generally have three choices:
- Renew — extend with a new term and (optionally) new rent.
- Let it go month-to-month — depending on your setup.
- End the lease — when the tenant is moving out.
Tip
Check Reports → Leases Ending regularly (or watch your dashboard) so renewals never slip.
Ending a lease (two steps)
Ending a lease is intentionally a two-step process so move-out and deposits are handled correctly:
- Record the intent. Open the lease and use End Lease. This marks the lease as end pending — it records that the lease will end, but doesn't finalize anything yet.
- Finalize on the settlement page. Complete the deposit settlement / finalize step, where you settle the security deposit (deductions, refund) and confirm move-out. This is the single point where the lease actually ends.
Important
A lease isn't fully ended until you complete the settlement/finalize step. Until then it's only marked end pending, so you can still adjust before committing.
Reactivating or correcting
If you marked a lease to end by mistake before finalizing, you can cancel the pending end — this clears the end-pending state and keeps the lease active. Once you've finalized the settlement, the lease is closed for good; create a new lease for a returning tenant rather than reopening the closed one.