A free rental lease agreement you can fill in as a PDF

A small landlord often needs one lease, once or twice a year. Paying for software or a service for that feels like too much, and a blank page feels like too little. A fillable lease PDF sits in the middle: the structure is there, and you type in your own terms.

This guide shows how to use the residential lease agreement template, what each box asks for, and how to sign and store the result. It is general information, not legal advice. Rental rules differ a lot by place, so read the lease against the rules where the home is.

What "free" means here

You do not need an account to fill it in. When you finish, you download the finished PDF. The blank PDF is free to download once, and after that every blank template is in Pro. The fill-in itself happens in your browser, so the lease is not uploaded unless you ask us to email it.

What the lease asks for

The template is a general fixed-term lease for a home or apartment. Have these answers ready before you open it.

• The lease date and the governing law, meaning the state or country whose rules apply.
• The landlord's name, phone and email, and the name and email of up to two tenants. Add more names in the extra terms box.
• The property address.
• The start date and end date, the monthly rent, and the day of the month rent is due.
• How rent is paid, the security deposit and the late fee.
• The grace period in days, the notice the landlord gives before entering in hours, and the notice to end the lease in days.
• Tick boxes for water, electricity, gas, internet, parking, pets, smoking and furnished.
• A box for extra terms or notes.

Below the boxes are seven short numbered terms, already written: rent, deposit, use, repairs, entry, ending the lease and the whole agreement. Then there are signature and date lines for the landlord and two tenants.

Fill it in and sign it in five steps

1. Open the lease template and choose Fill it in free. It opens in Fill PDF in your browser.
2. Type the lease date, the governing law, the parties and the property address. Spell names the same way as on the tenant's ID or application.
3. Fill in the dates, rent and deposit, then the three notice boxes, and tick what is included or allowed. Use the notes box for anything unusual.
4. Save a flattened copy, so the answers are part of the page and look the same on every device.
5. Open the saved copy in Sign PDF. Each person draws, types or uploads a signature, places it on their line and adds the date.

Check these boxes against your local rules

The template does not decide these for you, and it makes no claim to meet any one place's requirements. Local rules often limit the deposit, the late fee and the notice before the landlord enters. The lease's own wording says a late fee applies only if it is allowed by local law.

Look up the rules that apply, or ask a lawyer, before you fill in the numbers. Many places also require specific wording or notices that a general template cannot supply. Treat this lease as a starting point to review, not a finished legal answer.

A month-to-month rental

The template is built for a fixed term. If your rental has no end date, you can leave the end date blank and describe the arrangement in the notes box. A lawyer can tell you what your area requires for periods without an end date, so check that before you sign.

Passing it between landlord and tenant

Several people need to sign one file. The tidy way is to send the flattened PDF to the first signer, ask them to add their signature and send it on, and so on, until every line is signed. Keep the order simple and say who goes next in the email.

If someone sends back a changed version, use PDF Compare. Add the version you sent as Original and theirs as Revised, and it lists every word added, removed or changed, with the pages. It compares only the text, so read the pages as well. Sign only the version everyone has agreed.

Signing here places a picture of your signature on the page. It is not a certificate-based digital signature. Whether a signature like this is accepted for a lease depends on where you live, so check your local rules.

Pair it with an inspection checklist

A lease says what was agreed. It does not record the state of the home. On move-in day, fill in the move-in and move-out inspection checklist, and keep dated photos beside it. Join the lease and the checklist with Merge PDF if you want one file per tenancy.

Keep it safe

A lease holds names, addresses and sometimes payment details. Save the signed copy where you will find it, with a clear name such as Lease-12-Oak-St-2026-11-01.pdf, and keep the blank template as well. Give every signer a copy. If you email it, you can lock it with Password Protect PDF and send the password in a separate message.

Mistakes that cause trouble

• Leaving a date or a tenant name blank before signing.
• Changing a word after someone has signed, without everyone signing the new version.
• Typing the rent, the deposit or the late fee without checking them against local rules.
• Sending an editable file when you meant to send the final version.
• Losing track of which file is the signed one.

A worked example

A landlord is renting out a spare apartment to two roommates. She opens the lease template, types her details, both tenants and the address, then fills in the rent, the due day and the three notice boxes after checking her local rules. She ticks water and parking, adds a line in the notes box about a shared storage room and saves a flattened copy.

Each roommate signs the same file in turn, and she signs last. She names the result with the address and the start date, sends everyone a copy and keeps the blank original. On move-in day she fills in the inspection checklist.

A short checklist

• Gather the names, dates, amounts and notice periods first.
• Check deposit, late fee and entry notice against your local rules.
• Flatten before anyone signs.
• Fill in every signature and date line.
• Give each signer a copy and keep one safe.
• Add an inspection checklist on move-in day.

More templates for people who rent out homes are on the landlords page.