Can you sign it this way?

Can a lease be signed electronically?

Yes. A residential lease is an ordinary contract, and electronic signatures on contracts are recognized under the federal ESIGN Act and state UETA laws. Every state has adopted UETA or, in New York's case, its own equivalent. The questions worth a minute are what the signed record should contain, which lease-adjacent documents are different, and how to get a tenant who is relocating from three states away to sign before anyone drives anywhere.

What makes an electronic lease signature hold together

The law asks for a few things: the signer intended to sign, agreed to do it electronically, and the record can be reproduced later. In practice that means a consent step before the signature, a signature tied to a link only that person received, a timestamp, and a copy that cannot be quietly altered afterward.

Signathing records all of that on every lease: the consent, the signer's link, the time, the device, a fingerprint of the original PDF, and a digital seal on the certified copy. Each signature carries a verification code anyone can check at signathing.com/verify.

Getting every tenant and the landlord on one lease

A lease often has three or four signers: two tenants, a guarantor, and the landlord. Each one gets their own private link by email or text and signs from wherever they are. Signing order lets the landlord countersign after every tenant has signed, so nobody is holding a lease that one party later declined.

Up to 25 signers fit on one document, which covers a shared house. Add the property manager as a view-only recipient to get a certified copy without a signature line.

Lease paperwork that is different

Some documents that travel with a lease have their own rules. A few states require a lease above a certain length to be acknowledged before a notary or recorded, and the ESIGN Act itself excludes notices of default, foreclosure or eviction for a primary residence from the general rule. Those notices should follow the delivery method your state's landlord-tenant statute sets, and an electronic record alone may not satisfy it.

Everyday lease documents, the lease itself, a renewal, a pet addendum, a move-in checklist, a rental application, are contracts and acknowledgments, and electronic signatures work for them. The state pages below cite the statute for the clauses that vary.

What the tenant actually sees

A text or an email with a link. They open it, read the lease, agree to sign electronically, type or draw a signature in each field assigned to them, and tap finish. No account, no app, no printer. When the last person signs, everyone receives the certified PDF.

Common questions

Is an electronically signed lease recognized in my state?
Electronic signatures on contracts are recognized under the federal ESIGN Act and state UETA laws in every state. New York reaches the same result through its own statute, ESRA. A few states add a notary or recording step for long leases; the state template pages cite the relevant statute.
Can a guarantor or co-signer sign the same lease?
Yes. Add them as a signer with their own fields. They sign from their own link, in order or at the same time as the tenants.
Can I send an eviction notice this way?
Treat notices of default and eviction for a primary residence as paper-and-statute documents. ESIGN excludes them from the general rule, and state landlord-tenant law sets how they must be delivered. A view-only recipient gives you a certified record that a notice was opened, which is useful alongside the required method, not instead of it.
Does the tenant need to print or scan anything?
No. The tenant signs on a phone or computer from the link. The completed, certified PDF is delivered to every party automatically.
Is this free for a landlord with several units?
Yes. Unlimited documents, up to 25 signers on each, templates for the leases you reuse, and bulk send for a renewal that goes to every tenant at once.

General information, not legal advice. Laws change and their application depends on the specific facts. Consult a licensed attorney in your state about your own documents.

Free, and not the kind of free with a catch

Unlimited documents, up to 25 signers each, certified PDFs on every one. No trial clock and no card to start.

Start signing free