Guide · United States
Electronic signature for rental agreements.
Signing a lease no longer means getting the landlord and the tenant in the same office. Each person signs from wherever they are, with their ID. Here is how to do it step by step, and what state-specific caveats are worth knowing.
Short answer
Yes. A landlord and a tenant can sign a residential or commercial lease electronically. The ESIGN Act and UETA (or ESRA in New York) give that signature the same legal effect as a handwritten one. The one carve-out to know: certain housing notices, like an eviction notice for a primary residence, are excluded from the ESIGN Act and must still follow state law — see the caveats section below.
Minimum clauses
What your lease cannot skip.
- Full identification of the landlord and tenant, plus the exact address of the rented property.
- Rent amount, payment method, and the monthly due date.
- Lease term and the conditions for renewal or termination.
- Security deposit terms: amount, permitted deductions, and the timeline for its return.
- Who is responsible for maintenance, repairs, and utilities.
- Permitted use of the property and any restrictions (subletting, pets, occupancy limits).
Step by step
How to sign the lease step by step.
Six steps, from uploading the PDF to downloading the lease signed by both parties.
- 1
Upload the lease as a PDF
Upload the PDF of the lease you already drafted. If your document is in another format, export it to PDF before uploading.
- 2
Add the landlord's and tenant's details
Enter the name, ID document, and email of the landlord and the tenant. Each person is registered as a signer on the lease.
- 3
Place the signature and date fields
Drag the signature and date fields to the exact spot in the lease where each party needs to sign.
- 4
Send the signing link
Kligrafia generates a unique link and emails it to the other party. That person does not need to create an account to sign.
- 5
Each party verifies identity and signs
Each signer confirms their identity with a driver's license or passport and adds their signature from their phone, with nothing to install.
- 6
Download the signed PDF with its evidence report
Once both parties have signed, download the signed PDF along with its evidence report and trusted timestamp. Anyone can verify it afterward.
State-by-state caveats
What varies by state, and what the ESIGN Act excludes.
The core framework is federal and nationwide, but a few things around it are not. Check these before you assume everything about a lease can be handled electronically.
UETA varies slightly by state; New York uses ESRA
UETA has been adopted by 49 states, each with minor local variations, plus additional landlord-tenant rules that are set at the state or even city level — security-deposit limits, required disclosures (like lead paint for older buildings), and habitability notices among them. New York uses its own equivalent statute, ESRA, instead of UETA.
Eviction, default, and utility notices are excluded
The ESIGN Act specifically excludes notices of default, acceleration, repossession, foreclosure, or eviction under a rental agreement for a primary residence, and notices canceling utility service. Those must be delivered the way the applicable state law requires, separately from how the lease itself was signed.
Commercial leases follow different rules
Commercial leases generally have fewer consumer-protection requirements than residential leases, but longer-term commercial leases in some states may still trigger separate recording or notarization requirements outside the scope of the ESIGN Act. Check with a local attorney for anything long-term or high-value.
Common mistakes
What usually goes wrong.
- Leaving out the full, exact property address, which makes it harder to identify the unit if a dispute comes up later.
- Leaving the rent amount or payment method ambiguous, with no clear due date each month.
- Skipping identity verification, which weakens attribution of the signature if the lease ends up in a dispute.
- Confusing the signed lease with the separate legal notices (like an eviction notice) a landlord may later need to send — those follow their own state-specific rules.
Why Kligrafia
Why it makes sense to sign it in Kligrafia.
- Real remote signing. The landlord and the tenant sign from their phone or computer, with nothing to install and no office visit needed.
- ID-verified signers. Verify who signs with KYC against a driver’s license or passport, with OCR and biometric matching at the level you choose.
- Verifiable evidence report. Every signature carries a record of creation, delivery, opening, and signing, sealed with a chained SHA-256 hash and a trusted timestamp.
- Public verifier. Anyone can confirm the signed lease is authentic at /verify with no account and no login.
Need to understand when an electronic signature is not enough on its own? Read is an electronic signature legal in the United States. Start free and upgrade when you need to; see pricing in USD.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask.
Is a lease signed electronically legally binding in the United States?
- Yes, in nearly every state. The ESIGN Act gives federal legal effect to electronic signatures on contracts, and UETA — adopted by 49 states, with New York using its own equivalent statute, ESRA — reinforces the same rule at the state level. A residential or commercial lease can be signed electronically and holds up as evidence of the agreement between landlord and tenant.
Does every state treat electronic leases the same way?
- The core framework (ESIGN Act plus UETA or ESRA) applies nationwide, but individual states and even municipalities can layer on their own landlord-tenant requirements — things like specific disclosures, security-deposit rules, or notarization for certain clauses. Confirm the specific rules for your state and city before you finalize a lease.
Can an eviction notice be sent and signed electronically too?
- Not always. The ESIGN Act specifically excludes notices of default, acceleration, repossession, foreclosure, or eviction under a rental agreement for a primary residence — those notices must follow the delivery method required by the applicable state law, even if the original lease itself was signed electronically. Signing the lease electronically does not change how later legal notices need to be delivered.
Does the tenant need to create an account to sign?
- No. The tenant receives a link by email and signs from there — no account, no app to install. They just verify their identity with a driver's license or passport and add their signature from their phone or computer.
Is an electronically signed lease admissible if there is a dispute?
- Yes. The relevant standard is Federal Rule of Evidence 901, which requires the record to be authenticated. Kligrafia's evidence report — identity verification, a trusted timestamp, and a SHA-256 hash-chained audit trail — is built to support that standard and can be checked by anyone at /verify, independently of Kligrafia.
This guide explains the general framework of the ESIGN Act and UETA and how the platform works. It is not legal advice. For your specific situation and state, consult a licensed attorney.
Sign your lease free.
Create your account, upload the PDF, and send the link to the other party. Legally valid in the United States, with verifiable evidence from the first signature.