Free Lease Agreement Generator

MakeLease is a free online lease agreement generator for US residential landlords, especially small and self-managing ones. You answer eight steps, get a ready-to-sign PDF lease, and can send it for e-signature. There is no card and no trial.

Last updated: 2026-10-26 · by MakeLease Editorial Team

Create your leaseFree account needed to generate the PDF.

Creating a lease, downloading the PDF and sending it for e-signature cost nothing today, and no card is asked for. You need a free account to generate, save or send a lease.

A lease generator replaces the old routine of opening last year's lease, changing names and dates, and hoping nothing from another property carried over. Instead of editing a document line by line, you enter the terms of this tenancy once and the lease is built from those answers. The answers stay attached to the lease, so when you later edit it you start from what you already entered rather than from a blank page.

How it works

The wizard walks you through eight steps. Have the property address, everyone's legal names and contact details, the rent and deposit amounts, and the lease dates to hand before you start; missing information is the most common reason a lease gets stuck halfway.

Basics. Property address and unit, the state, fixed-term or month-to-month, start and end dates, and an optional occupancy limit.
Parties. Landlord name, mailing address, email and phone, then one or more tenants with name, email and phone. Use full legal names; these print on the lease and the signature blocks.
Money. Monthly rent, the day it is due, accepted payment methods, the security deposit and where it is held, a grace period (5 days by default), a late fee as a flat dollar amount or a percentage of rent, and a returned-payment fee.
Utilities. Which utilities are included in rent and which the tenant pays, plus who handles internet/cable, trash, lawn care and snow removal.
Rules. Smoking; pets, including allowed types, pet deposit, monthly pet rent and breed restrictions; guests; quiet hours; alterations; and how tenants report maintenance problems.
Maintenance. Yard upkeep, air filters and minor repairs, and what the tenant should do in an emergency.
Disclosures. Whether the building was built before 1978, plus fields for HOA rules, a move-in checklist, mold and moisture, parking and storage.
Review. Read every answer on one screen, jump back to edit any step, then generate the PDF and, if you are ready, send signing invites.

When you generate, MakeLease asks you to sign in or create a free account, then builds the PDF. From the lease page you can download it or send signing invites. Each tenant and the landlord get an emailed signing link that stays valid for 30 days. Tenants sign by drawing or typing their signature and do not need an account. MakeLease records each signer's name, the time, their IP address and browser user agent, and stores a SHA-256 hash of the generated PDF so the exact file sent for signature can be identified later. If you re-send invites, the older pending links stop working. The guide to signing a lease online covers the signing side in more detail.

Start the 8-step wizard

What's in the lease

This is what the generated PDF contains, in the order it prints. Optional fields you leave blank are left out of the lease rather than printed empty.

Clause	What you enter	Notes
Parties	Landlord name, address, email, phone; each tenant's name, email, phone	Printed under the title, Residential Lease Agreement.
1. Property	Street address, unit, occupancy limit	The maximum-occupancy line appears only if you set a limit.
2. Term	Fixed-term or month-to-month; start and end dates	States which type of tenancy it is and the dates.
3. Rent	Monthly rent, due day, payment methods, grace period, late fee, returned-payment fee	Late fee prints as a dollar amount or as a percentage of monthly rent, whichever you chose.
4. Security deposit	Deposit amount and where or how it is held	Some states require you to say where the deposit is held. Check yours.
5. Utilities and services	Included vs tenant-paid utilities; internet/cable, trash, lawn care, snow removal	Only the items you fill in are printed.
6. Rules and policies	Smoking, pets (types, deposit, pet rent, breed limits), guests, quiet hours, alterations, maintenance reporting	Only the rules you fill in are printed.
7. Maintenance	Yard, filters and minor repairs, emergency contact instructions	Who does what between move-in and move-out.
8. Lead-based paint	Built before 1978 (yes/no)	Included only for pre-1978 buildings. It is an acknowledgement, not the federal disclosure form itself.
9. General provisions	Nothing extra; uses the state from Basics	Governing law is the state you entered.
10. Signatures	Nothing extra	A signature and date block for the landlord and for each tenant.

Example: how a late fee is entered

This example shows how the fields fit together. It is not a recommendation for your state. Say rent is $1,800 due on the 1st, you keep the default 5-day grace period, and you choose a late fee of 5% of monthly rent. The Rent clause will state the $1,800 rent and due day, a 5-day grace period after which a late fee applies, and a late fee of 5% of monthly rent. In money terms, that is $1,800 × 5% = $90 if rent is still unpaid after the grace period. A flat fee works the same way: enter $75 and the lease prints $75.00. Some states cap late fees or set a minimum grace period, so check the late fee laws for your state before you settle on a number.

Lead-based paint

If you tick "built before 1978", the lease adds a section in which the tenant acknowledges receiving the lead-based paint disclosure form. That sentence is not the disclosure. Under federal rules most landlords of pre-1978 housing must also give the tenant the disclosure form and the EPA's lead-hazard pamphlet before they sign (EPA: Real Estate Disclosures about Potential Lead Hazards). Our lead paint disclosure form is one place to start.

Need your state's rules?

MakeLease writes one general residential lease for every state. The governing-law clause names the state you enter in the Basics step, so the lease is read under that state's law, but the tool does not change any other wording for your state or check your answers against state limits.

Before you send a lease, check at least these points for your state and city:

Security deposit: maximum amount, where it must be held, and the deadline and paperwork for returning it. See security deposit laws by state.
Late fees and grace periods: caps, minimum grace periods and how fees must be stated. See late fee laws by state.
Notice periods: how much notice is needed to end a month-to-month tenancy, raise rent or enter the unit.
Required disclosures: beyond federal lead paint rules, many states and cities require their own disclosures or addenda.

Our state lease guides and landlord-tenant law by state pages pull these rules together state by state. If the property is rent-controlled, local ordinances add their own requirements, or you need custom clauses, have a local attorney review the lease.

Honest limits

MakeLease does not add state-specific clauses. It does not collect rent, run credit or background checks, syndicate listings, or have a mobile app.

A few more things to know before you rely on the generated lease:

No attorney review. The template has not been reviewed for your state, and no one at MakeLease reviews your lease.
Some Disclosures answers are not printed yet. HOA rules, the move-in checklist, mold and moisture, parking and storage are saved with the lease but do not appear in the current PDF. If they matter, add them as a separate signed addendum.
Clauses it doesn't include. There is no landlord entry-notice clause, subletting or assignment clause, renewal or holdover clause, attorney-fees clause, insurance requirement, early termination clause, or severability clause. Write in or attach any you need.
"No" answers on smoking and pets. The PDF prints a smoking or pet line only when you allow them. If you prohibit either, say so in another rules field or an addendum, such as the pet addendum.
One lease format. It is a single residential template. It is not built for commercial, room-by-room or short-term rentals.

The rest of the product is also free today: lease renewals, a tenant portal, online rental applications (no credit or background screening), maintenance work orders, expense tracking and investor calculators.

How MakeLease compares

In short: MakeLease is a free guided generator with built-in e-signature and a general (not state-specific) lease. Competitors differ in what they charge for and when, and their pricing changes, so we keep those details on the comparison pages, where each claim is checked against the competitor's own pages.

Related forms

Leases come with other paperwork. These free forms cover the most common needs during a tenancy:

Frequently asked questions

Is this lease generator really free?

Yes. Creating a lease, downloading the PDF and sending it for e-signature cost nothing today, and no card is asked for. There is no trial period that converts into a paid plan. You do need a free account to generate the PDF, save a lease or send it for signature.

Do I need an account?

You can open the wizard and start entering your lease details without one. When you are ready to generate the PDF, save the lease or send it for signature, MakeLease asks you to create a free account so the lease and its signatures are stored somewhere you can get back to. Tenants do not need an account to sign.

Is a lease made with an online generator legally binding?

Generally, a written lease that both sides sign is an enforceable contract if its terms comply with the law of the state where the property is located. How the lease was drafted, online or on paper, is not what decides that; the content is. Electronic signatures are generally valid for leases in the US under the federal ESIGN Act and state electronic-signature laws, though a few kinds of documents and some local rules are exceptions. MakeLease does not guarantee that any lease is enforceable. Check your state's rules in our state lease guides, read our page on signing a lease online, and ask a local attorney if the tenancy is unusual.

Does it include state-specific clauses?

No. MakeLease produces one general residential lease for every state. The governing-law clause names the state you enter, but the tool does not add state-required clauses or disclosures and does not check your deposit, late-fee or notice terms against state limits. You need to check those yourself before you send the lease.

Can my tenant sign online?

Yes. After you generate the lease you can send signing invites. Each tenant and the landlord receive an emailed link that stays valid for 30 days. Tenants sign by drawing or typing their signature and do not need to create an account. MakeLease records each signer's name, the time, their IP address and browser user agent, and stores a SHA-256 hash of the generated PDF.

Can I edit the lease after generating it?

Yes. Editing a lease saves a new version and produces a new PDF; earlier versions stay in the lease's version history and can still be downloaded. If you have already sent invites, send new ones for the updated version, which cancels the older pending links. If the lease is already signed, both sides should agree to and sign any change.

What format is the lease?

A PDF on US Letter-size pages, titled Residential Lease Agreement. You can download it, print it for wet signatures, or send it for e-signature from your account.

What if my property was built before 1978?

Tick the built-before-1978 box in the Disclosures step and the lease adds a lead-based paint section in which the tenant acknowledges receiving the lead-based paint disclosure form. That acknowledgement is not the disclosure itself. Federal rules require most landlords of pre-1978 housing to give tenants a separate lead disclosure form and the EPA's lead-hazard pamphlet before they sign.

Create your lease

Eight steps, a PDF you can download, and e-signature for you and your tenants. No card and no trial. Check your state's rules before you send it.

Start your free lease