How to Sign a Lease Online

Are electronically signed leases legal?

The short answer is yes, as a general rule. The federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN), passed in 2000, says that for transactions in or affecting interstate commerce, a signature, contract or other record "may not be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form". ESIGN's definition of a transaction expressly includes the lease of an interest in real property, which covers a residential lease.

ESIGN doesn't require any particular technology. It defines an electronic signature as "an electronic sound, symbol, or process, attached to or logically associated with a contract or other record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record". A drawn signature on a touchscreen or a typed name can meet that definition. The key element is intent: the person has to mean it as their signature.

Two limits are built into the general rule. First, the law only stops a lease from being rejected solely because it's electronic. Everything else that can make a lease unenforceable, such as illegal terms or a dispute over who actually signed, still applies. Second, ESIGN doesn't require anyone to agree to use or accept electronic signatures. A tenant who wants to sign on paper can.

State law: UETA and New York's ESRA

States have their own e-signature laws. Most have adopted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), and ESIGN lets a state's enactment of UETA modify, limit or supersede parts of the federal rule as it applies to state law. A 2020 Washington legislative report summarized the picture at the time: "UETA has since been adopted by 47 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia, while New York, Illinois, and Washington have not". Since then, Washington enacted UETA in 2020 and Illinois enacted it in 2021. New York uses its own Electronic Signatures and Records Act (ESRA), whose stated purpose is "giving electronic signatures and records ... the same force and effect as signatures and records produced by non-electronic means".

The core UETA rule mirrors ESIGN. Illinois' version, for example, says "If a law requires a signature, an electronic signature satisfies the law". UETA adds one condition worth knowing: it applies only when the parties have agreed to conduct the transaction electronically, and that agreement can be shown from the context and the parties' conduct. A tenant who opens your link, reviews the lease and signs it is acting electronically, but agreeing up front in writing (an email is fine) to sign electronically makes that clearer.

The consumer-consent rule, in plain words

ESIGN has a separate rule for consumers. It applies when some other law requires that information "be provided or made available to a consumer in writing". In that case, delivering the information electronically counts as "in writing" only if the consumer has affirmatively consented to electronic delivery and, before consenting, received a clear statement about things like their right to get paper copies, how to withdraw consent, and the hardware and software needed to open and keep the records.

What that means for landlords: a residential tenant is likely to be a "consumer" under ESIGN's definition (an individual obtaining services primarily for personal, family or household purposes). If your state or city requires you to hand the tenant certain disclosures or notices in writing, and you plan to deliver them only electronically, this consent process is what ESIGN asks for. ESIGN also says it doesn't change the content or timing of any disclosure a consumer is owed, so a required disclosure still has to be complete and on time.

The rule is narrower than it's often described. It's about satisfying a legal requirement to give a consumer information in writing, not about whether the lease itself was validly signed. ESIGN separately says a consumer's contract can't be denied effect solely because one specific step of the electronic-consent confirmation was missed. The safest practical approach is simple: get the tenant's agreement to sign and receive documents electronically, and give them a paper copy of anything they ask for.

One more condition applies to the lease itself. Where a law requires a contract to be in writing, ESIGN says the electronic version may be denied effect if it isn't in a form that can be "retained and accurately reproduced for later reference by all parties". In practice, every signer should be able to download and keep a copy.

What can't be signed or delivered electronically

ESIGN lists specific documents it does not cover. The ones most relevant to renting a home are in 15 U.S.C. § 7003(b). ESIGN's general rule does not apply to:

• Any notice of "default, acceleration, repossession, foreclosure, or eviction, or the right to cure, under ... a rental agreement for, a primary residence of an individual." In plain terms: don't rely on ESIGN to make an emailed or e-signed eviction notice, notice of default or cure-or-quit notice valid. Your state's notice rules control how those must be delivered.
• Court orders, notices and official court documents required in connection with court proceedings.
• Notices of cancellation or termination of utility services, including water, heat and power. This matters if you supply utilities as part of the tenancy.

These exceptions are about ESIGN. State law can have its own limits, and some states add exclusions to their version of UETA. Before you move a notice or disclosure online, check your state's rules. Our landlord-tenant law hub is a starting point, with links to each state's statutes.

Step-by-step: signing a lease online with MakeLease

1. Create the lease. Answer the questions in the lease agreement generator wizard: property, parties, rent, deposit, term and rules. You'll need a free MakeLease account to generate the PDF.
2. Add every tenant with their real email address. Each tenant on the lease gets their own signing link, so each needs their own email. The wizard also asks for your email as the landlord, which is where your signing link goes.
3. Generate and review the PDF. MakeLease stores the generated PDF for that lease version along with a SHA-256 hash of the file. Read it through before sending; once the version exists, re-rendering can't replace that stored original.
4. Send invites. From the lease page, send signature invites. MakeLease emails each tenant and the landlord a unique signing link that's valid for 30 days. You can also copy the links from the lease page.
5. Tenants review and sign. Tenants sign from an emailed link without creating an account. They see the lease, can download the PDF, enter their full name, and either draw a signature on the pad or type their name instead. Above the signature box the page states: "By signing below, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to the terms of this lease agreement."
6. You sign. Open your own link and sign the same way.
7. Track progress. The lease shows as partially signed until every tenant and the landlord have signed. When the last party signs, the status changes to signed and everyone gets an email that the lease is fully executed.
8. Need to fix something or resend? Resending invites creates new links and expires the older ones that haven't been signed. Once a lease is fully signed, new invites can't be sent for it.

What MakeLease records

Tenants sign from an emailed link without creating an account. MakeLease records the signer's name, a timestamp, IP address and browser user agent, and stores a SHA-256 hash of the generated PDF.

Here is what's captured at each step:

The landlord can see the activity entries on the lease's Activity tab. The hash matters because it lets you show that the stored PDF hasn't changed since it was generated: any edit to the file would produce a different hash.

What MakeLease's e-sign doesn't do (yet)

We'd rather you know the limits now than find out later.

• No separate ESIGN consumer-consent screen. The signing page shows an acknowledgement that the signer has read and agrees to the lease terms. It does not present the § 7001(c) disclosures (paper-copy rights, how to withdraw consent, hardware and software requirements) or collect a separate consent to receive records electronically. If you need that consent because a law requires you to give the tenant information in writing, get it separately.
• No identity verification beyond the email link. MakeLease doesn't check ID, send SMS codes or ask knowledge-based questions. The record shows that someone with access to the emailed link signed and what name they entered. Use the tenant's own email address, not a shared or family one.
• Signatures aren't stamped into the PDF. The PDF is generated before anyone signs and is stored unchanged; it has blank signature lines. Each signature is kept as a separate record tied to that lease version, and the landlord sees who signed and when on the lease page. MakeLease doesn't currently produce a signed PDF or a downloadable signing certificate.
• Not a notary. MakeLease doesn't notarize or witness signatures. If a lease or related document you use must be notarized or witnessed, arrange that separately.
• No delivery of legal notices. MakeLease's e-sign is for signing the lease. It isn't a way to serve eviction, default or cure notices, which ESIGN excludes for a primary residence anyway.
• Links expire. Signing links last 30 days. After that, the signer can't open the lease or download the PDF from that link, so download your copies before then.

Tips for landlords

• Ask first. Tell the tenant you plan to sign electronically and get a yes, ideally in writing. Nobody is obliged to accept e-signatures, and UETA turns on the parties agreeing to transact electronically.
• Use each tenant's real, personal email. The emailed link is the only thing tying a signature to a person, so a correct address matters more than anything else.
• Give every tenant a copy. Make sure each tenant downloads the PDF from their link, and send a copy yourself. Being able to keep and reproduce the lease is part of what makes an electronic record hold up.
• Keep your own copy outside any one service. Download the PDF and keep it with your records for the tenancy and afterward.
• Check state rules for required disclosures and notices. Many states and cities require specific disclosures or addenda with a lease and set rules for how notices are delivered. Confirm what applies to your property on the landlord-tenant law hub or in our state lease agreement guides.
• Offer paper on request. If a tenant can't or won't sign electronically, print the PDF and sign in ink. The lease terms are the same either way.
• Don't edit after sending. If the terms need to change, make a new version and send fresh invites rather than asking tenants to sign something that differs from what they reviewed.

FAQ

Sources

Statutes and official guidance cited on this page. Quotes were checked against these sources on the dates shown.

1. 15 U.S.C. § 7001(a) — ESIGN general rule of validity (accessed 2026-10-26)
2. 15 U.S.C. § 7001(b)(2) — no one is required to use e-signatures (accessed 2026-10-26)
3. 15 U.S.C. § 7001(c) — consumer disclosures and consent (accessed 2026-10-26)
4. 15 U.S.C. § 7001(c)(2)(A) — content and timing of disclosures unchanged (accessed 2026-10-26)
5. 15 U.S.C. § 7001(c)(3) — effect of failing to get electronic consent confirmation (accessed 2026-10-26)
6. 15 U.S.C. § 7001(e) — records must be retainable and reproducible (accessed 2026-10-26)
7. 15 U.S.C. § 7002 — state UETA enactments (accessed 2026-10-26)
8. 15 U.S.C. § 7003(b) — notices excluded from ESIGN (accessed 2026-10-26)
9. 15 U.S.C. § 7006 — definitions (electronic signature, consumer, transaction) (accessed 2026-10-26)
10. Washington Legislature, Final Bill Report ESSB 6028 (2020) (accessed 2026-10-26)
11. RCW 1.80.040 — Washington UETA, agreement to transact electronically (accessed 2026-10-26)
12. 815 ILCS 333/7 — Illinois UETA, legal recognition (accessed 2026-10-26)
13. NY Office of Information Technology Services, ESRA Guideline NYS-G04-001 (accessed 2026-10-26)