A Zillow rental lease agreement is created inside Zillow Rental Manager either by using the built-in Lease Builder, which generates a state-specific template drafted with local law firms, or by uploading a lease you already have. Both paths end in the same free electronic signing workflow: tenants sign first, any co-landlords sign next, and the primary landlord countersigns to finalize the document. Templates are available in roughly three dozen states; landlords elsewhere can still use the upload-and-sign option.
Build a Lease or Upload Your Own
Log into Zillow Rental Manager and open the Leases tab. If this is your first lease, select “Get started.” Otherwise choose “Create a lease.”
Using the Lease Builder
Choose the Lease Builder and the platform walks you through property address, tenant names, lease dates, rent, security deposit, and other financial terms.1Zillow Help Center. Creating a New Lease Zillow drafts these templates with law firms familiar with local landlord-tenant rules, but coverage is not nationwide. The Builder currently supports about three dozen states, including California, Texas, Florida, New York’s neighbors New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and others across the South, Midwest, and West.2Zillow. Free Lease Agreements for Rentals If your state is not supported, the upload option is your route.
Uploading Your Own Lease
Go to the Leases tab, select your property, and follow the upload prompts. The platform accepts PDFs, Word documents, and image files up to 100 MB. You mark the lease as fixed-term or month-to-month, enter start and end dates, and add tenant names and their Zillow account emails. Up to eight tenants can be added to one lease.3Zillow Rental Manager. How Do I Upload a Lease to Sign Online
After the file is uploaded, drag signature and initial placeholders onto the document at every spot each party needs to sign. Every signer must have at least one signature placeholder assigned. Click “Save,” then “Request signatures” to send it out.3Zillow Rental Manager. How Do I Upload a Lease to Sign Online
What to Have Ready Before You Start
Missing information stalls the workflow. Gather this first:
- The full street address of the unit, with any apartment number.
- The legal name and Zillow-linked email of every adult who will sign.
- The lease type (fixed-term or month-to-month) and exact start and end dates.
- The monthly rent, the day it is due, and any grace period before a late fee applies.
- The security deposit amount. State caps vary; most limit deposits to one or two months’ rent, with some states allowing up to three months for furnished units, so confirm your state’s limit before entering a figure.
- Any non-refundable charges such as pet deposits, move-in fees, or administrative fees. The Lease Builder separates these from the refundable deposit so tenants can see what will and will not be returned.
Required Disclosures and House Rules
Federal law requires a lead-based paint disclosure for any residential property built before 1978. Before signing, you must disclose known lead paint hazards, provide any inspection reports you have, and give the tenant a copy of the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home.”4U.S. EPA. Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule Section 1018 of Title X The lease must also contain a lead warning statement. The requirement comes from 42 U.S.C. ยง 4852d and applies whether or not you know of any lead paint on the property.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 4852d – Disclosure of Information Concerning Lead Upon Transfer of Residential Property Zillow’s platform lets you attach this disclosure, along with mold disclosures, voter registration forms, or other locally required addenda, directly to the lease.6Zillow. How to Make a Lease Agreement
For property-specific rules, the Builder includes a Rights and Obligations section. Open “Additional rules,” select “Custom (Write my own),” and enter pet policies, smoking restrictions, quiet hours, parking assignments, or shared-space rules.1Zillow Help Center. Creating a New Lease
A pet clause deserves particular care. Even a lease that bans pets outright does not override federal fair housing obligations to make reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities who need a service animal or emotional support animal. Those animals are not pets under the law, and you cannot charge a pet deposit or pet rent for them. Documentation from a treating provider supporting the need overrides a blanket “no pets” clause.
Sending It Out and Signing Electronically
Click “Request signatures” to send the lease. Every tenant receives an email with a secure link to review and sign. The signing order is fixed: tenants sign first, co-landlords sign next, and the primary landlord (the account holder who created or uploaded the lease) signs last to finalize.7Zillow Help Center. Signing a Lease
Once every tenant and co-landlord has signed, you get a notification email with a link to countersign, or you can navigate to the Leases section of your listing. You have to be logged into the account that originally created or uploaded the lease to apply your signature. The lease becomes legally binding once all parties have signed.7Zillow Help Center. Signing a Lease
These electronic signatures carry the same legal weight as ink-on-paper ones. Under the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, a contract cannot be denied legal effect solely because it was signed electronically or exists as an electronic record.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 US Code 7001 – General Rule of Validity
What It Costs
Creating and signing a lease through Zillow Rental Manager is free for both landlords and tenants. There is no subscription and no per-lease charge for the Builder or the upload tool.9Zillow. Zillow Rental Manager
Collecting rent through the platform is also free for landlords. Tenants pay nothing extra for ACH bank transfers. Credit card payments carry a 2.95% processing fee. Debit card payments for rent-related charges (monthly rent, deposits, prorated amounts) carry a $9.95 convenience fee; smaller non-rent charges incur a $4.95 debit fee.10Zillow Rental Manager. How Much Does It Cost to Use Online Rent Payments
Editing, Renewing, and Canceling
A lease that has not yet been signed can be edited. Open the Leases tab, select the lease, click “View lease,” then “Edit” in the top right.11Zillow Rental Manager. How Do I Edit My Lease
To renew, leases created in the Builder can be copied to start the next term. Open the Leases tab for the property, click the three-dot menu next to “View lease,” and choose the copy option. All existing terms carry over into a new draft you can adjust before sending. This copy feature is not available for uploaded leases; you will need to upload a new document for the renewal.12Zillow Rental Manager. How Do I Copy or Renew an Existing Lease
A lease sent for signing but not yet completed by all parties can be canceled from the same three-dot menu, and draft leases can be deleted entirely. Once a lease has been fully signed, though, it cannot be deleted; past and current signed leases stay on file permanently.13Zillow Rental Manager. How Do I Terminate or Cancel My Lease
Canceling a lease inside Zillow Rental Manager is an account-management action, not a legal termination. It removes the lease from your active dashboard, but it does not serve as legal notice to a tenant. Actually ending a tenancy still requires following your state’s notice and termination procedures outside the platform.14Zillow Help Center. Managing a Lease
Where the Signed Lease Lives
After every party has signed, the completed lease is stored under the Leases tab. Both landlord and tenant accounts keep access for as long as the accounts exist, since signed leases cannot be deleted.14Zillow Help Center. Managing a Lease
Download a PDF copy to your own device as a backup. Accounts can get locked and platforms change; a local file means you can reference move-out terms, maintenance duties, or deposit conditions without depending on Zillow’s system being available. Tenants should save their own copy for the same reason: a dispute two years later is easier to resolve when both sides can produce the document they signed.