Renewals

When a lease is approaching its end date and the tenant wants to stay, you renew it. A renewal creates a new lease in Habitia linked to the same unit and tenant, with a new term and (usually) a new rent. The old lease stays where it is until it naturally expires; the new one picks up the day after.

When to renew

The natural window is the 60–90 days before the current lease’s end date. Habitia surfaces an alert (in the Smart alerts feed) when a lease is approaching expiration — that’s your prompt to start the renewal conversation with the tenant.

If you renew earlier or later, that’s fine — Habitia doesn’t enforce a window.

1. Open the lease you’re renewing

From Leases, click the lease. The current lease must be in Active status (or Expired if it just lapsed).

2. Click Renew lease

In the lease header (or the actions area at the top of the page), click Renew lease. A modal opens.

3. Set the new term

• Start date — defaults to the day after the current lease ends. Leave it that way unless there’s a gap month or you’re renewing early.
• End date — defaults to one year after the new start date. Most renewals are 1-year terms; change it if you offer a different length.

4. Set the new rent

• Monthly rent — defaults to the current rent. Most landlords increase rent at renewal — type the new amount.
• Security deposit — defaults to the current deposit. Usually stays the same; some landlords ask for a top-up if the rent goes up.

5. (Optional) Notes

The Notes field is internal — for anything you want to remember about this renewal (the conversation you had, an agreed-upon repair before signing, etc.). The tenant doesn’t see this.

6. Notify tenant

The Notify tenant checkbox is on by default. With it on, Habitia emails the tenant when the new lease is created, with a link to review and sign it.

Turn it off if you want to draft the renewal first and send it out yourself later (you can still send it from the lease detail page).

7. Create renewal

Click Create renewal. Habitia:

1. Creates the new lease in Draft status (or sends it to the tenant for signature if you left the notify checkbox on).
2. Pre-fills it with the new dates, rent, and the same unit + primary tenant + any signers from the original lease.
3. Drops you onto the new lease’s detail page.

From here, the renewal is a normal lease — add documents if needed, invite extra signers, send for signature when ready.

What happens to the original lease

• It stays Active until its original end date.
• Rent charges for the current month keep posting as scheduled.
• The ledger stays intact — no history is moved or merged.
• After the original end date passes, it flips to Expired automatically. The new lease takes over for charges from its own start date.

Tip: Don’t worry about a one-day gap between the old end and the new start. Habitia’s ledger handles a continuous monthly cycle as long as the dates line up.

What if the tenant wants different signers on the renewal?

You can change signers on the new lease just like any other lease — see Inviting a co-tenant, cosigner, or guarantor. A common case is dropping a cosigner after the tenant has built up a payment history with you.

What if the tenant won’t be renewing?

If the tenant is moving out at the end of the term, skip the renewal entirely. The lease will expire on its own end date. See Move-out for what to do next.

What’s next

• Move-out — for tenants who aren’t renewing.
• Sending a lease for signature — once the renewal is drafted, get it signed.