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Lease lifecycle

Leases in OntarioLandlord follow a predictable lifecycle from creation to termination.

Lease statuses​

OntarioLandlord tracks four lease statuses. There's no separate "Upcoming" or "Month-to-Month" status in the record — those are UI/legal concepts layered on top of Draft and Active, not distinct statuses.

stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> Draft: Created
    Draft --> Active: Activated
    Active --> Ended: Tenancy concludes
    Active --> Terminated: Formal termination
    Ended --> [*]
    Terminated --> [*]

Draft​

  • Not yet signed/finalized
  • Also the status shown for a lease whose start date is in the future — there's no separate "Upcoming" status; a not-yet-started lease is simply a Draft
  • No rent tracking yet

Active​

  • Currently in effect, including a fixed-term lease whose end date has passed
  • Rent tracking active
  • Can generate notices

Ended / Terminated​

  • Tenancy has concluded
  • Historical data preserved
  • Can't record new payments

Key dates​

Start date​

When the tenancy officially begins:

  • Rent tracking starts
  • Status becomes Active
  • Set this to match your signed lease

End date (fixed-term)​

For fixed-term leases:

  • When the initial term ends
  • Lease converts to month-to-month
  • Tenant has no obligation to leave

Termination date​

When you manually end a lease:

  • Enter when ending a lease
  • Must be on or after current date
  • Use for when tenant vacates

Rent tracking through lifecycle​

Active / Month-to-Month​

  • Rent charges calculated monthly
  • Payments recorded against balance
  • Arrears tracked automatically

Ended​

  • No new rent charges
  • Outstanding balance preserved
  • Can still view payment history

Common scenarios​

Lease renewal​

You can proactively renew a lease before it expires:

  1. Open the lease and go to the Actions tab
  2. Click Renew Lease
  3. Set new terms (dates, rent amount within guideline)
  4. Generate a renewed OSL and send for e-signature

See Lease renewal for the full workflow.

Auto-conversion to month-to-month​

When a fixed-term lease ends without renewal:

  1. Lease automatically becomes month-to-month
  2. No action needed from you
  3. Rent increase requires N1 notice (90 days)

Tenant leaves​

When a tenant gives notice and vacates:

  1. Record the move-out date
  2. End the lease with that date
  3. Unit becomes vacant
  4. Create new lease for next tenant

Reusing a unit held by a draft lease​

If a unit is currently claimed by a Draft lease that never got signed or activated, you can still create a new lease for that unit:

  1. Start Create Lease and select the property and unit as usual
  2. If the unit is only held by a draft, OntarioLandlord automatically bumps the draft off the unit and creates your new lease in one step — no error, no manual cleanup
  3. The bumped draft lease shows a banner on its detail page and its Activate button is disabled, since it no longer has a unit assigned
  4. Open the bumped draft and either assign it a different unit via Edit Lease, or end it if it's no longer needed

Exception: a draft with a fully-signed e-signature, or one that's mid-send (invited but not yet all signed), is not auto-bumped — you'll still get the usual conflict error for those, same as for an Active lease.

Lease assignment​

When a tenant transfers their lease:

  1. End current lease
  2. Create new lease with new tenant
  3. Same terms carry over
  4. Document the assignment

Rent increase​

To increase rent during a tenancy:

  1. Generate N1 notice (not edit lease)
  2. Wait for effective date
  3. System updates rent amount
  4. Continue tracking at new rate

Viewing lease history​

Current lease​

  • Go to Leases → Select lease
  • View all details and actions

Past leases​

  • Filter Leases list by "Ended"
  • Or view from Property/Tenant detail pages
  • All history preserved

Best practices​

  1. Accurate Dates - Match your signed lease
  2. Don't Delete - End leases instead of deleting
  3. Document Everything - Add notes for unusual situations
  4. Use Notices - For rent increases and terminations

Next steps​