A lease renewal agreement is a short document that keeps an existing lease going for a new term. It names the original lease, sets the new start and end dates, records any change in rent or other terms, and says everything else stays the same. Landlords with good tenants use it every year; it’s a lot less paperwork than writing a new lease from scratch.

Should you renew, sign a new lease, or go month to month?

Renew when the relationship is working and only a few things change. If the rent goes from $1,600 to $1,675 and nothing else moves, a one-page renewal that points back to the original lease is clear and quick.

Write a new residential lease agreement instead if you’re making bigger changes: new pet rules, a different utility setup, an added or removed tenant, or an old lease that doesn’t reflect current law. Stacking five changes onto a two-year-old lease through a renewal gets confusing fast.

And if neither side wants another fixed year, switching to a month-to-month rental agreement may suit you better. If the tenant is leaving rather than staying, they need a lease termination letter, not this.

What does our lease renewal agreement include?

It’s deliberately short.

The original lease. The parties, the property, and the date of the lease being renewed, so there’s no doubt which document you’re extending. If there have been earlier renewals, list them too.

The new term. Start and end dates. The renewal starts the day after the current term ends, so there’s no gap.

Rent. The new monthly rent, or a statement that it’s unchanged, plus the due date if that’s changing.

Security deposit. Whether the deposit stays as is, or increases, and by how much.

Other changes. A blank for anything else that changes (a new parking space, a pet added with a pet deposit, a change in who pays water). If this list is long, that’s your sign to write a new lease.

Everything else stays the same. A sentence saying all other terms of the original lease continue. That’s what makes a renewal work.

Occupants. The people who’ll live in the unit during the renewal term, so a partner who moved in last spring gets added properly.

Lead disclosure. A checkbox for homes built before 1978.

What do landlords need to check before renewing?

Notice deadlines for rent increases and non-renewals

Several states and cities require advance written notice before a landlord raises rent or declines to renew. New York is a good example of how detailed this gets. For apartments that aren’t rent regulated, the state attorney general says a landlord must give 30 days’ written notice if the tenant has lived there less than a year, 60 days if between one and two years, and 90 days if two years or more, before raising the rent by more than 5% or not renewing. For rent-stabilized apartments, the landlord must offer a renewal in writing between 150 and 90 days before the lease ends.

Other states have their own rules, and some cities add rent limits. Look up your state attorney general’s or housing agency’s tenant guide before you send the renewal offer, and send it early enough to meet the notice period.

Screening at renewal

The FTC’s guidance for landlords covers renewals as well as new applications: you may get a consumer report on someone renewing a lease. If something in the report leads you to raise the rent above what you’d otherwise charge, or ask for a bigger deposit, you have to send the tenant an adverse action notice with the reporting company’s contact details, a statement that the company didn’t make the decision, and the tenant’s right to dispute inaccurate information.

Lead-based paint

For homes built before 1978, the EPA’s disclosure rule requires landlords to give tenants the lead pamphlet, a warning statement and any known information about lead before the tenant is bound by a lease, subject to some exemptions. Keep your original signed disclosure, and if you’ve learned anything new about lead in the home since then, such as a new inspection report, share it with the renewal.

How do you fill it in and sign it?

  1. Pull out the original lease and copy the parties, address and lease date exactly.
  2. Send the renewal offer early enough to meet any notice period that applies to rent changes.
  3. Fill in the new term, the rent, and any other changes.
  4. Update the list of occupants and tenants. Anyone new who’ll be responsible for rent should sign.
  5. Both sides sign before the current term ends, and each keeps a copy with the original lease.

A hypothetical example: a landlord in Albany with a tenant who’s been there three years wants to raise rent 6% for the next lease year. Under the New York rule above, that landlord should send written notice at least 90 days before the current lease ends, then have both parties sign the renewal before it expires.

Renewals are easy to e-sign. The federal ESIGN Act says a contract can’t be denied legal effect just because it’s electronic, and a lease renewal is an ordinary contract. For a quick primer, see is a typed name a legal signature. Download it, fill in the blanks, and send it with any e-signature tool you like. (SignWren is still in the works; join the waitlist if you’d like early access.)

This template and guide are general information, not legal advice. For a specific rental or dispute, talk to a lawyer licensed where the property is.