What is Tenancy Setup?
The Tenancy setup section helps you to see the status of the current lease for your property and take actions relating to the lease.
In this section, you can monitor your tenants' onboarding and identify any pending tasks. You'll also find the details of your lease agreement and get an overview of the current tenancy.
Once a tenancy has been onboarded and is active, you can take actions such as renewing the lease, adjusting rent, or ending the tenancy.
In this Article:
Navigating to the Tenancy Setup
There are a couple of ways to get to the tenancy setup section for your property.
Via the Property Card:
Head to the Properties page and locate the property you wish to view.
Click on that property and toggle to the 'Manage my property' view on the property card.
Click on 'Tenancy Setup' to start setting up a new tenancy, continue with a previously saved setup or view your current active tenancy.
Via the left-hand navigation menu:
You can also easily get to a tenancy via the navigation menu on the left of the screen.
Underneath the 'Manage property' section, click on 'Tenancies'
Here you can see a list of all tenancies you have and their status (e.g., Active, Onboarding, Setting up or Ended).
Click on the tenancy you wish to view or take an action on.
Tenant Onboarding Progress
Once you have set up a tenancy and invited your tenants, you will be able to view the status of their onboarding and progress.
You can expand each section to view more details for each action, such as whether the tenant has accepted their invitation, signed the lease, paid the bond, or added a payment method for their rent payments.
There is also a progress bar at the top of the page that shows you approximately how far along things are in the onboarding stage for your tenancy:
Tenants receive notifications via SMS and email to sign up to RentBetter automatically, and you can view the history by clicking on 'View history' at the top right.
If you wish to resend an invitation, you can do this by clicking the 'Resend invitation' button:
Editing the Tenancy Setup
Sometimes it might be necessary to make changes to the original setup after you have invited your tenants. You can do this by visiting the tenancy setup page and clicking on the 'Edit tenancy' button at the top right of the page.
This will allow you to pull the setup back into a draft state and edit any of the details.
Before continuing, you will be asked to confirm whether you would like to proceed, as any existing invitations will be withdrawn and the lease will need to be signed again.
Adjusting an Active Tenancy
When you have a tenancy that is in progress (Active), you might like to take specific actions during that tenancy, such as adjusting the rent, updating the lease term, sending an updated lease agreement to your tenants or terminating your current tenancy.
To make changes and adjust your lease, you can take the following steps:
From the 'Tenancy setup' page, click on the 'Actions' button on the top right.
This will bring up the options available for your lease.
Depending on which action you'd like to take, you can select the relevant option from the list (pictured below).
You can send it to your tenants, and they will be able to review and accept the changes via their RentBetter tenant account.
Types of Tenancy Changes
🏡 Set up for Future Tenants
Select this option if you want to set up a brand new tenancy for new tenants moving into your property.
The tenants will be invited to set up on RentBetter and connect to your tenancy.
NOTE - This option should only be selected if all tenants are brand new and moving into the property. If you’re adding a tenant to an existing lease or just renewing the current lease with existing tenants, you’ll need to select the ‘New Lease Agreement’ option instead.
📝 New Lease Agreement
Select this option if you would like to send an updated lease agreement to your current tenants or if you would like to add a tenant to the existing lease.
You can adjust the rent, update the lease term, and manage tenants moving in or out, as well as make other necessary changes to the lease agreement and send the agreement to your tenants for their signatures.
Once everyone has signed, the changes will automatically be applied to your tenancy.
💰 Adjust Rent
Select this option to adjust the rent for your lease without a new lease agreement.
This will produce a rent adjustment notice which you can sign and send to your tenants to notify them.
The tenants can accept the notice to acknowledge it via their tenant account and then once accepted, the changes will be applied to your rent schedule.
📆 Extend Lease Term
Select this option to extend the end date of your tenancy without sending a new lease agreement.
You will select a new end date and then send it to your tenants to agree to the extension.
NOTE - This option does not end the tenancy and payments. If your tenants are vacating, choose the option to 'End Tenancy' instead.
🛑 End Tenancy
Select this option to end the tenancy and payments.
You will select an end date and then be able to sign and send the termination notice to your tenants.
Once the end date is confirmed, the lease and payments will be terminated in the platform based on the date selected.
🕒 Change Rent Payment 'Processing' date
Select this option to update the day of the week your tenants' rent payments are processed on an ongoing basis (not one-off payments).
Select an updated processing 'offset' date from the dropdown options. The options that are available are only for dates that are prior to or on the due date, not after.
Choose the start date for when this change should take effect.
You can include a short explanation/message and this will be sent to the tenant for their review and agreement.
Sign and submit - Once agreed, the changes will be updated on the rent schedule via the 'Processing' column.
For any one-off payment request changes, you can contact the team directly to help further.
General FAQs
How can I stop the rent payments if my tenant is moving out?
If your tenant is vacating, you will need to end the lease and payments in the platform. Select 'Tenancy setup' and then 'End Tenancy' and follow the steps to send the termination to your tenant. Once accepted the tenancy will be terminated in the platform on the date you have selected and no further payments will run.
How can I edit the adjustment I sent?
If you have sent an adjustment to your tenant such as a new lease agreement, rent change or termination and need to edit the details, you can make changes by navigating to 'Tenancy setup'.
Click on the 'View adjustment' button and on the following screen, you'll see an 'Edit' button on the top right, which you can use to edit the details and when ready, send it again to your tenants to sign/accept.
If the adjustment has already been applied, then you can either send a new one through or contact the team for further assistance.
How can I add another tenant to my existing lease?
You can add another tenant to your tenancy by visiting the 'Tenancy setup' > clicking on the 'Actions' button and then selecting the option in the list for 'New Lease Agreement'.
Follow the steps to fill out the new details and then send the updated lease for everyone to sign.
One of my tenants is moving out, but the others are staying. How do I update the lease?
You can remove a tenant from your tenancy by visiting the 'Tenancy setup' > clicking on the 'Actions' button and then selecting the option in the list for 'New Lease Agreement'.
Follow the steps to set the tenant who is moving out and then send the updated lease for everyone to sign.
How can I update my existing tenant's details on the tenancy?
If you need to update your existing tenant’s details - like their name, email or phone number- you can do this in a couple of ways:
If your tenancy is still in the 'onboarding' stage, you can make changes by clicking the ‘Edit’ button on the tenancy setup screen. This will move the setup to editing mode, where you can update the details and send it again to your tenants.
If your tenancy is active, you can reach out to the RentBetter team and we’ll be able to assist with making those updates for you.
Need further assistance?
Have more questions on setting up your tenant? Reach out to our friendly team via the support chat or email info@rentbetter.com.au and we’ll be happy to help.