Overview
When the terms of a lease are finally over and the tenant is moving out of the rental unit, it is time to End the Lease. When ending a lease, there are multiple scenarios to consider. You might want to withhold a deposit for unpaid charges, refund all or part of a deposit, or end the lease with an outstanding balance.
Note: Use these steps to end a lease. Do not use the Move-Out tenant feature if the tenant is no longer renting the unit. You would end the lease and then create a new lease for the new tenant.
If you're looking to remove a tenant completely from DoorLoop, read the article: Delete a Tenant.
The Steps
Tip: Do not end a lease if you still need the tenant to make payments through their portal. Even if you set the end date to a future date, it will disable access to the portal for the tenant. It is recommended to end the lease after the lease has actually ended.
If a tenant moves out before the lease's term end date, do not end the lease if you still want the tenant to make any past-due payments on their portal. What you should do is edit the term end date to when they moved out, which will put the lease into expired status. This way you can create a new lease on the unit without having to end it.
Note: Once a lease is ended, there is no way to reactivate it. However, you can still edit and add transactions later if needed. (Ending a lease can only be done on a computer or with your mobile browser in desktop mode. You can not end a lease using the mobile app.)
To end a lease, click Leasing on the main menu and then click Active Leases.
Find and click on the lease you want to end.
Once on the lease, click on Manage Lease in the top right corner and select End Lease.
On the End Lease wizard, enter the required Move-out date (entering a Notice Date and uploading files is optional) and click Next.
The Move-out date will become the new lease end date, and tenant portal access will immediately end for all tenants on this lease.
This step will be different depending on which scenarios apply to the lease. There are several scenarios that can occur, and some may require the use of multiple solutions. Below are the possible outcomes and scenarios:
Scenario 1: No outstanding balance and no deposit to refund
In the Lease Balance summary, you will see that the Lease Outstanding Balance and Deposits Held are $0.00. That means there's nothing else to consider and you can click Finish to finalize ending the lease.
Scenario 2: Withhold deposits for outstanding charges
Withhold the deposit if you are keeping all or a portion of the security deposit to pay for any outstanding balances.
In the Lease Balance summary, you will see the Lease Outstanding Balance and Deposits Held amounts. In the Actions section, use the Withhold Deposit button to pay the outstanding balance using a deposit.
In the Withhold Deposit pane, specify the Amount to Withhold from each deposit and an optional Description, then click Save.
Back in the Lease Balance summary, if you see that the Lease Outstanding Balance and Deposits Held are $0.00, you can click Finish to finalize ending the lease.
If there is still deposit money to refund, proceed to Scenario 3.
If there is still an outstanding balance or deposit and you want to end the lease anyway, proceed to Scenario 8.
Scenario 3: Refund a deposit
Refund the security deposit if you plan on giving all or a portion of the deposit back.
In the Lease Balance summary, you will see the amount of Deposits Held.
In the Actions section, use the Refund Deposit button to record that you paid a deposit back to the tenant.
In the Refund Deposit pane, select the Tenant you are paying, the date you paid for the Due Date, the bank account you paid from for Pay From Account, and the Payment method.
Enter in the Amount to Refund and an optional Description, clicking Save when done.
Back in the Lease Balance summary, if you see that the Lease Outstanding Balance and Deposits Held are $0.00, you can click Finish to finalize ending the lease.
If there is still an outstanding balance or deposit and you want to end the lease anyway, proceed to Scenario 8.
Scenario 4: Posting a charge to reduce the outstanding credit
You can post a charge to reduce an outstanding credit if there shouldn't be a credit there.
In the Lease Balance summary, you will see that there is an amount for the Lease Outstanding Credit section. This means that on the lease, there is an outstanding credit that could be from a missing charge.
In the Actions section, click Post Charge to create a new charge on the lease that will reduce the Outstanding Credit.
In the Post Charge window, enter all the necessary fields and then click Save.
Back in the Lease Balance summary, if you see that the Lease Outstanding Credit and Deposits Held are $0.00, you can click Finish to finalize ending the lease.
Scenario 5: Refunding an outstanding credit
If the credit on a lease was due to an overpayment, you can refund that credit back to the tenant.
In the Lease Balance summary, you will see that there is an amount for the Lease Outstanding Credit section. If this is due to an overpayment on the part of the tenant, you will need to refund them the overpayment.
In the Actions section, click Give Refund to create a new refund on the lease that will reduce the Outstanding Credit on the lease by giving that back to the tenant.
In the Give Refund window, enter all the necessary fields and then click Save.
Back in the Lease Balance summary, if you see that the Lease Outstanding Credit and Deposits Held are $0.00, you can click Finish to finalize ending the lease.
Scenario 6: Receive payment for an outstanding balance
If the lease has an outstanding balance, you can still choose to collect payment for the balance. If you plan on having your tenant pay through the portal, DO NOT END THE LEASE.
In the Lease Balance summary, you will see that there is a Lease Outstanding Balance due. This appears if there is an outstanding balance on the lease and the tenant owes you money. In this instance, you can reduce the outstanding balance by receiving a payment from your tenant.
In the Actions section, click Receive Payment to create a new payment on the lease that will reduce the Outstanding Balance on the lease.
In the Receive Payment window, enter all the necessary fields and then click Save.
Back in the Lease Balance summary, if you see that the Lease Outstanding Balance and Deposits Held are $0.00, you can click Finish to finalize ending the lease.
Scenario 7: Issue a credit for an outstanding balance
If you tenant is not going to pay the outstanding balance and you need to zero out the lease, you can issue a credit and write it off as bad debt.
In the Lease Balance summary, you will see that there is a Lease Outstanding Balance due. This appears if there is an outstanding balance on the lease and the tenant owes you money. In this instance, you can also reduce the outstanding balance by issuing credit on the lease.
In the Actions section, click Issue Credit to create a new payment on the lease that will reduce the Outstanding Balance on the lease.
In the Issue Credit window, enter all the necessary fields and then click Save.
Back in the Lease Balance summary, if you see that the Lease Outstanding Balance and Deposits Held are $0.00, you can click Finish to finalize ending the lease.
Scenario 8: There is a negative balance shown for deposits held
In the Lease Balance summary, you will see that the Deposits Held are negative. This could be due to several factors. You may have issued a credit to a liability account that was greater than the deposits being held or you refunded an amount greater than was being held in deposits.
You may need to record a payment to offset the negative deposit being held.
Scenario 9: Ending a lease with an outstanding balance and held deposits
If you want to end a lease despite having an outstanding balance or deposits held, click the End Lease Anyway button.
Later, you can still find the lease to address the outstanding balance or deposits.
The article on withholding or refunding lease deposits after ending a lease explains specifically how to deal with deposits.
Once you've sorted out any deposits and balances on the lease, you can click Finish to finally end the lease.