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 properly end a lease. We would not use the Move-Out tenant feature to do this because this would not end the lease. This would only remove the tenant from the lease but the lease would remain active.
The Steps
Note that once a lease is ended, there is no way to reactivate it. However, you can still edit and add transactions later if needed.
To end a lease, click Leasing on the main menu and then click Active Leases.
Click on the lease you want to end. You can either sort the list by the various columns and filters or use the Search Leases search bar.
Once in the lease Overview tab, click on the blue circle with three vertical dots in the top right corner and select End Lease.
Alternatively, you can click on the Not Renewing button in the Renewal Process section. Enter the relevant information—which is optional—clicking Save when finished. This allows you to click the End Lease button in the same section after entering the non-renewal.
Once in 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.
The third 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.
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: Withholding deposits for outstanding charges
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: Refunding a deposit
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
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
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
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
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: Ending a lease with an outstanding balance
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.