Leads and rental applications

Who this is for

Landlords and property managers who take rental applications online. Only an account owner can invite a renter to apply, record the fee, approve, deny or convert an application. Other members can see leads and applications but can't act on them.

Before you start

• Write your rules in Settings → Applications: Rental criteria (every renter sees them before they start) and How to pay the application fee. The fee amount is set on each listing. See List a unit for rent.
• eSamaHomes doesn't collect the application fee. The renter pays you directly, and you record it.
• eSamaHomes doesn't run background or credit checks, and the application doesn't ask for a Social Security number or date of birth.

Steps

1. Get the renter a link. A renter who clicks Apply on your public listing page gets the link by email. For a lead on the Leads screen, open the lead and click Invite to Apply.
2. The renter fills it in. No account is needed. The steps are About you, Where you live, Work and income, Household and pets, Documents (a photo ID is required) and Review and submit. Answers are saved as they go. The link lasts 14 days, and only the newest link works.
3. You're told. When the renter submits, every member gets a notice, and the application shows Submitted on the Applications screen.
4. Record the fee. Open the application and, under Application fee, click Mark fee received. Enter Date received, Method and an optional Note, then Save.
5. Screen the renter outside eSamaHomes. The Screening section says "Screening is not connected yet." Run any check you use with your own provider and keep the result in your own records.
6. Decide. Click Approve, or Deny and give a reason. The reason is kept for you and is not sent to the renter.
7. Close the others. After an approval, eSamaHomes asks whether to close the other open applications for the unit. Close them emails those renters that the unit has been rented.
8. Make the tenant and the lease. On the approved application, click Convert to Tenant. Check the tenant, mark anyone in the household as a co-tenant or an occupant, fill in the lease terms, and click Create Lease & Activate Tenant (or Save Draft for Signing). See Create a lease.

Example

Omar Velez applies for 40 Cedar Street, Unit 3. The listing's application fee is $45.00, and Lena Park's fee instructions say "Zelle to rentals@cedarhomes.example". Omar pays by Zelle on October 2.

Lena opens his application, clicks Mark fee received, enters October 2 and Zelle, and the section reads "Received Oct 2, 2026 · Zelle". She checks his references by phone, clicks Approve, and closes the one other open application for the unit. Omar gets an email that his application was approved. She then clicks Convert to Tenant and creates his lease.

What happens next

• Approve doesn't make a tenant or a lease. It marks the application approved and emails the renter. Convert to Tenant is the next step.
• A denied renter gets an email saying the application did not meet the rental qualification criteria. Your reason is never sent.
• PM mode: if an owner approves new tenants, you recommend the applicant first and the owner approves before your Approve goes through. See Owner approvals.
• The renter's answers and documents are deleted after 90 days. The application then reads "This application's details were deleted after 90 days."
• Came from on an application or lead says which listing site the renter used. See Post a listing on Facebook.

If something looks wrong

• "Started, not submitted." The renter hasn't sent it yet, so it can't be approved or denied.
• "This application link is not valid or has expired." The renter can ask for a new link from the page with Email me a new link, or you can click Re-invite on the lead.
• "The renter's link has expired. Invite them again to reopen their application." Reopen only works while the renter's link is still valid.
• "Renters will be told they did not meet your criteria. Write them here." Your Rental criteria are empty. Fill them in under Settings → Applications.
• There's no place to record a screening result. That isn't built yet. Keep the result with your own records.
• You can't see the buttons. Only an account owner can act on leads and applications.