Landlord Setup Guide

Everything you need to set up your properties and onboard tenants.

⏱️

Time required: ~20 minutes for a typical setup

You can stop and come back anytime — VaultRent saves your progress as you go.

Understanding the Structure

Before you start, understanding this hierarchy prevents most setup mistakes:

Property (the building/address)

└── Unit (rentable space within property)

└── Lease (contract for that unit)

└── Tenant (person on the lease)

Key rules: Each unit can have one active lease at a time. Each lease has one primary tenant. Additional occupants can be listed in your lease agreement, but VaultRent tracks one primary tenant per lease for portal access and receipts.

Step 1: Create Your Account

Go to vaultrent.com/signup
Click "Start Free Trial"
Enter your email and create a password
Verify your email
You now have a 14-day free trial

Important: Use your landlord email (not a tenant email). In VaultRent, one account = one role. You cannot be both a landlord and a tenant with the same email.

Step 2: Add Your Property

Create the Property

From Dashboard → Click "Add Property"
Fill in:
- Property Name: A friendly name (e.g., "123 Main St - Apartment")
- Address: Street address, city, province, postal code
Click Save

Add Units to the Property

For each rentable space within the property:

Open the property you just created
Click "Add Unit"
Fill in:
- Unit Label: Descriptive name (e.g., "Unit 1", "Room A", "Basement Suite")
- Bedrooms/Bathrooms: Optional but helpful
Click Save
Repeat for each unit

Step 3: Create Leases

For each tenant, create one lease:

Go to Leases → "Create Lease"
Select the Property and Unit
Fill in tenant details:
- Tenant Name: Full legal name
- Tenant Email: Their real email address
Fill in lease terms:
- Lease Start Date: When the lease begins
- Lease End Date: Leave blank for month-to-month
- Rent Amount: Monthly rent
Click Save

⚠️ Start Date Effects: If your lease start date is in the past, VaultRent will automatically create rent records for past months, which may appear as overdue. This is expected behavior. You can mark past months as paid if rent was already collected.

⚠️ Tenant Email is Critical: Enter the correct tenant email from the start. This email determines who can access the tenant portal for this lease. Email changes after onboarding require support assistance.

Step 4: Tenant Onboarding

When you create a lease, VaultRent automatically:

✓ Creates a tenant record
✓ Creates the lease-tenant membership

Note: Tenant portal access requires you to send the onboarding link. This is not automatic — you control when tenants are invited.

Sending the Tenant Portal Link

Open the lease
Click "Send Tenant Portal Link"
Tenant receives an email with signup instructions
Tenant clicks the link → creates their password
Tenant can now access their portal

When Does Portal Access Begin?

Tenants can access the portal only after they:

Receive the onboarding email (triggered by you)
Click the signup link
Create their password

Until then, the lease exists in your system, but the tenant cannot log in. This gives you time to verify everything is correct before inviting the tenant.

Step 5: Recording Payments

When a tenant pays rent (e-Transfer, cheque, cash):

Go to Leases → Click the specific lease
Find the rent record for the month
Click "Mark as Paid"
Select payment method and confirm the date
Click Confirm

What happens automatically:

✓ Payment recorded in your ledger
✓ PDF receipt generated
✓ Receipt emailed to tenant
✓ Tenant can download receipt from their portal

What Tenants See

Once onboarded, each tenant can:

✓ View their lease details
✓ See their rent schedule
✓ Download payment receipts
✓ View their unit and property info

Privacy guarantee: Tenants cannot see other units, other tenants, properties they're not on, or any landlord-only features. Each tenant sees only their own data.

Example: 2 Properties, 4 Tenants

Property	Unit	Rent	Tenant
Apartment	Room A	$1,600	John Smith
Apartment	Room B	$1,400	Jane Doe
House	Main Floor	$2,800	Bob Johnson
House	Basement	$1,200	Alice Brown

📁 123 Main St - Apartment

📂 Room A - Parking

└── Lease: John Smith ($1,600/mo)

📂 Room B - No Parking

└── Lease: Jane Doe ($1,400/mo)

📁 456 Oak Ave - House

📂 Main Floor

└── Lease: Bob Johnson ($2,800/mo)

📂 Basement Suite

└── Lease: Alice Brown ($1,200/mo)

Common Questions

What if two people share a lease (roommates)?

VaultRent supports one primary tenant per lease. For roommates:

Option A: Create one lease with the primary leaseholder's name (most common)
Option B: Create separate units and leases if they pay rent separately

Can I test the tenant experience first?

Yes! Since tenant onboarding is manually triggered, you can safely:

Create a test lease with youremail+tenant1@gmail.com
Review everything on the landlord side first
When ready, send the tenant portal link to yourself
Complete the tenant signup process
See exactly what your tenants will see
Soft-delete the test lease when done

No automatic emails are sent until you trigger them, so you have full control over when tenants are invited.

What if I enter the wrong tenant email?

Create the lease with the correct email from the start. Tenant email is tied to portal access and cannot be easily changed after onboarding.

When do rent records appear?

Rent records are automatically generated based on your lease start date. If the start date is in the past, you'll see records for previous months (which may show as overdue until marked paid).

Can tenants see each other's information?

No. Each tenant only sees their own lease, rent records, receipts, and unit/property info. Tenants cannot see other tenants, even if they're in the same property.

Setup Checklist

Ready to get started?

Set up your properties in about 20 minutes.

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