Leasing in Revela: An Overview

The Leasing Pipeline

The leasing process in Revela is managed through the Leasing Pipeline, accessible from the main navigation under Leasing > Leasing Pipeline. The pipeline is organized into tabbed views that represent each stage of the leasing funnel: Leads, Applications, Waitlist, and Expiring. Each tab displays a count badge so you can see at a glance how many prospects are in each stage.

At the top of the pipeline, three action buttons are always available: New Guest Card, New Application, and New Lease. These allow you to jump directly into any part of the workflow without navigating away.

Sending Applications to Prospects

When a new lead enters your pipeline—whether from a guest card inquiry, a listing response, or a walk-in— the first step toward converting them into a tenant is sending a lease application.

To send an application, navigate to the lead’s profile from the Leads tab. From the lead detail page, open the Actions menu and select Send Application. You can also send an application directly from a guest card by clicking the Send Application button on the guest card detail page. Both paths open the same application invitation form.

The invitation form allows you to specify the prospect’s email address, the property they are applying to, and optionally a floor plan. If the lead was created from a guest card, these fields will be pre-filled with the information already on file. Once you click Submit, Revela sends the prospect an email with the subject line “Lease Application to [Property Name]” containing a link to begin their application online. A confirmation message appears letting you know the application was sent successfully.

Alternatively, applications can be sent to prospects by selecting the New Application button shown on the Pipeline page. This transfers you to the Lease Application Invitation page, where you can select the property and unit the prospect is interested in applying for, and send the application to their email address. If the prospect prefers to complete the application at your office, click the Fill Out Now button to populate the application workflow on your screen for immediate completion.

If a prospect has not yet completed their application, you can follow up from the Unsubmitted Applications tab, where you can send or resend reminders with a single click.

BONUS TIP: Revela AI Lead Nurturing

Revela AI, currently in Beta, offers an intelligent lead nurturing feature that uses automated SMS to follow up with new leads and ensure no inquiry slips through the cracks.

When a new guest card is created, Revela AI automatically sends a personalized text message to the prospect within minutes. The AI assistant can answer common questions about available listings, pricing, and floor plans, and it can direct prospects to schedule a tour or submit an application. If a prospect asks a question that requires a human touch, the conversation is seamlessly handed off to a leasing agent with a notification so they can pick up right where the AI left off.

The system also sends automatic follow-up reminders to leads who have not yet taken the next step, such as submitting an application or scheduling a tour, helping to keep your pipeline active without any manual effort.

Revela AI Lead Nurturing is available as a Beta feature. If you are interested in leveraging this tool to improve your lead response times and conversion rates, reach out to your Customer Success Manager to learn more and get started.

The Application and Screening Process

After the prospect receives their application link, they complete a multi-step online form that collects their personal information, current address, residence history, income sources, references, emergency contacts, vehicles, pets, and any additional details. At the end, each applicant reviews and electronically signs the application before proceeding to payment.

Once the application is submitted and payment is received, the screening process begins. Depending on how your organization has configured its screening preferences, this may happen automatically upon payment or require a manual review step first.

If your screening preference is set to review applications before or after payment, the application will appear with a Requires Review status on the Applications tab. From the application detail page, a banner will prompt you to review the application. You can choose to Begin Screening to proceed, or Reject Application if the application does not meet your criteria. If you reject at this stage, you have the option to include a reason that will be sent to the applicant via email.

While screening is underway, the application status changes to Awaiting Results, and a banner on the application detail page displays which checks are still pending — such as background checks, income verifications, and landlord verifications.

Adjudicating an Application

When all screening results have returned, the application status updates to Requires Adjudication. A banner on the application detail page reads “Ready for Adjudication” and links directly to the adjudication page.

The adjudication page presents a comprehensive summary of all screening results organized by category. Background check results display each applicant’s credit score alongside your minimum requirement, along with any flags for criminal history or prior evictions. Income verification results compare reported and verified income against your configured thresholds. Landlord verification results and any third-party screening scores are also displayed in the summary.

Each result line is color-coded:

Green indicates the requirement was met
Yellow indicates a result that may need additional review
Red indicates the requirement was not met. This visual coding makes it easy to assess an applicant’s qualifications quickly.

At the bottom of the adjudication page, you will find two buttons: Approve and Reject. Clicking either will prompt you to confirm your decision. Once confirmed, Revela sends the applicant an email notifying them of the outcome. Approved applicants receive an email with the subject “Your lease application has been approved,” while rejected applicants receive a notification that their application was not approved, along with any applicable reports.

If you need to reverse a decision, administrators can undo an approval or rejection within seven days by clicking Undo Approve or Undo Reject on the application detail page. You can also resend the adjudication notification within thirty days if needed.

Creating a Lease for an Approved Applicant

Once an application has been approved, the next step is creating the lease. From the approved application’s detail page, click Actions > Create Lease. You can also navigate to Leasing > Leasing Pipeline and click the New Lease button at the top of the page.

The lease creation form is organized into several sections that walk you through all the details needed to establish a new tenancy.

Selecting the Unit - The first section of the form asks you to select a Property and Unit. If you arrived at the form from an approved application, these fields will already be populated based on the application details. When you select a unit, Revela automatically pulls in the floor plan information — including bedroom count, bathroom count, and square footage — and pre-fills the default monthly rent amount based on the floor plan’s listed price.
Setting Lease Dates and Renewal Type - The Lease Duration section includes fields for the Start Date and End Date of the lease. When creating a lease from an approved application, these dates are pre-populated based on the applicant’s desired move-in date and the selected lease term length. You can adjust these dates as needed.
Renewal Dropdown - This section determines what happens when the lease term ends. There are three options to choose from:

Fixed means the lease has a defined start and end date. When the term expires, it simply ends, and a new lease must be created to continue the tenancy. This is the most straightforward option for standard lease terms.
Month to Month means the lease continues indefinitely on a monthly basis until either party terminates it. There is no fixed end date, and the tenancy renews automatically each month.
Rollover combines the benefits of both approaches. The lease begins as a fixed term, but when the end date passes, it automatically converts to a month-to-month arrangement rather than expiring. This provides the structure of a defined lease term with the flexibility of automatic continuation.

Proration - This dropdown allows you to choose how partial-month charges are calculated. Options include per diem, nearest month, half month, and others. For a more detailed breakdown of these options, please refer to the proration section of our article, A Guide to Lease Charges in Revela.

Adding Tenants to the Lease

The Tenants section is where you add all individuals who will be part of the lease agreement. If you navigate from an approved application, the primary applicant and any co-applicants will already appear in the tenant list with their roles mapped from the application.

To add a tenant who was part of the application, click the Add Applicant dropdown and search for them by name. The first tenant added automatically receives the Primary Tenant role, while additional tenants default to Co-Tenant. You can change any tenant’s role using the role dropdown in the tenants table.

The available roles are Primary Tenant, Co-Tenant, Guarantor, Occupant, and Minor. Primary Tenants, Co-Tenants, and Guarantors are considered financially responsible and will appear on charge allocations. On the other hand, occupants have access to the unit but are not financially bound to the lease. Similarly, minors are non-financially responsible occupants and are typically the children of either the primary or co-tenant(s).

To add someone who is not already in Revela to a lease, click Add Additional Tenant. An input field will appear where you can enter the person’s Full Name, Email, and Phone number. Clicking Save will add them to the lease.

NOTE: Each lease must have exactly one Primary Tenant!

Adding Lease Charges

The Charges section defines the financial terms of the lease. Each charge added to a lease has the following details:

Charge Code - This refers to the general ledger account the charge will post to
Name
Amount
Frequency - This toggle lets you switch between Monthly (recurring) and One Time charges. Recurring charges are billed on each billing cycle throughout the lease term. One-time charges, such as a security deposit, are invoiced immediately when the lease is created.

NOTE: For recurring charges, the Entire Term checkbox links the charge dates to the lease’s start and end dates automatically. If you uncheck it, custom Start Date and End Date fields appear, allowing you to set a different billing period for that specific charge.

Bill Separately - This checkbox controls whether a recurring charge generates its own separate invoice or is grouped with other charges on the same invoice.

To add more charges, click the Add Charge button. If charge presets have been configured for the property, a dropdown appears with common options like Security Deposit along with any other presets. You can also select Blank to create a charge from scratch.

When multiple tenants are on the lease, each charge displays a Tenant Amounts section where you can specify how the charge is allocated among the financially responsible tenants. The Split button evenly divides the total charge amount.

Once all sections are complete, click Create to finalize the lease. Revela will confirm the lease was created successfully and redirect you to the lease detail page.

Sending a Lease Agreement for Electronic Signatures

After the lease has been created, the next step is typically to prepare and send the lease document for signatures. Revela has a built-in electronic signature system that handles the entire process.

Preparing the Document

From the lease detail page, click Actions > Prepare Document. This opens the document preparation page, where you will see a list of available document templates with check boxes. Select the documents you wish to include in the lease packet, then click Generate Document. Revela merges the selected templates into a single document and generates a PDF version for review.

After the document is generated, you are returned to the lease detail page. In the Signature History section at the bottom, a link to the Unexecuted document will appear, allowing you to download and review the PDF before sending it for signatures. If the document needs to be regenerated for any reason, you can remove it and start over.

Sending for Signatures When you are satisfied with the document, click Actions > Send for Signatures. A dialog appears with two key sections. The Countersigner dropdown lets you select which property manager will countersign the lease. Below that, the Primary Signers table lists all financially responsible tenants on the lease along with their email addresses.

Click Submit to send the signature requests. Each primary signer (tenant) receives an email with the subject “Electronic Signature Request” that includes a congratulatory message and a link to review and sign the document online. The Signature History section on the lease page updates in real time to show the status of each signature request, including whether it is pending, completed, or needs to be resent.

The Signing Order

Revela enforces a specific signing order. Primary signers (i.e the tenants) sign first. The countersigner does not receive their signing request until all primary signers have completed their signatures. Once everyone has signed, Revela automatically generates the final executed document and emails a copy to all parties, including the property manager who initiated the request. The lease is then marked as executed.

You can monitor the entire signing process from the Signature History section on the lease detail page. If a signer has not responded, you can click Resend to send them another email. Signature requests expire after a configurable number of days (the default is seven), and you can adjust this in your organization’s e-signature settings.

Inviting a New Tenant to the Revela Portal

Once the lease is in place, you will want to invite the tenant to the Revela tenant portal, where they can view their payment history, submit maintenance requests, and manage their account.

To send a portal invitation, navigate to the tenant’s profile page. Under the portal section, you will see a Send Invite link. Clicking it sends the tenant a welcome email with the subject “Welcome to Revela!” that includes a link to confirm their account and set up their password. A confirmation message will let you know the invite was sent successfully.

If the tenant does not respond to the initial invitation, you can resend it by clicking Re-send Invite on their profile page. The system will show you how long ago the previous invitation was sent to help you decide when a follow-up is appropriate.

For situations where you need to invite multiple tenants at once, you can use the batch invite feature from the tenant list. Select the tenants you wish to invite and use the batch action to send invitations to all of them simultaneously. Revela will automatically skip tenants who have already confirmed their accounts or who were recently invited.

Tips & Best Practices

Review your screening results carefully before adjudicating. The color-coded summary on the adjudication page is designed to surface potential concerns at a glance, but it is always a good idea to read through the detailed results for each applicant before making a final decision.
When building a lease, double-check that all charge allocations add up correctly, especially when splitting charges among multiple tenants. The Split button provides an even division, but you may need to make manual adjustments for different arrangements.
Always review the generated lease document thoroughly before sending it for signatures. Once signatures are requested, the document cannot be modified: you would need to cancel the request, remove the document, and regenerate it.
Send tenant portal invitations promptly after the lease is executed. Giving tenants early access to the portal helps them get oriented before their move-in date, set up their payment method, and submit any initial maintenance requests for their new home!