Leases & Tenant Management

Getting Started

Find your leases, add new ones, and then manage each lease from its own lease page. The sections below walk through each step.

Accessing Leases

Select Leases in the sidebar to see the leases at every property you have access to. This is your main dashboard for lease and tenant management. To see only one property's leases, open that property and go to its Leases tab.

The Leases Page

• Expiring leases alert: a banner lists active leases ending in the next 30 days, with a link to show just those leases
• Search by tenant, property, or unit
• Filter by Property, Portfolio, Status, and Type (the property type). Status options are Active, Expiring soon, Expired (active leases past their end date), Draft (inactive leases), and Terminated (archived leases).
• Choose columns such as Organization, Tenant Name, Portfolio, Property, Units, Current Rent, Status, Start, and End, and sort by clicking a column header
• Export the list, or click Add to add a new lease

A Property's Leases Tab

• Lists the property's active and inactive leases, with a Status filter to narrow them down
• Archived leases are not shown here — use the Terminated status on the Leases page to find them
• Click Add to quickly add a lease to this property

Adding Leases

Add a lease from the Leases page. You can upload the lease PDF and let Cardinal pull out the details for you, or enter everything by hand.

1. Go to Leases in the sidebar and click Add
2. Drop your lease PDF into the dialog (or click to browse) and click Upload for automatic data extraction — or click Create Manually to skip the upload
3. Property: pick the property. When you upload a lease, Cardinal suggests properties that match it. You can also search for a different property or create a new one.
4. Unit: select existing units or create new ones, with their name and square feet
5. Tenant: enter the tenant name and the tenant's legal name
6. Lease & Rent: set the start and end dates, rent commencement date, lease type, and security deposit, and build the rent schedule. Leave "Match lease start date" on (the default) to keep the rent commencement date the same as the lease start date, or turn it off to set a separate date.
7. Click Create Lease

When you upload a PDF, it is saved as the lease's original lease document. New leases start out inactive — open the lease and click Activate Lease when it's ready.

Building the Rent Schedule

• Add rent periods one at a time, each with its own start and end date and rent. Rent can be entered as a monthly total, monthly per square foot, annual total, or annual per square foot. Periods can't overlap and must fall within the lease dates.
• Or click Generate to build the whole schedule from escalation rules: enter the starting monthly rent, an escalation as a percentage or a flat amount, applied annually or monthly, over a number of periods or a date range
• Review the preview, then click Apply Schedule. Applying replaces any rent periods already on the lease. If the schedule runs past the lease end date, you can extend the lease end to match.

Quick Add from a Property

On a property's Leases tab, click Add to open a short "Add a lease" dialog with just the tenant name, start date, and end date. Click Create and Cardinal opens the new lease so you can fill in the rest.

Property Time Zones

Lease dates are days at the property, so lease date fields show the property's time zone. If the property doesn't have a time zone yet, Cardinal asks you to pick one when you create a lease with dates from the Leases page, or save lease dates or a rent schedule on a lease. It's saved on the property, so you only pick it once. See the Properties guide for more on time zones.

Lease Management Structure

Lease management is organized into three main levels to help you work with both the big picture and the details of each lease:

1. Lease Lists

• Purpose: Find and compare leases across all your properties, or within one property
• Access: Select Leases in the sidebar, or open a property's Leases tab
• Features:

• See each lease's tenant, units, current rent, and dates
• See lease status at a glance
• Search, filter, and sort leases — the Leases page filters by Property, Portfolio, Status, and Type; a property's Leases tab filters by Status
• Click any lease to open its lease page

2. The Lease Page

• Purpose: Manage everything about a specific lease
• Access: Click on any lease in a lease list
• Features:

• Status: the tenant name and the lease's status (Active, Inactive, or Archived) appear at the top of the page
• Lease Details: lease start and end dates, security deposit, rent commencement date, lease type (Full Service Gross, NNN, Percentage, or Other), and the units on the lease. Dates show the property's time zone. If the rent schedule no longer lines up with the lease dates, Cardinal offers to adjust them.
• Tenant: the tenant company and its primary contacts, with their emails
• Rent: choose a Rent Schedule of dated rent periods (add, edit, remove, or generate them), or Month to Month with a monthly base rent. The rent structure can only be changed while the lease is inactive.
• Lease Files: the original lease document and any lease amendments
• Lease Abstract: a structured summary of key lease terms (see below)
• Notes: free-form notes about the lease
• Actions: Activate Lease, and from the More menu, Deactivate Lease or Archive Lease

Lease Files

• Click Add Original Lease Document to upload the signed lease. Once it's there, the button becomes Add Lease Amendment.
• Each file can be viewed, edited, downloaded, or deleted from its menu
• Lease files also appear in the Lease section of the property's Files tab

Active Lease Limits

Your plan sets how many leases your organization can have active at once. When you reach the limit, Activate Lease is turned off and the lease page shows a notice — with an upgrade button if you manage your organization's plan, or a note to contact an owner or billing admin if you don't. See Billing for plan details.

3. Lease Abstract

• Purpose: Capture key lease clauses and operating terms in one structured summary for quick reference
• Access: Open a lease and scroll to the Lease Abstract card
• Features:

• Click Create Lease Abstract to start one, or Edit Abstract to change it, then click Save Abstract
• Sections: Lease Information, Tenant Information, Parking Details, Rent Information, CAM Details, Introductory Financials, Extension Details, Termination Details, Insurance Details, Guarantor Information, Misc Benefits, Property Information, and Other
• Click Export to download the abstract as an Excel file
• The abstract stays viewable after a lease is archived

Key Lease Features

Navigation Guide

Accessing Lease Management

1. Start: Select Leases in the sidebar to see leases across all your properties
2. Narrow: Search or filter by property, portfolio, status, or type — or open a property and go to its Leases tab
3. Manage: Click on any lease to open its lease page

Lease Management Hierarchy

Leases (all properties)  ·  Property → Leases
└── Lease Page
    ├── Lease Details
    │   ├── Dates, Deposit, and Lease Type
    │   ├── Units
    │   └── Tenant
    ├── Rent
    │   ├── Rent Schedule
    │   └── Month to Month
    ├── Lease Files
    │   ├── Original Lease Document
    │   └── Lease Amendments
    ├── Lease Abstract
    │   ├── Lease and Tenant Information
    │   ├── Parking, Rent, and CAM Details
    │   ├── Introductory Financials
    │   ├── Extension and Termination Details
    │   ├── Insurance and Guarantor Information
    │   ├── Misc Benefits and Property Information
    │   └── Other
    ├── Notes
    └── Actions (Activate, Deactivate, Archive)

Common Workflows

Best Practices

Security & Access

• All lease and tenant information is protected by authentication
• You only see leases at properties you have access to
• Opening a lease you don't have access to shows a "You don't have access to this page" message
• Property access is managed on each property's Settings tab

Support & Troubleshooting

• If you can't see a lease, ask an administrator in your organization for access to its property
• If Activate Lease is turned off, save any unsaved changes first, or check whether your organization has reached its active lease limit
• If lease dates won't save, pick the property's time zone when asked
• Contact support if you experience persistent issues with lease management