Running your first tenancy
The tenancy as a living record rather than a signed PDF in a drawer: turning an accepted application into a tenancy, composing and signing the agreement, running the rent schedule, confirming payments, and renewing or ending cleanly.
A landlord or property manager taking a tenant from accepted application to the end of the first term, and tenants who want to know what the other side sees.
Before you start
- You have a live listing and at least one application. Getting started as a landlord covers both.
By the end you can
- Turn an accepted application into a tenancy record.
- Compose a tenancy agreement from a clause library and have both parties sign it.
- Verify a signed agreement has not been altered since signing.
- Read the rent schedule and understand when it starts billing.
- Handle a rent payment end to end, including offline payments that need confirming.
- Offer a renewal, or resolve the deposit at the end of the tenancy.
Lesson 1 of 6
Accept an application and open the tenancy
Objective. A tenancy record created from a real application, with both parties attached to it.
A tenancy is not a document. It is a record with a timeline, a rent schedule, a deposit position and an agreement hanging off it, and every transition on it is recorded rather than overwritten.
Accepting an application is the step that creates it. Decide first: the decision is yours, and no automated scoring makes it for you. AI on this platform cannot reject a tenant.
- 1Open your landlord dashboard and choose Applications in the left rail.
- 2Read the applicant’s message and whatever they have told you about themselves.
- 3If you want more information, use Messages rather than deciding on what is in front of you.
- 4When you are satisfied, press “Accept & open tenancy” on that application.
- 5To turn one down, press “Decline” instead.
- 6Open the new tenancy from the link on your dashboard.
You did it right if. The tenancy page loads with the property title, a status badge, and four cards showing Rent, Deposit, Landlord and Tenant.
Watch out. Accepting is not reversible from the dashboard. Do not accept several applicants for one unit intending to sort it out later — you will have created several tenancy records against the same home and no screen exists to tidy that up.
about 6 minutes
Lesson 2 of 6
Build your clause library
Objective. A set of reusable clauses that compose into every agreement you issue.
Agreements are composed from clauses you hold, not from a generic template. That keeps them Ghanaian, keeps them consistent between tenancies, and means a change of policy is one edit rather than a re-draft of every future agreement.
Clauses carry placeholders that fill themselves in per tenancy, so a clause that mentions the rent stays correct whatever the rent is.
- 1Open the management console and choose “Lease clauses” under Setup in the left rail.
- 2Press “Add a clause”.
- 3Give it a “Title”, for example Pets policy.
- 4Choose a “Category”: Parties, Term, Financial, Responsibilities, Use, Legal or General.
- 5Write the “Clause text”. Insert {landlord}, {tenant}, {property}, {rent}, {deposit}, {start} and {frequency} wherever a tenancy detail belongs — they are replaced automatically when an agreement is composed.
- 6Press “Add clause”.
- 7Repeat until you have at least the parties, term, rent, deposit and responsibilities covered.
You did it right if. The “Clauses” count at the top of the page has gone up, and each clause you added appears as a card in the library below the form.
Watch out. Clauses live on the organisation, not on you personally. If a property has no organisation behind it, or the organisation’s library is empty, the “Compose from clause library” button on a tenancy does nothing at all and shows no error. Build the library first.
about 12 minutes
Lesson 3 of 6
Compose the agreement and sign it
Objective. A tenancy agreement signed by both parties and verifiable afterwards.
Signing happens in Domicium. The signed content is hashed at the moment of signing, so the platform can later show that the document has not been altered — which is the whole point of a signing certificate.
AI can help draft, but it should not be the last word on an unusual or high-value tenancy. It is a drafting aid, not counsel.
- 1Open the tenancy and find the “Tenancy agreement” panel.
- 2Press “Compose from clause library” to build the agreement from your own clauses. Use “Quick template” only if you have no library yet.
- 3Read the composed agreement in full and check that the rent, deposit and dates match the tenancy record.
- 4Press “Sign as landlord”.
- 5Ask the tenant to open the same tenancy and press “Sign as tenant”.
- 6When both have signed, follow “View signing certificate →”.
You did it right if. The agreement panel shows the badge “Fully signed” with a tick against both parties, and the certificate page shows the banner “Document integrity verified”.
Watch out. If the tenancy page shows a warning that the record does not match the signed agreement, do not ignore it. It means the rent stated in the signed text and the rent the schedule will bill are different numbers, and it is the schedule that will collect. Fix the record, or compose and sign a corrected agreement.
about 10 minutes
Lesson 4 of 6
Read the rent schedule
Objective. Confidence about what will be billed, when, and what has to happen before billing starts.
The rent schedule is what actually collects money. Before both parties sign, the panel shows a preview of the first six periods with every row marked upcoming — that is an illustration, not a bill.
Once the agreement is fully signed the schedule activates and the rows become real instalments the tenant can pay against.
- 1Open the tenancy and find the “Rent schedule” panel.
- 2Read the three columns: Due date, Amount and Status.
- 3Before signing, note the footer line telling you the schedule activates once both parties sign.
- 4After signing, check the first due date against the tenancy start you agreed.
- 5Check the amount against the rent on the agreement.
- 6Note that unpaid rows show the tenant a payment control and show everyone else the status due.
You did it right if. After both signatures, the schedule footer no longer says it is waiting on signing, and the first row carries a real due date and amount rather than the preview status.
Watch out. Recurring charges other than rent — water recharges, service charge, parking — are not on this schedule. They are set up separately in Receivables and appear on the tenancy in a “Charges & fees” panel, which is hidden entirely when there are none. If you expected a water charge and cannot see one, it has not been created.
about 7 minutes
Lesson 5 of 6
Handle a rent payment end to end
Objective. A payment recorded, confirmed against money actually arriving, and reflected in the balance.
Online card and mobile money payment is not live. Paystack is wired up but runs only when a live secret key is configured, and until then choosing card or mobile money marks the instalment paid without any money moving. Treat those two options as unavailable.
What works today is offline: bank transfer, cheque and cash. The tenant declares the payment, and it stays flagged as awaiting confirmation until a landlord or manager matches it against money that actually arrived. That two-step design is deliberate — a declaration is not a receipt.
- 1As the tenant, open the tenancy and press “Pay” on the instalment that is due.
- 2In the select labelled “How are you paying?”, choose “Bank transfer”, “Cheque” or “Cash”.
- 3Enter the transfer or cheque number in the “Reference” field. It is optional, and it is the only thing that will let the other side find the money.
- 4Press the confirm button, which reads “Tell them I paid by …” rather than “Pay” for these methods.
- 5As the landlord or manager, open the management console and choose Receivables.
- 6Find the “Payments to confirm” card and read the “Said to be paid by” and “Told us” columns.
- 7Check your bank or mobile money statement, then press “Confirm received”, or press “Not received…” and give a reason.
You did it right if. The declaration disappears from “Payments to confirm”, and the instalment on the tenancy shows as paid rather than awaiting confirmation.
Watch out. There is no printable rent receipt anywhere in the product yet — no PDF, no download, no emailed receipt. The tenancy record, the instalment status and the tenancy timeline are the evidence. If a tenant needs something to show a third party, the signing certificate covers the agreement but nothing covers an individual payment, so say so plainly rather than promising a receipt that will not arrive.
about 12 minutes
Lesson 6 of 6
Renew, or end it cleanly
Objective. A renewal offered and answered, or a deposit resolved with both sides on the record.
Renewal is an offer the tenant answers, not a change you make to their tenancy. The offer carries a new rent and a term, and it sits visibly awaiting their answer until they accept or decline.
Ending well is mostly about the deposit. It is tracked as a liability separate from rent and never netted into income, and it is resolved through a recorded exchange rather than a deduction announced after the fact. AI cannot deduct a deposit, and a deposit is never deducted on an automated classification alone.
- 1To renew: open the tenancy while it is active and find the “Lease renewal” panel.
- 2Enter “New rent (GHS)” and the “Term (months)”, then press “Offer renewal”.
- 3The tenant opens the same panel and presses “Accept renewal” or “Decline”. Until they do, you see that you are waiting on them.
- 4To end: open the “Inspections” panel, choose Move-out from the “New inspection” select and press “Start inspection”, recording the condition of each item.
- 5Open the “Deposit resolution” panel and press “Start deposit resolution”.
- 6Add each deduction with a label, an amount and a reason, then press “Add deduction”. Read the running “Refund to tenant” figure as you go.
- 7Press “Send to tenant for review”. The tenant then presses “Agree” or “Dispute”.
- 8Once agreed, press “Settle & refund” for the remaining amount.
You did it right if. For a renewal, the panel shows the offer as awaiting the tenant, then the new rent and period once accepted. For an ending, the deposit panel shows Deposit held, Total deductions and Refund to tenant, and the tenancy timeline carries the settlement.
Watch out. Do not add deductions after sending the resolution to the tenant and expect them to be included — the deduction list locks at each stage of the deposit workflow. Complete the move-out inspection first, enter every deduction with its reason, and only then send it across.
about 14 minutes