Aptly's lease renewal setup uses two connected boards — an Owner Renewal Board and a Tenant Renewal Board — to manage the end-to-end renewal process. These boards handle the full lifecycle: identifying leases coming up for renewal, getting owner approval, communicating with tenants, coordinating inspections, and finalizing the signed lease — all with automated follow-up at every stage.
If you're setting this up for the first time, this guide covers everything: how the boards connect, how to configure them correctly, and how to avoid the common mistakes that cause data to go missing or automations to misfire.
For details on setting up the Lease Renewals Workflow, check out our recorded class:
How the two-board system works
The renewal process is intentionally split across two boards to keep owner communication and tenant communication completely separate. This prevents the wrong message going to the wrong person and keeps each team member focused on their part of the process.
Here's the high-level flow: a lease approaching its end date triggers card creation on the Owner Renewal Board. Once the owner approves the renewal terms, that approval automatically creates a linked card on the Tenant Renewal Board. From there, tenant outreach, inspection scheduling, and lease execution happen on the tenant side — completely independently of the owner workflow.
💡 Only need tenant renewal? If your process doesn't require owner approval before contacting tenants, you can run the Tenant Renewal Board only and create cards directly from your Leases board filter. The setup steps are the same — just skip the Owner Board configuration.
Owner Renewal Board workflow
The Owner Renewal Board manages everything from initial lease identification through to the owner's decision. Here's how a renewal card moves through each stage.
Stage-by-stage breakdown
New A card is automatically created when a lease matches your filter (e.g., lease end date within 90 days). It's assigned to a team member and a due date is set.
- CMA in progress Tasks prompt the assignee to complete the market rent analysis. Fields like proposed rent, lease term, and any fee changes are updated directly on the card.
Owner contacted Once CMA tasks are done, the card moves here and triggers automated outreach. The owner receives an email (and SMS if enabled) with a form to approve or decline the renewal. If they don't respond, follow-up automations run automatically:
- Day 1 — Email
- Day 3 — SMS
- Day 5 — Email
- Day 6 — Task created to call the owner
Approved by owner The owner submits the form. The card moves to Approved by Owner, internal notifications fire, and a new card is automatically created on the Tenant Renewal Board. The owner workflow is now complete.
Non-renewal outcomes If the owner declines, the card moves to Selling, Cancellation, or Non-Renewal depending on the reason selected in the form. Follow-up tasks trigger, and you can optionally launch a move-out workflow from here.
Tenant Renewal Board workflow
Once an owner approves, the Tenant Renewal Board takes over. This board handles tenant outreach, coordinates the property inspection, manages lease preparation, collects renter's insurance info, and tracks the signed lease through to final audit.
The process is more detailed than the owner side — there are more stages, more required fields, and more documents to collect. Most of it is automated, but a few steps (like moving the card after inspection is complete) require manual input.
Stage-by-stage breakdown
New → Tenant contacted The card is created from the Owner Renewal Board and assigned to a user. After one day, the tenant receives an automated email and the card moves to Tenant Contacted. A 30-day follow-up sequence (emails and SMS) runs from here. If there's still no response by day 35, a manual call task is created.
The tenant's outreach email includes:
- Proposed rent amount
- Lease term details
- Any renewal fees
- A form to accept or decline the renewal
Renewal accepted The tenant submits the renewal form. A task is created to schedule the inspection.
Inspection scheduled → Inspection complete The assignee adds the inspection date using the card's calendar field (with the option to sync to a shared calendar and upload an inspection report). After completing the inspection, they log notes and manually move the card to Inspection Complete.
Inspection complete Tasks are created to add any lease preparation fees, confirm the resident benefits package, and draft the lease renewal agreement. If you use Aptly Sign, the lease can be sent directly from the card. The tenant also receives a form to update their renter's insurance details — provider, policy number, effective dates, and declaration page upload — which writes directly back to the card.
Renewal lease sent → Renewal lease signed Move the card once the lease is sent. Monday/Wednesday/Friday reminder notifications keep unsigned leases visible. Once signed, move to Renewal Lease Signed (this step can be automated if using Aptly Sign).
Renewal complete An audit task verifies all fields are accurate in Aptly and synced with your property management system. Once done, the card moves to Renewal Complete.
Moving out If the tenant declines, the card moves automatically to Moving Out and the assignee is notified. You can trigger a move-out workflow from here.
Setup guide
Follow these steps in order. Skipping ahead — especially turning on card creation rules before your fields and forms are configured — is the most common cause of setup problems.
Step 1: Install the template boards
Start by installing the Lease Renewal Best Practice Boards from the Aptly template library. Once installed, do not activate any card creation rules yet — you need to configure fields and forms first.
Don't skip field setup. The template boards ship with placeholder mirror fields. These won't connect to your actual lease data until you replace them with fields mapped to your specific property management system. This must be done before any cards are created — mirror fields only connect at the time of card creation.
Step 2: Configure fields
On the Owner Renewal Board, remove placeholder mirror fields and add new ones pointing to the correct fields on your Leases Board. Group related fields logically (e.g., Lease Details, Financials).
Common fields to mirror from your Leases Board:
Field name | Field type | Notes |
Lease end date | Date | Used to trigger the renewal filter |
Current rent | Currency | Reference for CMA |
Lease term (months) | Number | Included in owner and tenant forms |
Field names and types must match exactly across boards for data to copy correctly. A "Proposed Rent" field that's Currency on one board and Text on another will not transfer. Double-check both the name and type before going live.
Step 3: Set up the Leases Board filter
The filter on your Leases Board is what tells Aptly which leases are ready for renewal. Navigate to your Leases Board and create a new filter with these conditions:
- Status / Stage = Active
- Lease End Date = within the next X days (90 or 180 days are common starting points)
Name the filter clearly (e.g., Leases Ending in 90 Days), set it to Public, and view it to confirm only the right leases are returned before moving on.
Step 4: Configure the card creation rule (Owner Renewal Board)
- Go to Integrations 🔌 on the Owner Renewal Board and select Aptly Board or Location.
- Edit the existing rule (if using template boards) and point it to the Leases filter you created in Step 3.
- Enable the archived card recreation setting. Set it to "Create new if archived card is older than X days" — use a number equal to or slightly greater than your filter window.
If your filter is 90 days, set this value to 90 or 120. This ensures a lease that renewed last year doesn't get blocked by the previous year's archived card.
Step 5: Update forms and email templates
Template boards use placeholder form links. Before going live, replace all form links in your communication templates:
- Open the form on the board.
- Click Share and copy the Update Card Form link — not the standard share link. This version ties submissions to the correct card.
- Paste this link into all related email and SMS templates.
Always use the Update Card Form link. Testing a form outside of a card context will return an error. Always test by triggering the automation from an actual card.
Step 6: Set up the "Approved by Owner" filter
For cards to copy automatically from the Owner Board to the Tenant Board, you need a second filter on the Owner Renewal Board:
- Stage = Approved by Owner
If you're using template boards, this filter is typically pre-configured. Verify it's set to Public and test it against a sample card before enabling the Tenant Board's card creation rule.
Step 7: Configure the Tenant Renewal Board card creation rule
On the Tenant Renewal Board, go to Integrations → Aptly Board or Location. Set the source to Owner Renewal Board and the trigger to the Approved by Owner filter you just created.
You do not need an archived card recreation setting here — every card coming from the Owner Board is a new record, not a recurring one.
Step 8: Final checks before going live
Important notes before going live
⚠️ Do not mirror fields between the Owner and Tenant Renewal Boards. Mirror fields sync from location boards (Buildings, Units, Leases) reliably. Between process boards — especially when cards get archived — the connection breaks and data disappears or becomes stale. Always copy field values, never mirror them, when moving data between your renewal boards.
⚠️ Activate rules last. The most common setup mistake is turning on card creation rules before fields, forms, and automations are fully configured. Any cards created with incomplete setup will be missing data and may not trigger correctly.
💡 Test with a single test lease first. Temporarily narrow your filter to a single lease you control, run the full workflow, and verify every stage transition, form submission, and automation fires correctly before opening it up to all leases.
Best practices
Match your filter window to your team's capacity. A 90-day window gives most teams enough time to complete the CMA, get owner approval, and still have 60 days to work with the tenant. If you manage a high volume of properties or have a slower approval process, consider extending to 120–180 days.
Keep the owner and tenant workflows genuinely separate. Resist the temptation to combine them into one board. The two-board structure isn't just an organizational preference — it prevents your team from accidentally sending owner-facing content to tenants and keeps reporting clean.
Use the audit stage seriously. The Renewal Complete audit task is your last chance to catch data discrepancies before the new lease term starts. Build a short checklist into the task: proposed rent matches the signed lease, new lease end date is updated in your PMS, all attachments are filed.
Review your follow-up sequence timing annually. The default sequences (Day 1/3/5/6 for owners, 30-day for tenants) work well as a starting point, but your tenant population may respond differently. Review response rates after your first full renewal cycle and adjust timing accordingly.
Connect your move-out workflow. Non-renewals and tenant rejections both lead to a move-out. If you have a Move-Out Board set up in Aptly, wire these rejection outcomes to auto-create a card there. It prevents the lease from stalling between two workflows with no one owning the next step.
Troubleshooting
Mirror fields are blank or showing wrong data
Why it happens: Template boards include placeholder mirror fields that haven't been connected to your actual lease fields. Field names vary across property management systems, so these placeholders can't be pre-mapped.
Fix:
- Go to your Leases Board and identify the correct field names for your system.
- On the Owner Renewal Board, delete the placeholder mirror fields.
- Add new mirror fields and map them to your Leases Board fields.
- Group them logically (e.g., Lease Details, Financials).
⚠️ Mirror fields only connect at the time a card is created. If cards already exist on the board, they won't automatically pick up the corrected mirror fields — you may need to update the source (Lease) cards manually.
Forms return errors or don't update the card
Why it happens: Template boards use placeholder form links. The generic form link doesn't know which card to update — only the Update Card Form link carries that context.
Fix:
- Open the form on the board.
- Click Share.
- Copy the Update Card Form link (not the standard share link).
- Replace all form links in your email and SMS templates with this version.
💡 Always test forms by testing the automation from an actual card. Submitting a form outside a card context will always return an error, which doesn't mean the form itself is broken.
Fields aren’t copying between boards
Why it happens: Field mapping mismatches. For data to copy successfully, the field name, field type, and field inclusion in the rule must all match exactly on both boards.
Check all these conditions:
Check | What to verify |
Field name | Must be spelled identically on both boards, including capitalization and spacing |
Field type | e.g., Currency on both boards — a Text field won't receive a Currency value |
Cards aren't being created on the Owner Renewal Board
Why it happens: The most common cause is an archived card from a previous renewal cycle blocking new card creation. By default, Aptly won't create a duplicate card if one already exists, even if it's archived.
Fix:
- Go to your Card Creation Rule on the Owner Renewal Board.
- Enable "Create new if archived card is older than X days."
- Set the value to match or slightly exceed your filter window (e.g., filter = 90 days → set rule to 90–120 days).
💡 To confirm this is the issue, check the Archive View on the board and look for previously created cards for the affected lease.
Approved renewals aren't appearing on the Tenant Board
Why it happens: Either the card creation rule on the Tenant Board isn't enabled, or the filter condition isn't matching correctly.
Checklist:
- Confirm the Approved Renewals rule is enabled on the Tenant Renewal Board
- Verify the filter condition on the Owner Renewals board is set to Stage = Approved by Owner
- Check the filter is set to Public
- Confirm the integration is pointing to the Owner Renewal Board as the source
- Test by manually moving a card to Approved by Owner and checking whether a new card appears on the Tenant Board
Data appears outdated or disappears on the Tenant Board
Why it happens: Mirror fields have been set up between the Owner and Tenant Renewal Boards. This doesn't work reliably — archived cards break the mirror connection, and process boards don't sync continuously the way location boards do.
Fix:
- Remove any mirror fields pointing from the Owner Board to the Tenant Board (or vice versa).
- Instead, use your card creation rule to copy field values at the time the Tenant Board card is created.
- Only mirror from location boards (Building, Unit, Lease) — those connections are stable.
What if you don’t need the Owner Renewals board?
You can definitely use only the Tenant Renewal Board. There are few things that you’ll want to keep in mind:
- When and how do you calculate CMAs?
As our Lease Renewal template boards are designed, the CMA is first calculated on the Owner Renewal board and then copied to the Tenant Renewal. Keep this in mind as you personalize the Tenant Renewal board - you’ll need to include a stage for calculating the proposed rent and lease term for the lease renewal.
- Do you need to notify the Owner at any point in the process? If so, when do you email the owner? Do you need their contact details on the card?
Set up stages, tasks, and fields to include this part of your process.
- When do you send a renewal offer to your tenant? Is it before or after offering a renewal?
Knowing this when setting up the template board will allow you to move stages and automations around the board in an effort to accommodate your chain of events./