For property managers and landlords

Lease applications, debit order mandates and inspection reports, filled in by the tenant and back in your inbox.

DocFilla lets a landlord or property manager send a PDF form to a tenant by email, who fills it in and signs it on their phone, and the completed copy comes back to you.

Keep each form as a template with your details filled in, and send it again for every new tenant.

How it works from your side

1. 1

   Turn your application pack into a template

   Upload the lease application, the debit order mandate and the house rules acknowledgement. Fill in the parts that are always the same, such as the property address and your banking details for the mandate, and save them as templates.

2. 2

   Send it to each applicant

   Each applicant gets their own copy by email. Every field marked for them is required, so the form comes back with the employer, income and previous landlord sections complete.

3. 3

   The tenant fills it in on their phone

   DocFilla finds every box on the page. The tenant types the rest, ticks the boxes and signs with a finger. If they have a DocFilla account, their saved details fill in first.

4. 4

   Sign the lease in turn

   Send the lease's signature fields to the tenant and then to yourself, or to a co-tenant first. Each person sees the document as it stands when their turn comes, and signs on their phone.

5. 5

   File the completed copy

   Each completed form comes back as its own document in your Documents. Download the flattened PDF for the tenant's file, and let DocFilla delete the working copy on the schedule you choose.

What you can send today

• Templates

  Keep a form you send often. Fill in your part once; it stays locked on every copy you send.

• Send for completion

  Each person gets their own copy by email and completes every field marked for them before it comes back.

• Signing rounds

  Send specific fields on one document to several people, at once or in turn. Anyone can pass with a note instead of signing.

• Their details fill in too

  Someone with their own DocFilla account opens your form with their saved details already in place.

• Fill and sign on a phone

  Links open in the browser. Nothing to print, scan, or install.

• Scans and photos work

  A photo of a printed form is read the same way as a PDF, one character per box where the form has boxes.

• Back in your Documents

  Every completed copy comes back as its own document, with a flattened PDF to download for the file.

• Encrypted

  What people fill in is encrypted under your key before it reaches the database, and is never used to train AI.

• Deleted on your schedule

  Delete a document right away, after 24 hours, after 7 days, or keep it until you remove it.

Not yet

So you know before you start:

• No team accounts yet. Each person who sends forms has their own DocFilla account.
• DocFilla does not collect deposits or rent, and it does not take attachments such as payslips or bank statements. Ask for those separately.
• Forms are sent by email, not WhatsApp.
• There is no list of all outstanding forms across your tenants; each document shows who has completed their copy.

Questions people ask

How do I get a tenant to fill in a rental application online?

Upload the application to DocFilla, save it as a template with the property details filled in, and send it to the applicant's email address. They complete it on their phone and the finished PDF comes back to your Documents.

Can a lease be signed electronically in South Africa?

Yes, for an ordinary residential lease. The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act gives an electronic signature legal effect, and its Schedule 2 excludes a lease of land only when it runs for more than 20 years. If you want initials on every page, add an initials box to each page before you send it.

Can the tenant and I both sign the same lease?

Yes. Send the signature fields as a signing round: the tenant signs first and then it is your turn, or everyone signs at once. You sign through a link of your own like everyone else.

How do I send the same application to several applicants?

Send the template to each applicant by name and email. Every one of them gets their own copy, and each copy comes back separately, so applications are never mixed up.

What if the tenant has no printer or scanner?

They do not need one. The form opens in their phone's browser, they fill it in and sign with a finger, and DocFilla produces the completed PDF.

How long are the completed forms kept?

That is up to you. By default a downloaded document is deleted 24 hours later; you can delete it right away, keep it for 7 days, or keep it until you remove it.