Rent Agreement Generator
Residential, commercial or leave and licence, with checks on registration and deposits.
Checks
Preview
Highlighted hints mark fields you have not filled in; downloads and printouts show a blank line there instead. To print, choose your printer or “Save as PDF” and turn off “Headers and footers”.
For general information only, not legal advice. Templates are generic starting points — have a qualified lawyer review anything you rely on.
About the Rent Agreement Generator
Fill in the owner, the tenant, the property and the money terms, and a complete rent agreement builds itself as you type: term and end date, rent and due date, interest-free deposit and refund, lock-in, notice, maintenance and utilities, repairs, sub-letting, renewal, jurisdiction, a schedule of the property, an inventory annexure and signature blocks for the parties and two witnesses.
Choose a rent agreement (a lease under the Transfer of Property Act) or a leave and licence agreement, the format used in Maharashtra, for residential or commercial premises. A checks panel explains, as you type, when registration is compulsory, when a deposit is above the Model Tenancy Act caps, and what stamp duty means for you. It is a generic starting point, not legal advice — read it carefully and have a lawyer review anything unusual.
How to use it
- Choose Rent agreement or Leave and licence, residential or commercial, and the State where the property is. The State decides registration and stamp duty rules.
- Enter the owner and tenant (add joint owners or co-tenants, or switch to Company or firm), then describe the property.
- Set the start date, term, lock-in and notice, then the rent, deposit and who pays maintenance, electricity and water. The end date and deposit multiple appear as you type.
- Tick the other terms you want, add an inventory of fittings and the witnesses. Anything you leave empty prints as a blank line to fill in by hand.
- Read the Checks panel, then Download DOCX to edit in Word, Download PDF, or Print. Under Printing you can leave space at the top of page 1 for e-stamp paper.
Examples
Rent Rs 28,000 due by the 5th · deposit Rs 56,000 · start 1 Nov 2026 · lock-in 6 months · notice 1 month
1. Term. The Landlord lets the Premises to the Tenant for a period of 11 (eleven) months commencing on 1 November 2026 and ending on 30 September 2027 (the “Term”)… 2. Rent. … a monthly rent of Rs. 28,000/- (Rupees Twenty Eight Thousand Only), in advance, on or before the 5th day of each calendar month…
The checks panel notes that the 5% increase applies on renewal, and that stamp duty must be paid under Karnataka law.
Rent Rs 20,000 · term 24 months · increase 5% every 12 months
Period 1 Nov 2026 to 31 Oct 2027 — Rs. 20,000/- Period 1 Nov 2027 to 31 Oct 2028 — Rs. 21,000/-
Because the term exceeds one year, the checks warn that the lease must be registered (Registration Act s.17(1)(d)).
Common uses
- Owners and tenants writing down an 11-month flat or house rental before stamping and signing.
- Shop and office lettings, with business-use, licences, signage and GST terms.
- Maharashtra leave and licence agreements, with the registration and s.24 notes.
- Preparing a clean draft to take to a lawyer, a registration office or an e-stamp vendor.
Rent agreement or leave and licence?
A lease transfers a right to enjoy the property for a time in return for rent (Transfer of Property Act 1882, s.105). A licence is only a permission to use the property that does not create an interest in it (Indian Easements Act 1882, s.52). Courts look at what the arrangement really is, not only at its title.
Leave and licence agreements are the usual format in Maharashtra, where the Maharashtra Rent Control Act 1999 gives owners a quick remedy: a licensee of residential premises who stays on after the licence ends can be evicted by the Competent Authority and must pay damages at double the licence fee (s.24). The generator adds that clause only for residential leave and licence agreements in Maharashtra.
Registration and the 11-month practice
Under the Registration Act 1908, leases from year to year, for a term exceeding one year, or reserving a yearly rent must be registered (s.17(1)(d)); the Transfer of Property Act s.107 says such leases can be made only by a registered instrument. An unregistered document that needed registration does not affect the property and cannot be used as evidence of the lease, except for collateral purposes (s.49). Documents must be presented within four months of signing (s.23).
That is why many agreements run for 11 months. Maharashtra is different: in the areas covered by the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, every leave and licence or letting agreement must be in writing and registered, whatever its term (s.55). The owner is responsible; if it is not registered, the tenant’s version of the terms prevails unless proved otherwise, and the owner can be fined up to Rs 5,000 or jailed for up to three months. IGR Maharashtra offers online registration of leave and licence agreements.
How much security deposit?
There is no single all-India limit. The Model Tenancy Act 2021 published by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs caps the deposit at two months’ rent for residential and six months’ rent for non-residential premises (s.11), and asks landlord and tenant to inform a Rent Authority of the agreement within two months (s.4). It is a model law: it applies only where a State has passed a tenancy law based on it, so check your State’s law. The generator warns when your deposit is above these caps so you can check.
Stamp duty and e-stamp paper
Stamp duty on rent and leave and licence agreements is fixed by each State’s stamp law and depends on the rent, deposit and term, so this tool does not calculate it. Pay it through e-stamping (SHCIL) or your State’s system; in Maharashtra, IGR has a leave and licence stamp duty calculator. An instrument that is not duly stamped can be impounded and cannot be admitted in evidence until the duty and a penalty are paid (Indian Stamp Act 1899, ss.33 and 35, and the State equivalents).
If you will print the first page on stamp paper, tick Leave blank space at the top of page 1 under Printing and set the height of the stamp area.
What the generated agreement contains
- Parties with parentage, age and address (or company and authorised signatory), joint owners and co-tenants
- Recitals, term with exact end date, rent with due day and payment mode, part-month proration
- Interest-free deposit, what may be deducted, refund timing, and no adjustment against rent
- Maintenance, electricity, water and owner’s outgoings; optional GST for commercial rent
- Use, sub-letting, repairs, alterations, inspection with notice, conduct, pets and tenant verification
- Lock-in, termination with notice, handover, renewal, stamp duty and registration, notices, jurisdiction
- Schedule of the premises, inventory annexure, signature and witness blocks, and an optional initials line on every page
Sources
- Registration Act 1908 — ss.17(1)(d), 23, 49
- Transfer of Property Act 1882 — ss.105–107
- Indian Easements Act 1882 — s.52
- Maharashtra Rent Control Act 1999 — ss.2, 24, 55 and Schedules I–II
- Model Tenancy Act 2021 (MoHUA) — ss.4 and 11
- Indian Stamp Act 1899 — ss.33 and 35 (each State has its own Act and rates)
Limitations
- A generic template, not legal advice. Rent control laws differ by State and some override the agreement — have a lawyer review it, especially for long terms, commercial premises or large deposits.
- Stamp duty and registration fees are not calculated; they depend on your State and change by notification.
- The clauses are in English. Names and addresses typed in Hindi, Marathi or other Indian scripts appear correctly in the preview, DOCX and Print, but not in the PDF download (the PDF engine cannot shape those scripts).
- It does not register or stamp anything: registration (where required) is done at the Sub-Registrar’s office or through your State’s online system.
- The first DOCX or PDF download needs a connection to load the document engine; Print works offline.
Privacy
Everything happens in your browser. Names, addresses and amounts are not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot. If you tick Keep a draft in this browser, the form is saved in this browser’s local storage until you untick it — leave it off on a shared computer.
Frequently asked questions
Why are rent agreements usually made for 11 months?
Because leases for a term exceeding one year (or from year to year, or reserving a yearly rent) must be registered under s.17(1)(d) of the Registration Act 1908. An 11-month agreement stays below that threshold. It still needs stamp duty under your State’s law, and in Maharashtra every leave and licence or letting agreement must be registered regardless of the term.
Is an unregistered rent agreement valid?
If the law did not require registration (for example an 11-month residential agreement outside Maharashtra), it is valid once properly stamped and signed. If registration was compulsory and was skipped, the document cannot be used as evidence of the lease (Registration Act s.49), although it may be used for collateral purposes.
How much security deposit can a landlord ask for?
There is no single all-India cap. The Model Tenancy Act 2021 suggests at most two months’ rent for homes and six months’ rent for commercial premises, but it applies only where a State has adopted a law based on it. The tool shows a warning above those levels so you can check your State’s law.
Who pays the stamp duty?
Unless the parties agree otherwise, the tenant (lessee) bears the stamp duty on a lease under s.29 of the Indian Stamp Act 1899, and State stamp laws have similar rules. You can agree differently: the agreement records your choice of tenant, owner, or both equally.
What is a lock-in period?
A period at the start of the term during which neither party (or only the tenant) may end the agreement, except for a serious breach. You can also add a clause that a tenant who leaves during the lock-in pays the rent for the rest of it — courts may treat such amounts as compensation that must be reasonable (Contract Act s.74).
Can I sign the rent agreement electronically?
The Information Technology Act 2000 recognises electronic signatures made by a prescribed method (s.5) — a digital signature or Aadhaar-based e-authentication (Second Schedule) — and rent agreements are not among the documents it excludes. A typed name or pasted image is not such a signature. Stamp duty still applies, and where registration is required it follows your State’s process; Maharashtra, for example, offers online registration of leave and licence agreements.
Can I make the agreement in Hindi or Marathi?
The clauses are in English. You can type names and addresses in Devanagari and they will appear in the preview, the DOCX file and Print. For a full translation, ask a qualified translator or lawyer to check it — legal wording in another language should be verified, not machine-generated.