Tracking prospective tenants before a lease exists
Keep viewings, applications, notes, and screening documents for prospective long-term tenants in one place, then promote your choice into a real lease.
Why this exists, and where to find it
For a long-term rental, you often have several people to consider before choosing a tenant — someone who viewed the property, someone who applied, someone you're still deciding between. A Rental Candidate lets you track that person before a lease is created: their contact details, a status, any notes from calls or viewings, and screening documents like a DNI copy or payslip.
Open a property, go to its Rentals tab, and switch the "Rentals / Candidates" toggle at the top to "Candidates". This list is separate from your actual rentals for a reason: a candidate isn't a tenant yet, so it doesn't need — and shouldn't have — a contract, a payment ledger, or a calendar entry.
- 1From the Candidates view, click "+ New candidate" and add their name and contact details.
- 2Move the status forward as things progress — see the status guide below for what each one means.
- 3Use the notes icon to log calls, viewings, or anything worth remembering — the same timeline used for tenant communications on a signed rental.
- 4Attach a DNI copy or payslip from the candidate's own modal if you're screening applicants.
A candidate's contact details and documents are encrypted, the same way a signed tenant's are. If you reject or the candidate withdraws, that data is automatically cleared after 90 days — you don't need to delete it by hand for routine cases.
What each status means
The status on a candidate row is how you track where each person is in your decision. There is no wrong order — set whatever reflects reality — but the natural progression is Viewing scheduled → Applied → Accepted.
Viewing scheduled — you have arranged (or held) a viewing, but they have not formally applied. This is the default for a brand-new candidate.
Applied — they have expressed serious interest and, usually, handed over screening documents. Candidates at this stage (and Accepted) show the "Create rental" action on their row.
Accepted — this is the one you have chosen. Setting a candidate to Accepted opens the new-rental form straight away (see the next section). A candidate also lands here automatically once you create their lease.
Rejected — you have decided not to go ahead with this person. Their contact details and documents are automatically cleared 90 days later.
Withdrawn — the candidate pulled out themselves. Same 90-day automatic clean-up as Rejected.
The Candidates list is filtered to "Viewing scheduled" and "Applied" by default, so Accepted, Rejected and Withdrawn candidates are hidden until you switch those filter chips on.
Turning a candidate into a real lease
When you have decided on someone, set their status to "Accepted" (or, if they are still at "Applied", click the "Create rental" icon on their row). Either way, Keyio opens the normal new-rental form already filled in with their name and contact details as the tenant — you only need to add the lease-specific details: dates, rent, and deposit.
Saving that form creates the real long-term rental, marks the candidate as Accepted, and links the two. Their standalone contact details are cleared at that point, because they now live on the rental itself — keeping a second copy would just be extra personal data at rest for no reason.
If you close the form without saving, nothing is lost: the candidate simply stays "Accepted" and the "Create rental" action stays on their row so you can pick it up again later.
Once a candidate has been turned into a lease, the "Create rental" icon is replaced by a "View lease" link that jumps straight to that rental's overview page.