Twelve leases a year in Chilenje
Landlords with rolling renewals
Drafting and chasing signatures by hand stops working past a handful of leases at once.
Notes for Zambian landlords
No. 04 · Leases signed on a phone
Updated September 2026
No. 04 · Leases and signing
A lease signed on a phone, not chased for weeks
The usual pattern: a lease drafted in Word, printed, then signed in person or sent back as a photo of a signature. By the time there is a dispute, nobody is sure which version is the final one. Tezeka drafts the lease, sends it for signing on a phone and keeps a record of exactly what was signed, and when.
In short
- Residential, apartment, commercial and farm lease templates
- Signed on the tenant’s own phone, through a private link
- A fingerprint and a QR record on every signed file
- Renewal reminders before a lease ends, not after
02 · Side by side
The same lease, two ways
In Word and WhatsApp
- Several near identical copies on a phone and in email
- A signature sent back as a photo
- Nobody sure which rent figure was agreed
- Renewal remembered after the lease has run out
In Tezeka
- One agreement, drafted from the property’s own details
- Signed on the tenant’s phone after a one time code
- The final file carries its own fingerprint and QR record
- A reminder well before the lease ends
Nobody agrees which copy is the real one
A lease drafted once and edited a few times, a rent figure changed here, a clause added for a second tenant there, ends up as several near identical files on a phone, in an email and in a folder somewhere. When a dispute comes up months later, working out which version both sides agreed to becomes its own argument, on top of whatever the dispute was about.
Printing, signing in person and scanning is not always possible either. An owner abroad cannot witness a signature, and a tenant moving in at short notice does not want to wait for a meeting.
04 · How it works
A lease for Flat 3, Woodlands
Drafted from the property’s own details, not a blank template filled in by hand.
- 10 Feb
Choose the property type: residential, apartment, commercial or farm, each with its own clauses.
- 10 Feb
The draft fills itself in with the tenant, the unit, the rent and the terms.
- 12 Feb
A signing link goes to Thandiwe on WhatsApp or by SMS. She needs no account.
- 14 Feb, 10:20
She signs on her phone after a one time code, and the sealed PDF comes back to both of you.
- 14 Dec
A renewal reminder arrives two months before the lease ends.
What the seal proves, and what it does not
The QR record and the fingerprint confirm that a document is exactly the file that was signed, byte for byte. Upload a copy and it is compared with the fingerprint Tezeka stored for the final file. That is document integrity: proof the file was not altered after signing.
It is not a claim that the agreement is legally enforceable on its own. Whether a signed agreement holds up depends on the law and your circumstances, just as it would with ink on paper. Tezeka’s part is making sure the document itself cannot quietly change afterwards.
06 · Where this lives in Tezeka
Plate I
- 1
Three steps for the tenant: verify, review and sign
- 2
The code goes only to the contact you used for this agreement
- 3
Nothing is sent until the tenant chooses how to receive it
07 · Who this is for
Three landlords we had in mind
Living in London, letting in Lusaka
Owners who cannot sign in person
Your tenant signs on their own phone, without you needing to be in the country, or in the room.
An agent preparing drafts
Agents drafting for an owner
Draft from the property’s actual terms, then hand the owner a clean document to approve instead of a Word file to check from scratch.
08 · What changes
What you stop doing by hand
- i
Chasing a signature for weeks
- ii
Keeping several near identical copies
- iii
Remembering when each lease ends
- iv
Arguing about which version is final
No. 0001
- Date
- Today
- Received from
- You
- For
- 1 unit
- Amount
- K99 a month
Counterfoil. Keep for your records
Start here
Start with the property you have
Solo is K99 a month for 1 unit. Your tenants keep paying you directly by MoMo, Airtel Money or bank transfer. Tezeka never touches your rent.
Is a lease signed on Tezeka legally binding?
Tezeka records a signing step verified with a one time code and seals the final file with a fingerprint and a QR record, so anyone can confirm the document has not changed since it was signed. That proves the document’s integrity, not its legal enforceability on its own. As with a signature in ink, whether it holds up depends on the law and your circumstances, and we recommend qualified legal advice for anything important.
What if the tenant does not have a smartphone?
The signing link opens on any phone that can open WhatsApp or a browser link. It needs something that can show the document and take a signature, not a particular device.
Can I edit a lease after it is signed?
No. A signed lease is final by design, which is what the seal protects. A change starts a renewal instead of editing the original.
Which property types have their own template?
Residential, apartment, commercial and farm, each with clauses suited to that kind of property rather than one generic template stretched to fit.
How does the tenant get their copy?
The signed PDF is delivered back over WhatsApp, so there is no separate step to remember.
Does this replace a lawyer for a complex lease?
No. It handles drafting from a template and the signing and integrity mechanics. For anything unusual or high in value, a lawyer’s review is still worth having.