How to sign a tenancy agreement or rental document online, without uploading it

What you may be asked to sign

Renting a home comes with paperwork: the tenancy agreement itself, the inventory or check-in report, a holding deposit form, sometimes a short statement for referencing. Most of it arrives as a PDF with a line that says ‘Signature’. The usual choices are a signing website that wants you to upload the file and open an account, or printing, signing, scanning and sending it back. Cachety does it in your browser instead.

How to sign your rental documents with Cachety

1. 1Open cachety.com/en/sign in your browser, on a computer or a phone. There is nothing to install and no account to create.
2. 2Your documents: drop the PDF onto the page, or tap to choose it. You can add several files at once, such as the agreement and the inventory. A photo of a paper document works too: it becomes a one-page PDF.
3. 3Your signature: draw it with your finger, a stylus or the mouse, type your name, or upload a photo of your signature on white paper. In ‘Under the signature (optional)’, keep today's date and, if you wish, add the place and a short note such as ‘Read and approved’.
4. 4Place, check, download: your signature appears at the bottom right of the last page. Drag it onto the signature line and use the corner to resize it. Tick ‘Also initial every page’ if the agent asks for initials on each page.
5. 5Check the preview, then download. The signed copy keeps the original name with -signed at the end. Send that copy back to the agent.

With several documents, each one gets its own placement. A document is not ready until your signature is on it: the list tells you which ones are still waiting.

After the download, Cachety shows a fingerprint of each file: a 64-character code worked out from the exact file you download. Copy it, keep it with your records, and send it with the document (in the same email, for example). If a different version of the agreement ever turns up, its fingerprint will not match: you can tell it is not the file you sent.

Options worth knowing

• ‘Also initial every page’ puts a small copy of your signature on each of the other pages, so a swapped page is easier to spot.
• ‘Lock with a password’ is off by default, because the agent must be able to open the file. Turn it on only if you give them the password another way, for example by phone.
• ‘Make it smaller’ helps when the agent's email or portal limits the file size.
• ‘Also add a watermark’ writes the purpose, the recipient and the date across the signed copy.

Your documents never leave your device

Cachety works inside your browser. There is no server that receives your documents, and the page is technically forbidden from contacting any other website. Check it yourself: once the page has loaded, switch on aeroplane mode, then sign your document. Everything still works. Your signature is not saved either: it only exists in the tab's memory and is gone when you close it.

Each page of the signed copy is rebuilt from its pixels. This removes hidden text and metadata, and it means the text can no longer be selected in the signed copy. Your original stays with you, untouched.

Is this signature valid for a tenancy?

A signature you draw, type or upload and place on a document is what is commonly called a simple electronic signature. In the UK, electronic signatures are generally accepted, and in the EU a court cannot reject one as evidence solely because it is electronic (eIDAS Regulation, article 25). For everyday rental paperwork, such as a tenancy agreement, an inventory or a holding deposit form, this is usually accepted.

If the signature is ever disputed, whoever relies on the document must prove who signed it: keep the email or message it was sent with. A qualified signature, made with a certificate from a qualified provider, is the strongest kind and the hardest to dispute.

This is not the right tool when a qualified signature is required, for a will, for a document that must be signed as a deed in front of a witness, as some longer leases must, or when the other party insists on a specific signing platform (some loan or insurance contracts, some official procedures). In those cases, use what they ask for. This is not legal advice.

Can someone reuse my signature?

Your signature is part of the image of each page, so it cannot be moved or deleted as a PDF element. But, as with a scanned paper signature, someone could cut it out of the image and paste it elsewhere: no image of a signature can prevent that. Nor does the file prove who placed it, or that the document was not changed afterwards. Keep your copy. To limit the risk, add a watermark that ties the copy to its purpose and recipient, and initial every page.