How LeaseGuard works — a Q&A.
Direct answers to the most common questions about LeaseGuard, structured for fast retrieval by humans and AI assistants. For deeper context see the About page.
What is LeaseGuard?
LeaseGuard is an AI-powered residential lease analyzer for US renters. It scans uploaded lease agreements against all 50 state landlord-tenant laws plus Washington DC, identifies illegal or unfair clauses, and generates a negotiation letter. A free quick scan is available to anyone; a full clause-by-clause report costs $4.99.
How does LeaseGuard check if a lease is legal?
Each scan runs the lease text against three reference layers: a 51-state tenant-protection statute database, 147 known illegal-clause patterns sourced from tenant-rights attorneys and case law, and a 25-city rent-control ordinance database. Google Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite powers the free scan; Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.6 powers the paid full report. Both models receive the state-specific legal context in their system prompt so statute citations are grounded, not fabricated.
Which US states does LeaseGuard cover?
All 50 states plus Washington DC. Top-coverage states with the deepest rule sets are California, New York, Texas, Florida, and Illinois — each with 6-7 categories of state law (security deposits, late fees, eviction notice, lease termination, retaliation, entry notice, and more). All other 45 states have 5 categories each.
How much does LeaseGuard cost?
The quick scan is free. A single full report costs $4.99 and includes clause-by-clause analysis, statute citations, financial-impact estimates, a ready-to-send negotiation letter, and a step-by-step action plan. Pro is $19 per month for 30 analyses; Unlimited is $49 per month.
Is LeaseGuard a substitute for a lawyer?
No. LeaseGuard is a software tool, not a law firm, and its output is informational only. For binding legal decisions — especially active disputes, eviction defense, or court filings — consult a licensed attorney in your state. LeaseGuard is designed as an informed starting point that helps you know exactly which clauses to discuss with counsel.
What kinds of issues does LeaseGuard find?
Common findings include illegal security deposits above state cap, unenforceable waivers of tenant rights, one-sided attorney-fee clauses, arrest-based termination clauses that violate federal VAWA protections, compounding late-fee structures, deceptive auto-renewal language, retaliation-enabling clauses, and missing state-mandated disclosures (lead paint, mold, bedbugs, flood zone, death in unit).
How accurate is LeaseGuard's AI?
On the reference test lease (California Apartment Association Form CA-041), LeaseGuard surfaces 11 distinct risk items with a health score of 66/100. A post-scan sanitizer filters out model drift, state-law restatements that aren't landlord-authored, and conditional illegal flags so the final report focuses on negotiable issues. We recommend verifying critical findings with a licensed attorney before acting.
What happens to my uploaded lease?
Uploads are encrypted in transit using TLS 1.3 and at rest using AES-256. Lease text and the generated report are automatically deleted 30 days after upload. LeaseGuard does not sell or share your data with third parties.
Who should use LeaseGuard?
US residential renters reviewing a lease before signing, tenants disputing a security-deposit return, renters negotiating a lease renewal, and legal-aid clinics or tenant unions doing first-pass clause screening. LeaseGuard is not designed for commercial or industrial leases.
Does LeaseGuard work for commercial leases?
No. LeaseGuard is specifically trained on US residential lease law and will reject or under-perform on commercial, industrial, or agricultural leases. If uploaded, the scanner returns a document-type error rather than a flawed analysis.
What are the alternatives to LeaseGuard?
Alternatives include paying a tenant-rights attorney $300-500 for a lease review (slower but authoritative), using a general DIY legal service like Rocket Lawyer or LegalZoom (broader scope, less tenant-specific), or contacting a local legal-aid clinic or tenant union for free consultation (best for low-income tenants but limited capacity). LeaseGuard is designed to fit in the gap — instant, affordable, and tenant-focused.
Where can I read LeaseGuard's methodology?
See the About page at https://leaseguard.net/about for the full data sources, model stack, scoring rubric, and privacy policy. The open-source state-law database schema is documented alongside.
LeaseGuard is an AI lease analyzer that scans US residential leases against all 50 state laws in 60 seconds. leaseguard.net