Can I sign a rental agreement electronically?

In most cases, yes. This page describes German and EU law specifically; rules differ elsewhere. A standard residential or commercial rental agreement with an indefinite or short fixed term has no special form requirement under German law — a lease can generally be concluded validly even orally or by email confirmation. A Simple Electronic Signature (SES) under eIDAS Art. 25, the kind SignSent creates, is a practical, legally recognized solution for most rental agreements of this kind.

The important exception: rental agreements for land or residential/commercial premises concluded for a fixed term of MORE than one year are subject to statutory written form under § 550 BGB. If that written form is not observed, the contract is not void — instead it is treated as concluded for an indefinite period, meaning either side can terminate it early with ordinary notice, even though a fixed term was actually agreed. In practice this mostly affects longer-term commercial leases, but it can also matter for long, fixed-term residential leases.

For § 550 BGB, statutory written form can generally be replaced by electronic form (§ 126(3) BGB) — but that requires a Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) under eIDAS, not a Simple Electronic Signature. An SES is therefore not sufficient to satisfy the § 550 BGB written-form substitute, even though it validly forms the rental agreement itself.

In practice: a rental agreement with an indefinite term, or a fixed term of up to one year, can be signed with SignSent — the signature is legally recognized as a declaration of intent. For a fixed term of more than one year, check beforehand whether the specific contract wording contains or requires a written-form clause; when in doubt, a handwritten signature on paper or a QES solution is the safer choice. Terminating an existing lease is subject to its own form requirements (§ 568 BGB requires written form for terminating residential leases) and — unlike forming the contract itself — is also not a case for a Simple Electronic Signature.