Question 1

What exactly is Packet?

Accepted Answer

Packet is a document-collection and assembly tool for rental applications. You set the document checklist for a listing, send the applicant one link, and everyone on the application — applicant, co-applicants, guarantors — is guided through uploading their own documents. Every upload is checked the moment it lands, and when the application is complete you get a single landlord-ready PDF to review and forward. You and the landlord make every decision; Packet just kills the paper chase.

Question 2

How much does it cost?

Accepted Answer

Packet is in invite-only early access and currently free for agents. It is always free for applicants, co-applicants, and guarantors — we never charge an application fee, and we never collect or hold rent, deposits, or any other payment. If broker pricing is introduced later, we will talk to you directly first.

Question 3

Are you a brokerage? Are you competing with me?

Accepted Answer

No. Leaseswap is not a real estate broker, agent, or any other licensee under New York Real Property Law § 440, and not a landlord or property manager. We never represent either side, never negotiate lease terms, and never touch your commission. Packet listings are private working spaces — they are not published to Leaseswap search, the map, StreetEasy, or anywhere else. Your listing, your client, your deal.

Question 4

Who can see my applicants’ documents?

Accepted Answer

Only the people the application is addressed to: you, and the landlord you forward the packet to. People on the same application never see each other’s files — a guarantor’s bank statements do not pass through the applicant, and vice versa. We do not sell or share applicant data, and documents are deleted 30 days after the application closes.

Question 5

How is the data protected?

Accepted Answer

Documents are encrypted in transit and at rest. AI processing runs on Amazon Bedrock (Anthropic Claude) under a zero-data-retention configuration — the model provider does not store documents and does not train on them. Uploaded documents and the compiled packet are deleted 30 days after the application reaches a final state, and deleting an account deletes its packet documents too. The full details are in our Privacy Policy and Packet Terms.

Question 6

Does the AI evaluate or score applicants?

Accepted Answer

Never. The AI performs clerical checks only — completeness, legibility, and consistency. It does not score, rank, or evaluate anyone as a tenant, and it is designed to refuse questions like “will this applicant be approved.” Packet is also built not to surface fair-housing-protected characteristics beyond what the documents you requested inherently contain. Every judgment about an application stays with you and the landlord.

Question 7

Do you run credit or background checks?

Accepted Answer

No. Leaseswap is not a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and Packet is not a tenant screening service. If your checklist includes a credit report, the applicant pulls their own report and uploads it — our systems deliberately do not read or extract its contents. Any actual check runs between you (or your screening provider) and the applicant, under your own authorization forms.

Question 8

Can I use my own document checklist?

Accepted Answer

Yes — the checklist is yours. Start from a template (standard or student) and edit anything per listing: add or remove items, leave notes on individual items so applicants know exactly what you want, and include “no file needed” items like forms you’ll send later. Applicants see your requirements, in your words.

Question 9

How do co-applicants and guarantors work?

Accepted Answer

Each person gets their own private invitation, signs in with their own account, and uploads their own documents — nothing routes through the primary applicant, and nobody sees anyone else’s files. When everyone is done, all of it is compiled into one packet with every person named on the cover.

Question 10

What if an applicant gets stuck or uploads the wrong document?

Accepted Answer

Problem uploads are flagged immediately — wrong document, missing pages, illegible scan — and the assistant tells the applicant exactly what to fix. Questions the assistant cannot answer are escalated to you. You can also message the applicant in-app, attach a document to a specific checklist item yourself, or submit the application on their behalf when everything is in.

Question 11

What does the landlord actually receive?

Accepted Answer

One clean PDF: a factual cover page with the apartment, the deal terms, everyone on the application, and reference contacts, followed by each person’s documents in the order you set. You review the compiled packet and forward it yourself — nothing goes to a landlord until you send it, and we never contact the landlord directly.

Question 12

How do I get access?

Accepted Answer

Packet is in invite-only early access for NYC listing agents. Email hello@leaseswap.nyc with your name and brokerage and we’ll set up your account and walk you through your first listing — it takes a few minutes.

Send one link.
Get the full packet.

One link in. One PDF out.

Set up the listing

Send one link

Watch it fill itself in

Forward one clean PDF

Close the deal. Skip the chase.

One link, not forty emails

Checks documents, never judges people

Guarantors, handled

A packet landlords take seriously

You stay in control

Your clients’ privacy, protected

Built to hold sensitive documents.

Not a brokerage

No credit checks

Zero-data-retention AI

Deleted after close

Every question we’ve been asked.

Your next application, off your plate.

Send one link. Get the full packet.