SnapLease

What Inspired Us

As long-time renters, we've experienced the frustration of unfair deposit deductions, costs we couldn't challenge because we lacked organized, timestamped documentation. One experience stood out: we were handed a paper-based move-in inspection form and asked to note down issues. We did, but when it came to proof, we had none. Our photos were scattered in our phone gallery, disconnected from the checklist and ultimately useless.

That moment revealed how broken the process is. Renters needed more than a form. They needed proof that could stand up in a dispute.

What We Learned

• U.S. renters lose over $20 billion annually in security deposits
• Over 50% don't document move-in conditions properly
• Most renters either skip documentation or store unstructured photos on their phones
• The rental tech space is landlord-centric, not renter-focused
• Move-in inspections are still manual, paper-based, and legally flimsy

We learned there's a clear opportunity to create a tenant-first tool that empowers renters with structure, evidence, and peace of mind.

How We Built It

SnapLease was created during the Bolt Hackathon in June 2025. We started development inside Bolt, using the Expo template to quickly prototype onboarding, camera integration, and room selection flows.

As we scaled into more complex workflows like retroactive photo uploads and PDF generation, we continued development in Cursor, which allowed for greater control over custom logic and UI flexibility.

Key Features

• Document Now: Step-by-step photo and video capture during move-in
• Retroactive Upload: Organize existing photos by room and issue, preserving timestamps
• PDF Report Generator: One-click export of timestamped media and notes into a professional report

Tech Stack

• Frontend: React Native
• Backend: Supabase (Postgres, Storage, Auth)
• State Management: Zustand
• Storage: AsyncStorage + Supabase Buckets
• PDF Reports: Custom-built with embedded images and digital signatures

Challenges We Faced

1. UI Complexity – Multi-step navigation and conditional flows became harder to manage as features grew
2. Media Performance – Uploading large media files required memory optimization and feedback states
3. State Management – Managing photo state across rooms, checklists, and retroactive uploads introduced edge cases
4. PDF Generation – Creating printable, well-formatted PDFs with embedded images and signatures was technically demanding
5. Product Positioning – We had to carefully balance "tenant-first" messaging with platform neutrality for future use

What We'd Improve With More Time

• Fix minor UI inconsistencies across different screen sizes
• Address remaining state sync bugs in multi-room documentation flows
• Add better media compression and caching
• Polish the overall visual system and improve accessibility compliance

What's Next

• Landlord dashboard for small landlords who want documentation parity
• Smart reminders and notifications for move-in/out deadlines
• Verification score system to create reputation profiles for both parties
• Legal template export for use in dispute resolution or small claims court

SnapLease is our first step toward creating a modern standard for verified trust in rental relationships. With better tools, we believe renters and landlords can move from friction to fairness.

Built With

• bolt
• cursor
• expo.dev
• reactnative
• supabase
• typescript
• zustand