Housing.cloud used Anvil's Etch E-sign API to generate housing agreements, room assignment letters, and roommate matching forms, enabling digital signatures from students.
The Company
Housing.cloud provides student housing software for universities and colleges, managing the complex logistics of housing assignments, roommate matching, and lease agreements for thousands of students. The platform handles everything from initial housing applications through room assignments, roommate preferences, and the execution of housing contracts that govern student living arrangements throughout the academic year.
The Problem
Student housing involves substantial documentation for every academic term. Each student needs a housing agreement that outlines room assignments, payment terms, occupancy rules, and responsibilities. Room assignment letters must be generated to officially notify students of their placements. Roommate matching forms collect student preferences and agreements when multiple students share a space.
Universities process this documentation for thousands of students within concentrated timeframes—typically during summer before the fall semester and during winter break before spring semester. Managing paper-based signatures or even emailed PDF documents for this volume of students creates significant administrative burden. Students lose forms, miss signature deadlines, or submit incomplete documents. Housing staff must track thousands of individual signature processes, follow up with students who haven't signed, and manually verify that all required signatures are collected before students can move in.
The logistics become particularly challenging for incoming freshmen who may not be on campus yet, international students coordinating from abroad, and students who need to sign agreements quickly to secure preferred housing options. A manual signature process creates delays and administrative overhead precisely when housing offices are already working at capacity.
The Solution
Housing.cloud implemented Anvil's Etch E-sign API to create a fully digital signature workflow for all housing documentation.
When housing assignments are finalized, Housing.cloud automatically generates personalized housing agreements, room assignment letters, and roommate matching forms for each student. These documents are pre-populated with the student's information, room assignment details, roommate names, and term dates.
The documents are delivered to students through Housing.cloud's platform, and Anvil's Etch E-sign API powers the signature collection. Students can sign their housing agreements electronically from any device—whether they're at home for summer break, studying abroad, or already on campus. The signing experience is straightforward, guiding students through each required signature field without confusion.
For roommate agreements, the API handles the complexity of collecting signatures from multiple students who are sharing a room. Each roommate receives notification to sign, and the system tracks completion to ensure all required signatures are collected before the agreement is finalized.
Housing staff have real-time visibility into which students have signed their agreements and which still need to complete the process. Instead of manually tracking hundreds of paper forms, they can see signature status instantly and send targeted reminders to students who haven't completed their documents.
All signed documents are automatically stored and associated with each student's housing record, creating a complete digital file that can be accessed throughout the academic year if questions arise about terms or assignments.
By implementing Anvil's Etch E-sign API, Housing.cloud transformed student housing documentation from a paper-intensive process into a streamlined digital workflow that scales efficiently for institutions housing thousands of students while providing a modern experience that meets student expectations.
