Assetsoft - Blog #tenant screening process

A Simple Guide to Tenant Onboarding

Tue, 05 Apr 2022 23:03:26 -0500

For a real estate business owner, tenants can both be a cause and a boon. There are always bound to be model renters who pay bills on time, have valid complaints, and are generally cooperative. On the other hand, you may also get tenants who are the source of headaches.

They can be a hassle for your entire team, from late rent payments to damage to common area properties.

Partnering with Firms

Problems like this are why an efficient, streamlined tenant onboarding system is necessary for every real estate business. Such a system is beneficial if you are a small business owner. By partnering with tech consulting firms, you can access software that will maximize your workflow.

Technology in software like Yardi can help you run background checks on tenant applicants. This screening process is vital because it lets you weed out people who have a terrible history with past real estate businesses. A review system like this enables you to go through tenants' references and income to minimize future evictions.

But tenant onboarding is not limited to just this application screening. As a property manager, it is your responsibility to help the new people settle in. This role implies tasks like providing concise information during lease signing and following up on their status after moving in.

Why Should Tenant Onboarding be Efficient?

Every real estate business knows that client referrals are crucial to making it big. A customer who is satisfied with your company is sure to use your service again. They are also highly likely to recommend you to friends and family.

Research shows that over a whopping 82% of all real estate transactions are referrals. This data highlights the importance of satisfying the client in a real estate business. Without exaggeration, one can say that it could make or break your business.

The onboarding process is crucial because it is your client's introduction to your business. They may have arrived at a friend's recommendation and may have expectations of you.

Therefore, the onboarding process sets the tone for all your future interactions with the tenant. It is crucial to start things on a warm note as a landlord. It is your responsibility to be both professional and friendly. Being aware of the importance of this practice, you can proceed onto the steps required of the onboarding process, including:

Tenant Application Review

Some people may seem to be perfect tenants, but it does not hurt to be extra careful as a property business owner. It is your responsibility to keep the neighborhood as safe as possible, and this means reviewing all relevant information of your potential client before signing the lease.

Why Should You Opt for an Onboarding Software?

Going through the background data of the applicants is exhausting work. If you are in charge of multiple properties, you know difficult it is to manage them. Moreover, your team may not be savants of technology. Such a situation means crucial information about the client's history goes unearthed.

Features

Partnering with a tech firm can help solve this problem. With such a collaboration, you can access software like Yardi ScreenWorks Pro, which uses Artificial Intelligence-based technology to execute tasks. The technology can run background checks on potential clients to review details like income, credit score, and references.

All property managers know how tedious and expensive evictions can be. Installing software like Yardi and MRI can help prevent such hassles so that you admit only the lowest risk tenants. It comes equipped with customizable filters that allow you to choose your client by specific categories.

Besides this, with Yardi ScreenWorks, you get access to many rental data. You can use this information to verify the real estate history of your tenant. An efficient partner will help you optimize your tenant onboarding process by ensuring the following details are in order.

A history of debt, mortgage information, credit scores within a moderate range
References from old landlords and real estate businesses
Payment history

Identity verification including Social Security Number, Driving License, and other govt-issued identification
Insurance details are crucial and should always be verified before the onboarding process.
Employment details including past work history with paycheck stubs, employer data, and more
Personal information like full name, contact, and current housing details.
A pro tip would be to inquire about pets. Your building may be a no pet zone and this minute detail cause friction between you and the tenant later on.

Lease Details

A lease should cover all loopholes regarding the tenant's stay. It should also protect the rights of the tenant and landlord. The issue of practices like standard area management fees often causes disputes later on in the business relationship.

Your contract should be concise about which responsibilities you and the tenants have to avoid future misunderstandings. Typically, leases contain information like

Complete legal names

Date of lease
Rent details include but are not limited to yearly maintenance fees, the expense for the use of common amenities, rent values, security deposit information, and more.
Fees for late rent payment, penalties on property damage,
Details on pets

Leases are usually long and difficult to read because they include the factors mentioned above. It also takes time to add these clauses to the contract. But a lease abstraction software can help you with this. It distills all the crucial points of the agreement and produces it in writing, which is straightforward.

Meeting Up with Clients

Personally, meeting up with your client can be a considerable advantage when signing leases. Technology makes the whole process smoother by minimizing the need for human contact. But there is a limit to what software can do. Your tenant is sure to appreciate a friendly face-to-face welcome.

Advantages

This visit gives you a chance to show them around the property. At the same time, you also get the opportunity to talk about details like rent and security deposit. Your client can also use this opportunity to clarify any points in the contract.

For the best possible first impression, have something to welcome your new tenants. A bouquet or a bottle of wine works excellently. Also offering them information on reliable moving services will be well received. Also, any professional knows to keep track of the number of keys they hand to tenants. Make sure they know not to duplicate them as it could cause security problems later.

Tenant Onboarding Worries? Talk to the Assetsoft Team Today!

We can make tenant onboarding a simple affair. We help you choose the right property management systems, and find the right tenant onboarding solution. Talk to our team to know more about how we can help make tenant onboarding a simple affair for you.

Get Started Now

Top Things That a Tenant Management Software Can Do

Mon, 14 Feb 2022 07:56:00 -0500

As a real estate business owner, you know how important customers can be. A good set of clients forms the backbone of the business. Client data and information can be so crucial that many property managers hesitate to upgrade their systems because of this.

When you move to new software, you can often lose data along the way. Real estate businesses are afraid of this. The list of customers most business owners have is hard-won. These are people they have acquired over years of service. Risking losing this information is unthinkable for many companies.

Importance of a Tenant Management Software

The above paragraph perfectly highlights the importance of customers. However, one must remember most of these people are former tenants or referrals of former tenants. So, essentially the best way to build up a loyal clientele is by improving tenant-landlord relationships.

With evictions being such a dreaded practice, the guide to getting good tenants starts from the lease signing itself. As a property manager, your tenants must face no problems during their stay. A satisfied lease-holder can help make work easier for you as well.

Besides this, a tenant who has received top-notch service is sure to recommend you to a friend or colleagues, helping bring in more traffic.

A tenant management software can help you achieve this by centralizing all management processes under one roof. Here are the main features of this software.

Tenant Onboarding

A tenant onboarding service helps landlords run a background check on applicants. The system collects data like past housing history, criminal history, if any, credit scores, and more. Armed with this information, the landlords onboard only those who pose the least risk.

Effortless Transactions

A tenant management software allows tenants to make payments, pay fines under one system. As soon as they pay rent, both the landlord and the lease-holder receive notifications about the transaction's success. Moreover, the system stores and categorizes these records to avoid future bill confusion.

Disseminate Information

The dedicated tenants portal on the software lets them log in to the system to access vital information about the property. Alerts about building meetings and CAM fees are also sent to their tenant account via this system.

Features to Look For In a Tenant Management Software

There are several tenant management software for a real estate business owner to choose from. But when doing so, it is necessary to select a service that fulfills a firm set of criteria. This list includes:

Cloud Storage

Property managers collect a significant amount of data on the tenant when signing leases. From credit scores to salary information, they come to know a lot about their tenants.

A cloud-based helps store this private information in a safe place. The property manager must store the files in a secure, centralized, and well-categorized platform for future use. Digital storage helps keep the data from hazards like fires and floods.

Cloud storages also come with high-grade security with solid authentication protocols. Since not everyone can access this information, it makes your business a lot less worrying.

Easy Interface for Tenants

With any tenant management software, the ease of the tenant must be a central priority. Built-in client portals help collect vital information under one roof. A simple, easy-to-navigate front page can help users get easier access to crucial information on the site.

Such a system helps them be up to date with notifications and relevant news about the building. Clients also share their views and recommendations with the management via such portals. This system facilitates better communications between the tenant and the landlord, resulting in a healthier relationship.

Must Use AI technology

An automated system is a must for every tenant management system. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help save a lot of energy and time because it can process tenant requests without human help.

Advantages of Tenant Management Software

With a manual tenant management system, a person must be present to process all customer requests. But by installing tenant management software with AI support, you can leave tasks like handling chats and finding searches to the automation.

Some software comes with more advanced bots that are self-learning. This phrase means that the AI reads existing data and integrates it into its system. It helps the bot converse with tenants engagingly and understandably by imitating the writing style of the users. You can even teach the bot to build and send tenant emails.

Rules All Property Managers Must Know About

While dealing with your tenants, you must be consistently professional. Never put them in a situation that makes them uncomfortable in any way. Any disputes are to be solved amicably and legally.

Tenants have several laws protecting them from discrimination. As a landlord, you must be aware of these laws. The property laws change from state to state. However, the clauses for most places resemble the Uniform Residental Landlord And Tenant Act (URLTA) or the Model Residential Landlord-Tenant Code in one way or another.

Fair Housing Act

The Fair Housing Act is another necessary act you must know as a property manager. This law works to prohibit discrimination in housing on the following grounds.

Discrimination based upon race or color
Discrimination based upon religion
Discrimination based upon sex (this includes all forms of sexual harassment)
Discrimination based upon national origin

Discrimination based upon familial status (meaning denial of housing to families with children)
Discrimination based upon disability

Getting Professional Help

If tenant-landlord relationship improvement, consider getting a third party. Hiring a firm to handle complex and often contentious processes can improve your business relationships. For example, CAM reconciliations are one of the most volatile tasks for a property manager out there. This reconciliation is a year-end meeting for the discussion of standard area maintenance.

CAM Reconciliation

As no fixed template or rules govern this process, CAM reconciliation can be a hotspot of disputes. The tenant's CAM fees are usually included in the lease and paid annually. But sometimes, when the maintenance expenses exceed the money spent. In such a situation, the landlord sends an invoice to the tenant.

Improvement in Tenant-Landlord Relationship

Usually, the lease-holder may feel that the property owner is out to scam them. The latter may also grow aggravated due to the former's refusal to pay the fees.

A third-part team in such a situation introduces a refreshing amount of clarity. The tenant is assured of the fairness and objectivity of their accounting. The landlord, meanwhile, can rest easy knowing that their lease will be willing to help with the CAM fees.

The Assetsoft team can help you with your CAM reconciliation and tenant management software needs. Choose a real estate management software that actally meets your business needs. Want to know more? Contact us today!

Get Started Now

Simplifying Tenant Screening Process With Assetsoft

Mon, 21 Jun 2021 08:00:00 -0500

Tenant screening is an essential process for property managers. For those managing multiple properties, screening can be time-consuming and tedious. Individually verifying each application and conducting background checks isn’t the most efficient approach either.

You can simplify your tenant screening through Assetsoft by utilizing the best tenant screening software to suit your requirements.

Why is Tenant Screening Important in The First Place?

The main goal of tenant screening is to find high-quality, reliable tenants. By conducting the necessary background checks, you will:

Know your applicant's financial situation

Getting a full credit report of your applicant can help you understand their financial situation. An applicant might have a verified monthly income but still, have an outstanding debt. This can give you insights into how likely the applicant is to pay monthly rents on time.

Protect your property neighborhood

Through criminal background checks, you can know how safe your tenant is for the neighborhood. Even though some criminal charges are not uncommon, understanding your applicant’s entire criminal history is important. Even if the applicant behaves decently, there are chances of them having a worrisome criminal history.

By putting them through tenant screening, you are not only ensuring the safety of your property but also of other tenants as well.

Avoid future evictions

Eviction can be a costly and lengthy process. It can involve sending a notice to the tenant, filing a complaint, and seeing the process through. This can utilize a lot of your time and effort that you could invest in other important business processes. A simple check of past eviction history can help you reduce the risk of future evictions.

Get peace of mind

Tenant screening ensures that you get a reliable tenant. Every property manager wants tenants that pay rent on time, get along well with others, and cause no legal problems. Through tenant screening, you can be assured that the selected applicant meets all your requirements and that your property is in safe hands. It also helps you make decisions based on data and not on intuitions.

Why choose AI-based tenant screening?

Property managers put in much effort for tenant onboarding, right from placing ads for the right audience to questioning applicants. If you are lax with the screening process, you may end up losing time, money, and even reputation. Manual screening involves more effort and is sometimes error-prone. Going through multiple papers, reading individual applications, and filtering out details is too much of an effort.

While the traditional screening process involved a lot of work and multiple agencies, technology has made tenant onboarding much simpler and efficient.

Benefits of AI-based tenant screening

Reduced screening time

AI can screen applicants more efficiently. Whether it is criminal background checks or eviction history, it can simultaneously handle multiple screening processes. It can also completely control the process without needing human assistance.

More efficient

Manual screening involves running multiple checks separately and sometimes through different agencies. Through AI-based screening, you can integrate all the tests on a single platform. This is more efficient, error-free, and helps you maintain a centralized database for all applications.

Better tenants

According to the pre-decided criteria, AI can filter all the applications to find precisely what you are looking for. Whether you want good credit scores or a tenant with no pets, AI can screen it with no room for doubt.

Enhanced tenant experience

Just like you, tenants also hate filling up multiple applications and waiting for days. With an automated screening process, you give your tenants a quicker and more efficient way to fill up applications and confirm approval. This helps in tenant retention and growing your reputation.

Better savings and ROI

Using an efficient screening process helps retain better tenants. This means no late payments, no property damage, and no costly evictions. This can have a positive impact on your long-term return on investment. AI-based screening can also help you save better, average reduced costs of up to $39 per unit per year.

Safe and secure

Digital submission and storage of data are safer than paper. As screening applications contain important client details, such as the phone number and SSN, it is safer to store them on computers. Digital data storage also ensures that none of the details get lost or damaged. You can also access all your applications remotely through any connectible device.

How to screen the right way

Usually, a tenant screening software handles everything from receiving applications to sending approval emails. All you need to do is feed it a set of pre-decided criteria. It can be anything from setting restrictions on criminal backgrounds to allowing pets. You have to keep certain things in mind while selecting the criteria.

Consistent screening process

The goal of tenant screening is to get reliable tenants. So, every applicant should be given a fair chance and subjected to the same screening process. The US Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to discriminate between applications due to their religion, race, sex, origin, family status, or disability. Having a consistent screening process will make sure you are complying with the Act.

You should collect important details from the application: the applicant’s full name, contact information, references, and social security number. These details will help the AI run appropriate tests to filter suitable tenants.

Regulations and law

Make sure that your screening process and application abides by the national and regional laws. While setting up the process, acquaint yourself with the current and upcoming regulations. For example, some states do not allow discrimination of tenants for specific criminal charges. In some other states, property managers have to explain their selection criteria in writing.

These laws also keep changing. You will need to update your screening process according to the changes.

Run background checks

This is the most important part of the screening process. A background check can tell you all the required information about the tenant. This should include verifying income, running a credit score check, and checking criminal history. Late payments usually lead to evictions which can be a costly affair. Through these tests, you can determine how likely a tenant is to pay rent on time and how safe the tenant is for your property.

Some of our recommended tenant screening software

Yardi ScreenWorks pro

This software by Yardi aims to select low-risk tenants through a comprehensive screening process. It involves features such as report generation and automated recommendations to simplify your tenant onboarding process. You can also get insights into applicant traffic through the built-in analyzer. The software comes with access to a large database of rental payment information so you can verify payment history, all in a single platform.

MRI resident screening

MRI offers resident screening software which is configurable according to your requirements. The software generates its own Accuscore to filter tenants based on housing-specific criteria. Through this, you can get minimal risk tenants and maximize your financial performance.

How you can simplify tenant screening through Assetsoft

As we have established the importance of automated tenant screening, the next step is to find the right resources to implement it. At Assetsoft, we use multiple state-of-art platforms to help you set up all steps of the screening process.

Setting up screening criteria

This is the basic step of the tenant onboarding process. Each property manager has their own requirements to filter tenants. At Assetsoft, we curate the software to meet individual screening requirements while keeping in mind the federal laws. This will help you maintain a consistent, thorough applicant screening and also keep you safe from any violation.

Application

After deciding the criteria, you will need to set up an application to collect tenant data. The basic details every application should include are the full name, contact details, and SSN. It is best to collect applications from every member of the family. Other details to include are:

Employment details: This includes past and current employment. It is used for verifying monthly income and ensuring timely rent payments.

Past Residences: This includes references from previous landlords if they are coming from another rental.

Pet information: Depending on your pet policy, this will include the number and size of pets.

Emergency contact: A person you can reach out to in case your client has an emergency or goes missing.

Choose from the available tenant application templates, or create a new one through Assetsoft. You can choose to assign an AI bot to collect the details as well as ask smart questions to applicants.

Credit and background checks

Our tenant screening tools can run credit and background checks using the details collected through the application. Our checks are quick and efficient, saving a lot of your time and the tenant’s as well.

Approval and onboarding

Once all the verification is complete, the AI bot can handle the approval and onboarding process. It can send approval emails to potential tenants and collect any additional details to complete the onboarding process.

Assetsoft can help you streamline your property management processes, whether it is tenant screening or property accounting. You can automate your rent payments, maintenance and lease renewals through our RPA. What’s more? Your budgeting and forecasting is also covered by our various platforms, so you can make better financial decisions. For all your requirements, we build the necessary tools by integrating the best software like Yardi, MRI, UiPath, Procore and many more.