Rentec Direct

We’ve made some recent improvements to the Tenant ACH system which will help both tenants and landlords stay on top of transactions.

• We will now send out automated emails to both the landlord and the tenants 5 days prior to the transaction taking place.  This serves as a reminder for the tenant to ensure they have funds in their account prior to the transaction, and a reminder for the landlord to be on the lookout for the deposit into their account.  This feature will help solve NSF issues where a tenant may have forgotten a withdrawal was coming out and thereby further improve rent collection simplicity.
• We have also improved your EasyPay interface to include a “changelog” of events.  Each time you or the tenant login and make any changes, the change is recorded into the system.  You can view all the changes now by entering the EasyPay screen, and click the “xx changes” link in the upper right.  You will be presented with a historical view of every change made to the account in descending order.  Tip:  mouse-over the who entry for a few seconds to determine the IP address of the computer that made the change.

We’re always on the lookout for ways to improve the ACH process and make it simpler for both the landlords and tenants.  If you have any ideas, please send them in.

A question comes up somewhat frequently.  Frequently enough we wanted to post it up to the Blog with a good well explained answer to help us answer the question better for all users.

Question: I posted a tenant rent payment of $1000 to the tenant to offset their rent and their account balance is now zero; however, the property account shows positive $1000, why is that?

Answer: The tenant was charged $1000 rent which made their account -$1000.  When the $1000 is posted it accurately sets the tenant balance to $0.  The property itself on the other hand was not charged rent, it therefore only receives the income from rent during this transaction.  This is functioning as intended.

Now to answer this in a bit more detail, because it can become  bit complicated.

One of the easiest ways to think about the Property “account” is to think of it as your own personal bank account just for that individual property (or unit).  Even if you don’t maintain separate bank accounts per property, this ledger is the equivalent of that.  Now we don’t charge the property itself rent, so if the only transactions entered into Rentec Direct are rent charges and payments this property account will do nothing but receive income and the balance will grow consistently.  In this instance, the property account ledger will have little use to you and can probably safely just be ignored.

If you use Rentec Direct to also keep track of your expenses for the property, these expenses will offset some of the income.  For instance, $1000 rent income minus a $800 mortgage and $100 maintenance/utilities will then only be $100 per month positive growth on the account.  If you then link the property (Properties, Edit Property) to an actual bank account (Settings, Setup Bank Accounts), all these transactions will also post into the bank account, and net out to a $100 positive increase in the bank account.

The iPad has become a popular device in just a few short weeks since it’s launch.  Rentec Direct staff has confirmed compatibility with our application and the iPad.  Yes, Rentec Direct can be used on the iPad (or virtually any other mobile platform) for access to your tenant information anywhere! You are no longer limited by the bounds of your desktop.

As with any new device the iPad has it’s exciting new features and drawbacks.  There are some bugs Apple still has to work out on the iPad, and once they do it will make using the iPad work better for not only Rentec Direct’s online property management software, but websites across the web.

Here are the items which we’ve noticed affect Rentec Direct users.

1. Apple removed scrollbars from their browser for in-browser divisions.   I believe because iPad users use their finger rather than a mouse, Apple unanimously decided for all their users that they are better off without scrollbars within web pages.   A search on Google finds over 1.5million results of the term “ipad scrollbars“.  At the top of the list are many complaints about Apple changing this common-sense browser functionality, and various suggested workarounds.

   Workaround: Within the scrollable frame, place two fingers on the screen and drag.  This will scroll the window within Rentec Direct.  If two fingers does not work, try three fingers.

2. No Flash Support.  Apple and Adobe (the creators of Flash) currently have bad blood, and as a result Apple chose to exclude Flash support from the iPad.  Apple is unlikely to overturn this decision anytime soon despite nearly 80% of the web currently using Flash.  It means very little however for Rentec Direct users.  The only flash component of the site is the file upload status bar.  Generally file uploads are going to come from your desktop machine anyways which does contain full Flash support, so this will affect very few.   File downloads should still work fine within the iPad.

We anticipate Apple will address both of these issues (and other bugs still part of the iPad platform); however, in the meantime we’re publishing these workarounds to assist you in using Rentec Direct with the iPad.  If you have any questions or comments about mobile access to Rentec Direct, please let us know.

Many tenants have questions when it comes to automatic deductions from their bank accounts.  We’ve accumulated the top questions received from tenants thus far and included them in a single page FAQ (frequently asked questions) document.  We’ve uploaded a document that you can feel free to share with tenants interested in automatic ACH rent payments.  The file is located at http://www.rentecdirect.com/files/easypay_tenant_faq.pdf

If you receive frequent questions from your tenants that are not included, please submit them to our support staff at support@rentecdirect.com.

Here’s what is included in the document.

How does EasyPay work?
EasyPay uses the same system that utility companies and banks use to automatically pay your recurring bills.  You provide an authorization form with a voided check and our system will either automatically, or as specified by you or your landlord withdraw a specified amount without the need to write a check.  The system is paperless and entirely electronic.

Is EasyPay safe?
EasyPay is very safe, in fact it’s very likely safer than writing a check.  One of the leading forms of identity and bank theft are from papers just like checks or bank slips.  You provide an authorization form only one time and never have to write another check, thereby saving your check supply as well as being more secure.  Rentec EasyPay uses the latest and most effective security safeguards to protect and encrypt your data once it has been received by our office.  It’s the electronic equivalent of a 10 foot thick solid steel vault that only you and your landlord have keys to.

Can I manually make payments instead of them being automatic?
Yes.  If you prefer the system to not automatically pay your rent for you, you can select to manually make the payments instead.  It is simple; you just login to your account at Rentec Direct, click the EasyPay tab, and schedule your payment each month.   You must have internet access.

What if I have insufficient funds?
ACH works very much the same as a paper check.  If the transaction submits and your account does not have the funds available, your bank may either reject the transaction and/or charge you an overdraft fee.  Contact your bank for more information on their fees.  Again, it works the same way as if you write a check and there is insufficient funds to cover the check.

What if I forget about the recurring transaction?
This question comes up a lot; however, it rarely happens. You can choose the date the funds are withdrawn, and generally rent is one of the largest monthly expenses many people have so it is not easily forgotten. If your email is in the system we will also send you an email reminder a few days prior to the transaction. If you are concerned about funds availability in your account on a certain day of the month, you can instead select to manually handle your payments instead of doing them automatically each month.

If I change my mind, can I cancel the service?
Yes, you can cancel the service any time via any of these methods.  Login to your tenant portal at https://secure.rentecdirect.com/tenants, choose the EasyPay tab, and disable both the MultiPay and SinglePay checkboxes and choose Save Changes.  Alternatively, you can email us at easypay@rentecdirect.com with your contact information and we can cancel it for you, or you can call our office at 541-690-8667 to cancel.  Cancelling EasyPay does not require your landlord’s approval.

We have updated our tenant screening portolio to include the following reports:

Bankruptcies, Liens & Judgments: The Bankruptcies, Liens and Judgments Search is a comprehensive nationwide search that provides case information on any filed bankruptcies, outstanding liens, and judgments. Results may include name, address, attorney, docket number, county, filing state, filing type, filing number, civil filings, bankruptcy filings, bankruptcy type, judgments, dismissal date, release date, tax lien type, asset amount and amount. Records are generally updated weekly.  This new reports has INSTANT results.  Many landlords rely on this report because it gives a great idea of the prospective tenant’s history.  Most evictions which are not satisfied turn into a judgment which would show up on this report.

Evictions: The Evictions Search provides information on past eviction filings. Results may include court, case number, judgment date, judgment amount, satisfied date, initial filing date, defendant information, and plaintiff name.  Eviction data is now also returned instantly.

These two new reports replace the following reports:
Evictions, Liens Judgments (1-3 business days).
Bankruptcy Search (1-3 business days)

With the introduction of these newer reports, you can get more of the necessary data to screen a tenant instantly.