Rentec Direct

You can now print checks right from the Rentec Direct software!  We’ve added new functionality free for all existing Pro, PM, and Rentec for Associations customers to now print checks.  To get started it’s really simple, follow these easy steps.

1. Go to Settings, Manage Bank Accounts, and be sure you have at least one bank account setup.
2. Go to Settings, Accounting Defaults and choose the type of blank check stock you are using.  Rentec Direct supports all popular check types.  While your there we recommend you select Yes to the first item ‘Show the Accounts tab‘ to make getting to your accounts easier.
3. (optional) Setup vendors if you wish to simplify your check writing experience at Settings, Manage Vendors.  PM version users can also setup owners under Settings, Manage Owners.  All existing vendors and owners will auto-populate name and address when typing in the Payee field of the property expense form.
4. Post a new expense to any property.  In the expense type dropdown select ‘Print Check‘ and if not already selected, choose the account to draw the check from.
5. After posting the expense, go to Settings, Manage Bank Accounts (or click the Accounts tab if you have that enabled via Settings, Accounting Defaults).  Next to the account it will display how many pending checks there are.  Click there to open up the check printing window.

We’ve also designed a help document available once logged in in the upper right ‘need help‘ link.  It includes more detailed instructions along with screen shots of the process.

Product Update, Rentec PM, Rentec Pro, Rentec for Associations check stock, checks, print checks

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.

Product Update, Rentec PM, Rentec Pro, Rentec for Associations bank draft, owner ach, rental ach, tenant ach

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.

Product Update, Rentec Basic, Rentec PM, Rentec Pro, Rentec for Associations evictions, judgments, liens, tenant screening

We’ve improved the report interface!  When viewing a report, statement, invoice, or receipt you now have the option in the upper right to download any report in PDF (right red pdf icon, see screenshot below).  Lately we’ve been asked a lot of  questions like these.

How can I email a copy of a ledger to my accountant?
How do I send this report to an owner?
How can I save reports?

The answer is, print to PDF.  PDF is a universally recognized document which stands for Portable Document Format.  There are many readers available for PDF and chances are your computer already has one installed.  If not, Adobe Acrobat is the most popular and it is free.  Once the document is saved, you can easily attach it to an email, or save it onto your computer or flash drive.

This update does not require you to purchase the full version of Adobe Acrobat.  We create the PDF files on the server and you download them and view them in the FREE PDF reader.  Customers of other property management software solutions who want to do the same may need to pay the $300/annual license to create PDFs; however, with Rentec Direct we’ve done this for you and included it in all of our professional releases at no additional cost.

Product Update, Rentec PM, Rentec Pro, Rentec for Associations accountants, adobe pdf, email report, email to accountant, pdf, print to pdf, reports, save report

We have published the first release of the Owner Portal!  This new tool allows an owner to login and quickly view their property performance, accounting, and notices on pending or past move-ins and move-outs.  Basically the important details for an owner are available with the click of their mouse.

Click the image to the right to see an expanded example of what an owner will see when they first login.

Using this tool is simple for PM edition holders.  Follow these steps:

1. Be sure you’ve defined an owner at Settings, Setup Owners.
2. When configuring the owner, add an email address and password for them, and select the Portal checkbox to enable their portal.  Save Changes.
3. Go to the Properties tab, and right-click to Edit the properties this owner owns.  In the owner dropdown, select the owner you just setup.

The portal shows the owner only information pertinent to their properties and items an owner typically may ask for.   To view exactly what the owner will see, you can login to Rentec Direct with their email address and the password you have defined. Simply make note of those items, log out of your account, and log in with theirs at the same login screen.  You will then see what they have access to.

The owner portal is available to Rentec PM users at no additional charge.  Rentec Basic or Pro users can access this feature by visiting Settings, My Account & Subscription, and modify your subscription to Rentec PM.

This owner portal is version 1.  We do intend to expand it’s capabilities based on your input.  Please let us know what you would like to see displayed or made available within the owner portal as we will be making more improvements to the owner portal over 2010 based on your feedback.

Product Update, Rentec PM owner portal

With the popularity of our EasyPay program where you can automatically deduct rent from a tenant’s (or owner’s in the case of associations) account we have extended the capabilities.  Based on popular request, we’ve added a second application available for download at Settings, EasyPay Setup.  The new application allows for the tenant to pay the transaction cost.

One application is the original where you, the landlord or property manager, pays the transaction cost.  The second application has the tenant agree to the cost, and simply adds it to their payment(s) at the time of processing.  The cost is the same either way, you just now have the option of who pays it.

If you are not already setup for EasyPay, it is simple to get setup.  Login to your Rentec Direct account and select Settings, Setup EasyPay.  The application to get started is available there.  We can simplify your rent collection process right away.

Product Update, Rentec PM, Rentec Pro, Rentec for Associations ach, easypay, echeck, electronic check

There is a new report available within the Reports tab: Open Workorders.  Choose a property from the property dropdown and then choose this report to view all open workorders for the property or properties selected.

Choose Print in the upper right to send it to your printer.  Note, the display on page puts each workorder right after the next; however, when sent to the printer it will page break each workorder to its own page.

Product Update, Rentec PM, Rentec Pro, Rentec for Associations reports, work order, workorders

We’re pleased to announce a time saving feature for Rentec Direct subscribers.  When a tenant changes their mind and moves in a week late, or a week early, or just to fix clerical errors it is now much easier to adjust this in the system.  Prior to this new feature, you would move out the tenant, fix their accounting, and move them back in.  If they were specified as moved in far in the past it could take a fair amount of cleanup to remove the monthly charges.

We’re introducing a feature to make this a lot easier on our subscribers.  All these actions can now be taken care of by the system.  Right click on the tenant, choose ‘Update Lease’.  You’ll be presented with an option to change the move in date.  Also an option to update the accounting.  If you leave the option to update accounting as no, the move-in date changes are only for visual and reporting purposes.  If you select Yes, the system will clear out any existing rent charges for the tenant, and re-create them using the new move-in date.

Note:  We do not recommend using this for a tenant that already has accurate past rent charges as it will clear them out.  It’s best to use this only for new tenants who do not have a past history with you.  In the case of an existing tenant that has correct past charges (for instance a tenant moving from one of your properties to another), the best course of action is to select No to the accounting update, and then manually adjust their ledger.

Product Update, Rentec Basic, Rentec PM, Rentec Pro, Rentec for Associations lease update, move in, renter move

You’ve always been able to login using the same account simultaneously with multiple people or locations; however, we’ve gone one step further. You can now create multiple accounts which all access the same data. This allows property management companies or multi-owner landlord associations to create individual unique logins and passwords for each person. No longer is there a need to share the same password.

We’ve completed and rolled out phase 1 of this project.  Phase 2 will be integrating unique permissions per user into the system.  We’re currently accepting feedback on what permissions would be useful to you.  If you have ideas, please submit them to support@rentecdirect.com or by adding a comment to this post.

To access this new feature, click the Settings tab, and choose Manage User Accounts.  The primary user (the one you signed up with and access Rentec with today) has access to manage and change any of the sub-user accounts including access to look up passwords.

As a default, and to ensure the highest security, any account not used for 6 consecutive months will be disabled automatically.  To restore an account, edit it via this management interface and change the Active setting to Yes.

This feature is available for all Rentec Pro, PM, and Association users.

Product Update, Rentec PM, Rentec Pro, Rentec for Associations multiuser

Sorting property names, especially when considering large numbers of sub-units, can be somewhat complicated.  The typical methods to sort available on the web are alphabetically or numerically.  The challenge presents itself when there might be a property, or multiple properties within an account that look like the following lists:

Computers can be told to sort numerically, which would not have any idea how to sort the first set of data.  Likewise, they can be told to sort alphabetically which presents a problem with the 2nd set of data.  Even a straight numerical sort on the 2nd set of data would produce an unwanted result.  Alphabetical sorting also has the complication of ordering like this:  1,11,12,13,2,3,4,5,6 (see why the 11, 12, 13 are before the 2? hint: it’s because they start with 1 which comes before 2)  Add to this that within the property name field we see other notes which may not relate to the property address.  Now picture these same lists with 100 or 200 properties or unit in them.  It can end up looking disorderly.

Rentec Direct has developed a custom sorting methodology to address all options and display the list in the most universally ordered method available.  The explanation of how it works is as follows:

1. If a property has a numeric value within it (any number), that number is stored and used as the primary sort, followed by a alphabetical sort; otherwise if a property has no numerical values it is considered to start with a zero, so it’s at the top of the list and then sorted purely alphabetically.
2. Following any alphabetical only addresses are the numbered addresses, or addresses with any number in them at all.
3. In the case of properties with subunits, each list of subunits is sorted independently and listed directly below the primary property (or in the case of many reports, the subunit’s first units shows first).  The sorting of subunits follows the same rules as items 1 and 2 above.

If that’s too technical (or long) to read and understand, suffice it to say the sorting in Rentec Direct works much better now.  Thank you Sam (one of our terrific customers) for your feedback and help reporting the sorting issues.  This update should provide a more consistent look and feel across the board when looking at lists of properties.

This update affects all editions of Rentec Direct.

Product Update, Rentec Basic, Rentec PM, Rentec Pro, Rentec for Associations reports, sorting, SORT_NUMERIC, SORT_REGULAR