Here’s some example uses of the new search.

• Want to find tenant “Joe Smith” quickly?  Type in Joe Smith into the search bar (or just a portion of his name) and click Search.
• Trying to figure out what the $95.23 charge on your bank statement was?  Just type in 95.23 in the search bar and it will bring up every transaction in the system matching that amount.
• Want to find the tenant with phone number 541-690-8667?  Just type in 8667 into the search bar, and optionally filter only by tenants and it will automatically search by phone numbers.
• Need to find the expense for check number 1022?  Type in 1022 into the search.

To the right of your results will be quick actions you can take.  For properties and tenants you can edit, enter ledger, post payments and charges right from the search results (see icons on the right).   Transaction matches give the option to edit the transaction from the search results, and owners/accounts give edit and ledger quick actions from the search results.

Note: The match ’123′ above matched numerous entries that don’t have ’123′ in their names.  This is because those entries had the value ’123′ somewhere within.  For example, the transaction for ‘Rental Income’ matched because the check number entered was check number ’123′.  You can use the filters to reduce the results in your searches too!

To use:

1. Right click the vacant property, choose File Library, and upload photos.  Select the check-mark to make them available for external listings.
2. Right click the vacant property, choose Edit Property.
3. From the property menu (upper-right), choose Profile / Marketing.  Enter the information here that you would like to see in your listing.  When done editing, click Save Changes.
4. Click the link to Preview and setup your Craigslist listing on the right.  Choose your theme, then follow the simple instructions to post your craigslist listing on the right panel.

That’s all there is to it to have the best looking craigslist listings in town!  Listing your property on other sites that accept HTML?  Feel free to use the same process and paste the code into any other site that accepts HTML formatting.

One additional, and very compelling, benefit of this is you can now define your account reference numbers for both bank accounts and categories. Reports and pages within the site are sorted by these reference numbers, so along with properties, you now have full custom sorting capabilities for all accounts and categories now.

This is a free upgrade for all Rentec users.  The next time you login, numeric values will be assigned to all your categories and accounts automatically.  To edit them, visit Settings, Setup Categories (may be renamed to Chart of Accounts someday soon).  To edit account reference numbers, edit the account and the reference number option is in the upper right.

In the example above if I wanted a property to show up in between 123 Test St and 989 Duplex Street (assuming those two properties had their default sort values of 123 and 989), I would enter a value in-between such as 400.

1. Go to the tenant’s ledger and click the deposit balance in the upper right.
2. Click the edit icon next to the deposit you wish to modify, change the value and click the save icon.

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.

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.

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.

This new functionality applies to all editions (Basic, Pro, PM, and Association) of Rentec Direct.

This feature was deployed early April, 2010.  We are just a little late on the announcement.

This new functionality applies to all editions (Basic, Pro, PM, and Association) of Rentec Direct.