Rentec Direct

We’ve added a new report to the system to assist landlords and property managers easily compile all necessary information to provide 1099′s to the IRS, vendors, and owners.  Under the Reports tab is the new report labeled 1099 Assistant.  Click the image to the right for a full size example of the report.

To use this new report simply enter your expenses and distributions as normal into the system.  Any time after January 1st, visit Reports, choose ‘Last Year’ for a date range, and choose the 1099 Assistant report.  All your expenses will be summarized with the necessary information to fill out your 1099s quickly available at your fingertips.

A couple tips to make this report the most useful.  Be sure to visit Settings, Setup Vendors and have all your vendors defined in the system with complete address and tax id information.  Same for any owners you provide distributions to.  If the system is unable to match a qualified expense to a vendor or owner it will provide an option to link that payee to an owner or vendor for your convenience.

Along with this we have also improved the auto-suggest feature when posting or editing expenses.  While the feature was always very reliable in Firefox, Chrome, and other browsers with excellent Javascript support, we’ve update it to work better for IE now as well.  IE users will notice the auto-suggest list, and auto-populate of address fields work much smoother now.

We have updated our EasyPay agreement for Landlords to version 1.02 which includes the following updates:

1. Section 1.5 and 6.  Chargeback’s have been better defined.
2. Section 6.  If no billing method otherwise provided, the Landlord ACH account will be used to pay any costs to Rentec Direct.

The full text of the agreement is available at:  http://www.rentecdirect.com/legal/easypay_agreement.pdf

We’ve updated the email notification options to include two new options:

• Send copy to Myself
• Send copy to Property Owner

These settings will do just as they say and send you (the property manager or landlord) or the property owner a copy of the message(s) going out to tenants.  For associations, the same settings hold true for unit owners.

Along with this update we’ve enhanced the look and feel of the email notifications going to tenants and owners.  The new email template looks a lot better, while providing a more professional feel.

Additionally, one small change, if a tenant replies to any notifications, the reply will now go to you instead of us.  This should help facilitate better communication between property managers and tenants.

Of note, while improving this interface we did locate some small glitches within some tenants settings and we had to reset their settings to defaults (no emails).  Please visit your tenant settings and update as necessary, or tenants can also make these changes via the tenant portal.

There are numerous changes coming in 2011 and 2012 for property managers and landlords which affect your tax reporting.  It’s important to be prepared with the documentation and records necessary to be able to comply.  Rentec Direct’s property management software will provide tools in 2011 to accommodate these laws if they do not get repealed.

2011 Change for Landlords
Earlier this year Congress passed H.R.5297 which expanded reporting requirements for owners receiving rental income beginning in 2011. Specifically, Section 2101 establishes that, “a person receiving rental income from real estate shall be considered to be engaged in a trade or business of renting property.” This change will now require any person who receives rental income to file a Form 1099 for payments of $600 or more in a given year for each service provider. The new requirement does not include purchases of goods. Prior to this legislation, only real estate professionals such as those working in property management were considered to be in the “trade or business of renting property,” and thus required to file 1099 forms with the IRS for these types of payments.

Exemptions were included in the legislation for military/intelligence personnel, those whose rental income is no more than a “minimal amount”, and for those who would experience a “hardship”. The second two exceptions have yet to be properly defined by the IRS.

2012 Change for Property Managers
Earlier this year Congress passed H.R.3590 which is a health care bill that has nothing to do with property managers and business, other than the fact that they slipped in these new reporting requirements for small businesses.  This bill expanded reporting requirements for all businesses beginning in 2012. Specifically, it requires the filing of Form 1099 for any business (including independent contractors and those who are self-employed) that makes a payment of $600 or more in a given year to any payee for goods and services. A separate Form 1099 will need to be filed for each payee. Payments to tax-exempt organizations are not included in this new requirement.

There have been several attempts to repeal this 1099 requirement but so far none have been successful. It’s unclear if there will be any further repeal attempts before the end of 2010. Click here for more information from Bloomberg Businessweek on recent repeal attempts.

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A lot of property managers and landlords disagree with these laws as they create an undue paperwork burden and unnecessary work on behalf of private landlords and managers.  Some resources are provided below on how to assist in repealing these costly laws.

Additional Resources
National Association of REALTORS®: IRS Form 1099 Issue Brief
National Council of Nonprofits: 1099 Information Page
American Society of Association Executives: Prepare for New 1099 Requirements
U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Letter to Congress Urging Repeal of 1099 Provision

We’ve had a number of requests from members to be able to customize the look and feel of Rentec.  This might be just to improve the inter-office feel and bring in your company logos and slogan into the application, or it may be for the benefit of your owners or tenants when they login to see your information instead of ours.  We’re happy to offer custom branding as an “on-demand” feature for all of our members!  Note the 2 red boxes in the image below; these are both brand-able with your images or text.

To brand your application for you, your employees, owners, and tenants who might login, follow these steps:

1. Send an email to support@rentecdirect.com, and request the branding packet.
2. We’ll respond with all necessary information on images to create or provide.

Not a graphic artist?  Don’t worry.  We have graphic designers standing by to help.  You can send us your logo, and tell us your slogan (or other text or image you would like to see on the left), and we’ll take care of the graphic work.  Also, as part of the branding you will get your own web address, such as yourcompany.rentecdirect.com, to further personalize the service.

Because there is work for us to get this setup, we do have a small charge to make it happen to cover our time.  For Rentec Pro, PM, and Association users, the price is discounted to $45.  This option is not available for Rentec Basic.

Now accounting for management fees is easier!  We’ve updated the software to automatically post management and placement fee charges to properties.  This automation comes with the flexibility to specify a flat rate, or a percentage.  With a percentage charge for your management fee you can also specify a minimum or maximum amount to charge.

To use this new system, Edit a Property, then from the Property Menu, select Management Fees.

For full usage instructions and step-by-step directions on how to use this new feature, just login to Rentec Direct, and click ‘need help’ in the upper right corner.  Click the option labeled ‘How do I setup and automate management fees?’

This upgrade affects Rentec PM users only.  Rentec Pro users can obtain this feature by upgrading to Rentec PM by clicking on Settings, Your Account & Subscription, modify subscription.

We have two exciting announcement related to tenant screening to announce today!

CREDIT REPORTS - First, by popular demand, we are adding credit reports to the list of available reports for the low price of $8.95.  For property managers this is a full blown credit report which includes complete credit history and all accounts, inquiries, and credit score!  Data provided by TransUnion.  To see a sample reports and more information, click here.  Credit report results are returned instantly.

Appropriately it’s also “Black Friday” where many are out shopping and looking for discounts.  We’re announcing permanent improved pricing on many screening products!  Through excellent partnerships and quantity we’ve been able to secure even lower pricing for our landlords and property managers.  Here’s some pricing updates:

• Nationwide Criminal Super Search, was $9.95, now $8.75.  The nationwide criminal super search provides a comprehensive search across 49 states (all but Connecticut) for criminal records.  This has been one of our most popular reports.  Results are returned instantly.
• Nationwide Inmate Search, was $7.50, now $6.00.  The nationwide inmate search queries the department of corrections database in all states and returns inmate records associated with your subject.
• Nationwide Eviction, was $10.99, now $8.50.  This one is HUGE!  A must have for landlords to verify their prospective tenant was not previously evicted through the court system.   This search is nationwide and returns results usually in just a few seconds.

Click for more details on all tenant screening products.

All pricing examples include the ~30% discount offered to Rentec Pro, PM, and Association members.  Rentec Basic (free) users do not get the 30% discount; however, can upgrade their account at any time to obtain the discount.

One of our goals at Rentec Direct is to make your property management easier! A lot of property managers and CPAs are accustomed to using a chart of accounts to manage their categories and accounts. It’s an accounting standard. We’ve always had full support for this standard; however, we omitted the numeric values in the past. To better comply with accounting standards, and also provide a familiar look and feel to property managers familiar with other applications such as Quickbooks we’ve added support for an officially numbered chart of accounts.

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.

US Census 2010 data shows that rental vacancy rates are at the highest points they’ve been since the 1950s when the data begun being tracked.   Today rental vacancy rates are 10.6% or 1 in 10 homes do not have a tenant.  One might ponder; how can this be given all the foreclosures and new renters in the market?

There are 3 primary reasons and by taking a few critical steps you can cut your vacancy rates in half or more.  Read on if you are a property manager or landlord and don’t want to fall into the trap so many other property managers have in today’s declining real-estate market.

1. We’re in a recession. Despite our government telling us it was over in 2009; it’s not for most of us, especially those in the real-estate or property management business.  Because times are tight right now owners are skimping on maintenance such as putting off the new paint job or new carpet until next year when times are better.  That line of thinking will ensure that next year will be no better.  The maintenance has to be done eventually anyways, and if the money to do it can be scraped up to repair the problem today, the outlook for tomorrow will be much better because your vacancy rates are going to go down.  Fact is, tenants do shop and it is more of a tenant’s market today than ever, so if there is a better house available (that doesn’t need new carpet for instance), you are going to lose that tenant.  If you manage your own properties make the decision to keep up the maintenance, and if you manage somebody elses properties, provide them this compelling data so they will.  Pay specific attention to these items, in order of importance:  Exterior paint, front yard landscaping, front door and entryway, living area & kitchen.
    
2. Who is your customer? Running a property management software service we hear from a lot of property managers, owners, as well as tenants.  What is the #1 gripe from tenants these days we’re hearing?  “We’re not treated with respect”.  Property managers often forget that their customer is the tenant.  It can be easy for us to get wound up in the screening process and be so strict, for the protection of the property, that we reduce our friendliness to the prospective tenant.  Make your customer love you and they will not go somewhere else!  This starts with the application process, showing the property, and the continued relationship.  One huge mistake in this process we see time and time again is making the tenant wait on your schedule to see a property.  If a property cannot be shown until tomorrow and they can see a property today from your competitor you just lost a customer and have done a disservice to your client, the property owner, by further increasing their vacancy rate.  I feel it’s important to have the staffing available to bend over backwards for tenants and treat them as equals, or better yet, in the same way you would treat a property owner looking for a manager, in the utmost respect and courtesy.
    
3. Do it better. Great property managers and landlords today are providing services to their tenants to make their lives easier.  Make your tenants fall in love with you by providing them something that makes their lives easier and most importantly, something they won’t get if they move away.  Be creative, every market is different; however, here are a few examples that work in almost every market. 
    

   Offer automated ACH. Automated ACH not only makes your tenant’s life easier because the rent happens automatically, but it also increases your retention rate and level of importance for a tenants monthly expenses.  It’s also been observed that an automated payment isn’t as emotionally stressful to a tenant as if they have to write a check each month for what is often their largest monthly bill.
   
   Offer a tenant portal. 80%+ of your tenants today have online access and that number steadily grows every year.  Tenants check their bank balances online, pay their bills online, and merchants have embraced online tools to save them time and money along with providing an extra convenience to their customers.  These same tools are available to landlords now, and if you aren’t providing them and your competitors are, guess who’s making their tenants more happy which is equating to longer term tenants and lower vacancy rates.
   
   Keep up on maintenance. Even when occupied it’s important to inspect and maintain a property.  More often than not your tenants are not cleaning the carpets or painting the walls.  If the home gets run-down, even if it is the fault of the tenant, they will feel less happy with the home and always be eying a fresh new place to live that is being kept up.  There’s an emotional factor to a clean, maintained home that keeps tenants longer.

Vacancy Data Source:  http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/hvs/historic/files/histtab1.xls

Back in April we announced an advanced new way we were accommodating new, flexible, sort methods for properties.  Even so, many managers have different needs and our predictive sorting doesn’t meet everybody’s needs out of the gate.  As such we’ve introduced a new feature to allow you to sort your properties how you want them sorted which is 100% customizable.  To use this new feature, simply visit the Properties tab, right click on the property you wish to modify the sort, and choose the 2nd option, ‘Edit Sort Order’.  You’ll be presented with the default sort value, and you can directly modify it.   If you wanted this property at the beginning of your list, enter 0 (zero), or perhaps even a negative value.  If you want it at the end of the list enter a larger number like 9999.

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.