At Rentec Direct, we aim to make your experience as a landlord or property manager more efficient. Your Rentec Direct Development Team collaborates closely with the Client Success Team to stay updated on your requests and feedback. Every quarter, we are excited to share the progress made by the Rentec Direct Development Team, all tailored to make your Rentec Direct software more streamlined and secure.
Software development at Rentec Direct includes creating new features, like full accounting features, to ensure accurate bookkeeping, help keep your properties full by alerting you when an existing lead matches a newly vacant property, and enhance the features you already love, like emailing property owners directly through work orders. Even though it’s always thrilling to reveal new features and enhancements, it’s equally rewarding to see small and powerful changes that save you valuable time.
Internally, our team categorizes updates in several ways: minor updates are referred to as fixes, QuickFixes, HotFixes, or issue reports, while more substantial updates are called Features or Enhancements. Although we don’t report every fix or update to you, please rest assured that our success and development teams collaborate closely to assess which updates may improve your workflow and save you time.
In case you missed anything, here’s a recap of what the Rentec Direct Development Team released in the fourth quarter of 2024 and a look into what’s to come in 2025.
Rentec Direct Feature Updates, Fixes, and Enhancements
*Features/Enhancements*
- New Feature 2703 – Mailing Wizard for sending bulk tenant notices
- Enhancement 2808 – Show first and last names instead of a company in account menu for select user
- Enhancement 2824 – Add assistive tool to help convert uncategorized transactions to journal entries
- Enhancement 2463 – Enlarge Context Menu on Mobile Devices
- Enhancement 2823 – Work orders property link filters by property instead of going to ledger
- Enhancement 2827 – Work order: Add corenter support & automatically select reported by and primary contact on new work orders
- Enhancement 2719 – Lead’s can now enter a rent range instead of selecting from dropdown
- Enhancement 2387 – Messages from “Unknown” can now be assigned to leads
- Enhancement 2781 – Online application “Approve” button now houses “Add applicant(s)” option
- Enhancement 2808 – Show first and last names instead of company in the linked account menu
- Enhancement 2831 – Show subunit work order if multiplex is searched in work orders
- Enhancement 2828 – Add the option to add lines for a manual note section when View/Printing individual work orders
- Enhancement 3795 – Remove default work-order message templates from the Mailing Wizard menu
- Enhancement 2826 – Data Table (property, tenant, and work orders) rows will expand info box on row tap on mobile
- Enhancement 2832 – Message owner via work order
- Security Enhancement 3771 – Update password requirements
- 11-13 Enhancement – Return to the page you were on after your session times out and you log back in
- Enhancement 2496 – Hide accounting defaults when editing co renters
- Enhancement 2456 – Display which user issued a disbursement transaction in Transaction History
- 11-21 Enhancement – Assets, Liabilities, and Equity include commissions in management fee defaults
- Enhancement 2886 – Change Mailing Wizard status “Awaiting Shipment” to “ In transit” to better reflect actual progress
- Enhancement 3845 – Select separate deposit account for application fees
- 10-25 Enhancement – Add “all tenants” data field to forms, message templates, and emails
- Enhancement 2578 – Automatically notify the property manager of potential leads when a property becomes vacant. Add “Place Lead” option to Place Tenant (Move in)
- 12-10 Security Enhancement – Add identity validation to screening, online payments, and syndication
- Enhancement 3714 – Updates made to the balance sheet to indent better and allow selection of accounts without activity
*Bug Fixes and Issues*
- Fix 2825 – Work orders list shows subunit work orders when viewing multiplex work orders
- Fix 2830 – Allow tenants to view or not view work orders based on program setting
- Fix 2840 – Prevent duplicate work orders from being created
- Fix 2730 – Restrict subuser access to properties permissions aren’t set for
- Fix 2838 – Tenant and owner portal views when editing a work order no longer auto enable
- Fix 2852 – Remove co-renters from work order expense dropdown
- Fix 2858 – Fix selection of “All properties” on reports
- Fix 2851 – Read only users can message if messaging permission is set to yes
- Fix 2859 – Fix Lease Expiring Soon count
- Fix 2861 – Subuser can access newly added property they add
- Fix 2862 – Fix lease end date shown in Mailing Wizard recipient list
- Fix 2728 – Include transactions from end date in bank reconciliation
- Fix 2847 – Fix sending electronic lease forms for signature
- Fix 2737 – Only include renter linked transactions in credit card settlement report (remove duplicates)
- Fix 2866 – Fix data fields when messaging tenant via work order
- Fix 2877 – Show date fields when “Custom” date range selected
- Fix 2489 – Record receipts for renter payments added via bank sync
- Fix 2891 – Fix Timeout problems when retrieving messages
- Issue 2890 – Log in and speed improvement for large accounts
- Fix 2899 – Fix date displayed status for Dropbox sign (Hellosign)
- 10-29 Fix – Fixed expired leases count on Summary page
Notable Product Update Recap
Reviewing the new features and improvements introduced every quarter is always exciting. This update includes several enhancements and integrations, but we want to highlight a few that originate from your requests.
Work Order Enhancement
Rentec Direct promotes transparency and fosters trust between property managers and owners with enhanced work order communications.
- Expands automated email and text messaging not only to tenants and vendors but now includes property owners
- Owners can now track the status of work orders from the Owner Portal, allowing them to monitor progress in real time and have peace of mind about the ongoing maintenance at their properties
Learn more: Feature Enhancement | Text and Email Property Owners Through Work Orders
Automated Mailing Wizard
Rentec Direct’s new Automated Mailing Wizard streamlines the process of sending bulk letters and notices from your software.
- Increased communication options to include physically mailing letters via USPS with the newly integrated PostGrid offsite mailing service
- Send bulk mailing by email, print, or mail through USPS
- Uses message templates to ensure personalized and consistent messaging
- Automatically generates a mailing list based on the number of days rent is overdue or the number of days until a lease expires
- Create a custom mailing list for sending messages in bulk or to individual recipients.
Learn more: New Feature | Automated Mailing Wizard
Instantly Match Vacancies with Tenant Leads
Rentec Direct’s feature enhancement of instantly matching vacancies with leads streamlines the leasing process and increases the likelihood of filling vacancies more quickly.
- Analyzes existing leads and automatically compares them to newly vacant properties in your portfolio for matching criteria such as rent amount, location, and preferences
- Automatically emails the landlord or property manager a list of all matching leads
- Clickable links in the email to contact leads
Learn more: Feature Enhancement | Instantly Match Vacancies with Tenant Leads
Notable Features for all of 2024
Major feature updates and products always get announced on the Rentec Direct Blog and shared in the System Update section of your Summary page when you first log into the software. In case you missed any announcements, here are some highlights of what came out of the Rentec Direct developers’ office so far in 2024.
- January 24, 2024 New Feature | Void Online Payments
- March 12, 2024 Feature Update | Properties Page Improvements
- March 14, 2024 Modern Property Management Websites Now Available for Rentec Direct Clients
- March 20, 2024 New Feature: New Owner Portal Option to Hide or Display Tenant Names
- Apr 23, 2024 New Feature | Introducing the New Property Management Mobile App
- Jun 5, 2024 New Feature: Tenant Portal Bulletin will Permanently Display Notices and Disclosures to Your Residents
- Jul 17, 2024 Feature Update | Schedule Renter and Property Management Reports to be Delivered to Your Email
- September 16, 2024 New Feature | Full Accounting Options: Assets, Liabilities, and Equity with a True Balance Sheet
- September 25, 2024 Feature Update | New Work Order Enhancements Streamline Communication
- October 29, 2024 New Feature | Automated Mailing Wizard
- November 22, 2024 Feature Enhancement | Text and Email Property Owners Through Work Orders
- December 18, 2024 Feature Enhancement | Instantly Match Vacancies with Tenant Leads
- December 27, 2024 New Feature | Select Your Preferred Account When Receiving Application Fees
Have questions?
Your amazing Rentec Direct success team is here to help. If you have any questions, call 800-881-5139, click on the Live Expert Help Link in your Rentec Direct to chat or email, or send an email directly to success@rentecdirect.com.
Have a feature request?
Most software updates result from valuable feedback and input from our awesome clients. If there is a new feature or software enhancement you would love to see added to Rentec Direct, send your ideas and suggestions to success@rentecdirect.com.
Upcoming New Features:
The Rentec Direct Development Team has several exciting New Features that will be released in 2025. You might even recognize a feature or two as ones you’ve requested, for example:
- A new, even more mobile-friendly, clean, sleek look to your Rentec Direct software with a larger, easy-to-read font.
- A new built-in RentecSign and form builder tool (With Dropbox Sign type of features) to build custom forms using data fields as needed that can be sent out for signature and/or initials via RentecSign. Signed forms will be returned with an audit log of who’s viewed and signed them.
- Supercharged enhancements to navigate your Rentec Direct software
- New communication through the tenant portal
- Enhanced journal entries to allow splitting among multiple accounts and reporting updates to include a retained earnings report
Rentec Direct shares New Features and Enhancements with you as they’re released under System Updates on your Summary page, as well as industry-related current events and reminders. Rentec Direct is in the news under News & Tips. Subscribe to the Rentec Direct Blog and have updates delivered directly to your email.
About Rentec Direct
Rentec Direct provides industry-leading property management software and tenant screening solutions for real estate professionals. Key features include online rent payments, a mobile app and tenant portal, vacancy listing syndication, and accounting tools. Founded in 2007, Rentec Direct is the third-largest software in its sector and is consistently the highest-rated by investors, landlords, and property managers. Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies for eight consecutive years, Rentec Direct was also named Real Estate Company of the Year in the 2024 American Business Awards and listed among the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Top 100 Small Businesses. www.rentecdirect.com