We recently hosted our annual Rently Summit in beautiful Newport Beach, CA bringing together clients, partners, and leaders in the real estate industry. The summit is a client appreciation event with goals to gather client feedback, answer questions, and discuss upcoming products and updates. It also fits us the opportunity to discuss important topics relevant to the rental industry, such as combatting rental fraud or centralization.
Merrick Lackner, Rently’s CEO, kicked off the summit with some genuine opening remarks sharing his lesson in how taking shortcuts did not work in the early stages of the company. He went on to share the value of head-to-head product testing, ensuring the Rently renter journey is a seamless experience, and the weekly security meetings to protect renters and victims of fraud. He highlighted how we’ve grown and built subsidiaries within China and India who develop our hardware and software.
He demonstrated how Rently is the first and only company with a fully integrated solution focused on modularity. Allowing you, our clients, to have control and make it fully customizable to your needs and wants.
Lackner also expressed his appreciation for all the heroes of Rently, our employees, commending their dedication displayed throughout their years of service. Lackner closed off his remarks by sharing the commitment Rently has in being your stable partner that you can trust, no matter changing circumstances or times of uncertainty.
“So incredibly grateful to our amazing clients and the most dedicated team in the world at Rently. Working with you all has been the greatest honor of my life. Thank you.” – Merrick Lackner, Rently
Teaming Up to Better Communities!
With this year’s Summit theme “Preserve & Protect Your Community,” we emphasized the importance of caring for both the people we serve and the environment they live in. With the summit held by the water, it was fitting to partner with 4ocean, whose mission is to end the ocean plastic crisis.
We’re thrilled to share that our attendees helped remove 1,220 lbs of ocean plastic/trash. Rently is matching this effort, bringing the total to 2,440 lbs — over a TON! A huge thank you to our attendees and 4ocean for your incredible work. Let’s keep supporting our communities in every way we can.
Creating The Best Rental Experience
We shared upcoming products and updates in our Product Roadmap session. Some new things coming in the pipeline include our Rently Care Center, a space where you can see in-portal billing dashboards, order new devices, and create/view the status of all support cases.
Some single family updates you can expect are property tags and automated workflows. We will also be rolling out email/SMS customizations (multifamily will experience this later on). Multifamily updates include interactive 3D maps, improved renter experience, and new use cases such as having community and amenity tours when all units are occupied.
At the summit we also announced exciting new products! For single family properties we will be launching the new Smart Bolt Elite with both Bluetooth and Z-Wave connectivity, and a smart re-keying feature. For BTR and multifamily communities we announced our Rently Access Panel with Intercom, a dual purpose access control solution. Operators can use the built-in intercom at entrances for stronger security and enhanced visitor management, or use it as an access reader for your amenities and elevators.
We also announced a host of security enhancements. Clients will now have a comprehensive security dashboard in the Rently Manager Portal. You can view data on the number of stopped tours/bans along with the ban reason. In addition, we’ve added real-time trespasser/squatters alerts, and security quizzes for renters to increase scam awareness.
Putting the Control in Your Hands
Rently continuously looks to improve your operational efficiency in how you use and communicate with us. As mentioned earlier, we now have the Rently Care Center, a self-serve portal that puts important Rently information at your fingertips. It includes detailed invoice and order history, case management for billing or tech support, and a library of knowledge based articles.
Another tool we have for you is our ecommerce store, RentlyGO, allowing you to place orders 24/7, efficiently track your orders with real-time status updates, access order history with ability to re-order, and view detailed hardware invoices.
Which Side Are You On?
We had some fun with our first annual Family Feud: Single Family vs Multifamily asking each team various questions on Rently touring data and renter preferences from the NMHC Renter Preferences survey. Single family started off strong, and had potential for a comeback but ultimately this year’s winner was multifamily with 430 points! The points were then converted into pounds to go towards the 4ocean trash/plastic removal total.
Tech Pilot Survival Guide
With so many costly proptech solutions available, it is hard to know which one is worth the investment. Andre Sanchez, Rently’s COO, Becca Nevarez, Rently’s Senior Director of Marketing, and our client, Heidi Turner, Blanton Turner’s Chief Intangible Asset/Principal led a panel about best practices for running an effective technology pilot and handling change management.
Turner noted the importance of being aware who you’re working with, getting recommendations, but also doing your own research on the company (e.g. find out how they are financed). If they come off too pushy, she considers it a red flag. Turner then stressed the importance of the relationship between you and the vendor. She encouraged attendees to choose the right partner from an implementation and client success standpoint.
“Training more people rather than who you think the obvious team members are, I think is really, really important.” – Heidi Turner, Blanton Turner
Sanchez shared how getting everyone aligned on the “why” will ensure successful change management in order to see the expected results. He went on to say that you need to know the specific KPIs and goals you’re trying to achieve with the software/technology you’re implementing. In addition, have an agreed upon timeline, solid plan with potential backup plans if needed. You and your vendor should work together to solve problems when issues occur. Don’t be afraid to pivot, and remember, flexibility is key.
Let’s Squash Squatting
We had an impactful discussion with panelists David Howard, NRHC’s CEO, Leilani Cardinoza, Main Street Renewal’s VP of Leasing Operations & Property Marketing, Todd Gorelick, Bridge Homes’ Senior Managing Director & Co‐Chief Executive Officer, Sahil Farooqi, Rently’s Director of Business Operations, and Jake Erdman, Rently’s In-House Counsel going over extreme trespasser cases, current states with anti-squatter legislations, and future states looking to pass bills on anti-squatter rights.
Both Cardinoza and Gorelick shared their experiences of not so pleasant trespassing scenarios. In either case, property managers want and need their property rights protected.
On April 24, 2024 the Georgia Squatter Reform Act passed unanimously and has set the precedent for other states to follow suit and formulate legislations of their own. Howard shares that, “ The legislation is only helpful to the extent that you see some kind of dropoff in instances of illegal occupation.” Cardinoza and Gorelick both shared the difference they have seen since the bill has been passed.
Whether it be Florida, Texas, or Alabama states are coming together and replicating the Georgia bill and making refinements. Howard shared that the public awareness of the squatter cases in Georgia along with the media on their side sharing about the issue has definitely helped this movement catch fire across the country.
As for the ideal bill, Erdman believes, from a property manager perspective, it should include clearly outlined procedures and timeframes. From an occupant’s perspective, it should protect someone who may be getting incorrectly evicted.
Qualified Leads Start as Verified Renters
At Rently, we have been working very closely with our clients to mitigate risk earlier in the leasing lifecycle, before prospective renters arrive at properties. That’s why we offer “Verified Renter” a lead verification service that delivers high-intent, less-risky leads that are more active and sign more leases. In Rently’s Verified Renter process, prospective renters create an account, undergo identity verification, and provide their social security number to obtain a soft pull of their credit score.
These steps help prevent scammers from accessing the platform. This process also allows property managers to focus on following up with qualified leads by confirming identity and providing a Resident Score, while not restricting verified renters from touring properties.
Rently’s Anthony Williams, Director of Business Development & Innovation, and Jackie Murphy, Director of Product Marketing, sat down with Aaron Oosterbaan, Progress Residential’s Manager of IT Product Management, and Anthony Wong, First Key Homes’ Chief of Staff to the COO, to discuss their experience with Rently’s Verified Renter and to share some success metrics.
Oosterbaan gave some background on how heavily their homes in Atlanta were being trespassed. In fact, he shared how 1 out of 3 homes was getting trespassed, and in certain neighborhoods it was 1 out of 2 homes. Needless to say, he expressed how dire this situation was.
Since introducing Verified Renter to his leasing teams they saw an overnight difference. He shared that the Verified Renter leads coming in from Rently’s ILS dropped the number of new trespassers by 35-40%. Why? Because scammers don’t want to give out their social security number or a fake ID does not pass through verification. Progress Residential’s leasing teams noticed a decrease in tours, but Oosterbaan shared that it has not affected application numbers or move-in rates.
Firstkey has recently started using the Verified Renter tool. After just two weeks since implementation, he reported a 1x increase in leads-to-applications and a 2x boost in leads-to-lease conversions. Wong shared that his leasing teams are excited about the tool. And thanks to its verification and security methods, Firstkey has reduced trespassing incidents by over 70% since they were first established to the present day.
Until next year…
As this year’s Rently Summit has come to end, we want to thank everyone who attended and contributed to making it a huge success! From insightful discussions on industry trends to exciting product announcements, to giving us valuable feedback, it was an event filled with profound takeaways (with some fun added to the mix like a hat bar, duffy boats, and nitro-frozen cocktails).
We hope you enjoyed the summit as much as we did! We’re already looking forward to next year, where we’ll continue working together towards creating the best rental experience in the world. See you all next year!
