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Sept/Oct 2011 Issue
This month we're excited to highlight a relatively new addition to our resident screening platform: rental payment history records from Experian RentBureau. With renters on average spending one-third of their monthly expenditures on housing, it stands to reason that how they've paid rent in the past is predictive of future performance. Until recently, there had not been a large, established consumer bureau dedicated to collecting and reporting rental payment history data. Experian RentBureau has filled this void, and RentGrow is using this data to offer customers a more powerful screening process.
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A large, nationwide network of property management companies volunteer to contribute their resident payment activity, directly from their property management software into the Experian RentBureau database. (This is made possible by a nightly, secure (SSL) data transfer process that is easy to set up.)
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The database is maintained by a name you can trust - Experian is the largest credit bureau in the country and has a proven track record as a respected consumer data bureau.
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Experian RentBureau is neutral and independent from all resident screening and property management software providers, which provides them with the flexibility and scope to build this database from a broad network of contributors.
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In addition to rental payment data from contributing management companies, RentBureau also includes apartment collections data from a network of participating multi-family collection agencies.
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Each client has a choice to participate and to receive this data as part of their screening platform.
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Clients that opt in can customize their scoring criteria for RentBureau records.
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This will be seamlessly programmed into your customized RentGrow product, similar to your criteria for credit, criminal, etc., and will be factored into each accept/conditional/decline decision.
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Click here to see an example of rental payment history results returned through RentGrow.
By contributing data to Experian RentBureau, and leveraging the database as part of your comprehensive screening process, you will:
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Make smarter rental decisions and reduce skips and evictions.
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Improve collections by providing consequences to residents that skip.
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Reduce the risk of having an applicant that skipped or was evicted at one of your properties move in to a different community in your portfolio.
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Replace or supplement landlord verification phone calls with this faster, more objective method of receiving rental history information.
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Support the industry by contributing to this important initiative.
Incorporating rental payment history into the screening model helps our clients answer that key question: Will this applicant pay his/her rent and in a timely manner? Ultimately, contributing to and using this data will benefit property management companies, residents, and the industry at large.
To learn more about incorporating Experian RentBureau records into your resident screening process, speak to your RentGrow account manager, or email sales@rentgrow.com.
To learn more about contributing rental payment records to Experian RentBureau, visit http://www.experian.com/rentbureau/rental-history.html
© 2011, RentGrow, Inc., Resident Screening Experts. A Yardi Company. Sign up to receive "In the Know". For permission to reprint this article please send your request to newsletter@rentgrow.com.
If you have additional questions about other aspects of your resident screening strategy you can contact RentGrow at 1-800-RENTGROW (1-800-736-8476) or visit our website at http://www.rentgrow.com. |
