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3 Page i Copyrights Propertyware, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in any archives without the expressed written permission of Propertyware, Inc. PURPOSE The purpose of this document is to describe the processes associated with obtaining, implementing and utilizing your tenant screening solution. Tenant Screening

4 Page ii Table of Contents Overview... 1 Navigating the Underwriting Process... 2 Setting Approval Parameters... 3 Rental Payment History Managing Screening Settings General Settings Property Restrictions Manage Screening Profiles Manage Profiles Screening Applicants from Your Online Application Screening Prospects Creating the New Prospect Screening Prospects Lease Renewal Screening Checking for a Change in Status Sending Adverse Action Letters Reviewing Results Viewing Report Details Navigating the Screening Results Helpful Hints Rental Payment History in Screening Reports Tenant Screening

5 Page 1 Overview Propertyware s tenant screening offers you the ability to run screening options that include: 1. Identity Verification 2. Credit 3. Criminal 4. Eviction 5. Rental Payment History 6. Rent to Income You will be responsible for determining which of these options you will run and setting the parameters for approval. Before you can add tenant screening in Propertyware, you will need to be approved through the underwriting process. Underwriting is the process required by law to verify and document your company s permissible purpose to perform consumer background reports for screening rental applicants. Propertyware s tenant screening allows you to run screening on an entire household, set standard approval/denial parameters, and set up step screening to limit your expenditure for individuals or households that don t meet your approval parameters. This training guide will explain the following details: 1. Navigating the Underwriting process 2. Setting your Approval Parameters 3. Managing Screening Settings 4. Setting up your Online Application 5. Screening Prospects 6. Reviewing Results For additional assistance at anytime during the screening process, contact Screening Support at screening@realpage.com, or at Tenant Screening

6 Page 2 Navigating the Underwriting Process All potential screening prospects will need to go through the underwriting process. The underwriting process serves to determine your eligibility to access a prospective tenant s personal data. The following required documentation is used to make that determination: 1. Phone directory listing from or another major online phone directory. -OR- 2. Copy of a phone bill. -ANDa. For companies organized as a Corporation, LCC or Limited Partnership: i. Acceptable documentation includes government issued documentation: 1. Business license 2. Proof of State registration of company (in most States, registration with Secretary of State office). 3. Letter of good standing from State Authority (such as Secretary of State office) 4. Copies of Tax documents that are issued by a State department of revenue/treasury or Federal Internal Revenue Service. b. For companies organized as sole proprietorships or general partnerships: i. Acceptable documentation includes government issued documentation: ii. Business license, Company Broker s license, or Property Management License iii. Copy of Principal s Driver s License iv. A satisfactory business credit report or a personal credit report on the Principal. 3. Three copies of completed rental applications. These must contain a background check authorization clause. 4. A physical site inspection completed by a third party must be completed and passed. Once all the required documentation is received, and you have been approved, we will activate screening in Propertyware. Tenant Screening

7 Page 3 Setting Approval Parameters There are two options when setting approval parameters: 1. Set parameters that generate a recommendation (e.g. approved, declined, etc). 2. Set parameters that only generate a completed status. This will require further review and approval by your team. The approval parameters you set are captured in Propertyware as a profile. If you have varying approval standards by portfolio, or building even, you can set up multiple profiles with varying approval parameters. These parameters can be applied to new applicants, lease renewals, or both. Here are the steps to set your approval parameters. Step Click the Setup link located in the upper right hand corner of each page in Propertyware. Expand the Administration Setup option in the submenu located on the left hand side of the screen. Action/Screen Expand the Tenant Screening option. Tenant Screening

8 Page 4 Click the Settings option. Click the Edit Screening Profiles button. If you have never set up you background screening profile, the Profile Wizard will launch. The Profile Wizard will launch and you will need to: 1. Client ID will display 2. Enter your address 3. Agree to the Terms and Conditions 4. Click the Continue button to proceed Tenant Screening

9 Page 5 Select your location and click Continue. The Screening Decision Criteria window will appear. Select the desired option and click Continue at the bottom of the window. The options are: 1. Let me answer some basic questions... This option will return results that display as approved, declined, etc process Background Screening without having a decision rendered. This option will display results that display as complete or incomplete. If this option is selected, you will only need to choose the types of screens to run, you will not need to set a passing threshold for each. Tenant Screening

10 Page 6 Based on the descriptions offered, choose the property types that most closely match the ones you will be screening. Click Continue. Choose the test you would like run on initial applicants. Click Continue. Clicking the located at the end of any option will display a pop-up that further describes the option. Example: Identity Verification Choose the test you would like to run on any guarantors. Click Continue. Tenant Screening

11 Page 7 Clicking the located at the end of any option will display a pop-up that further describes the option. The criminal option is not available for guarantors. Choose the test(s) you would like to run on other household members. Click Continue. Clicking the located at the end of any option will display a pop-up that further describes the option. The credit option is not available for other household members. If you would like to run credit tests on other household members, make sure to process them as applicants, instead of other household members. Select whether or not you will be running screens for lease renewals. Click Continue. Tenant Screening

12 Page 8 Select whether or not you will be screening household members that move in during an existing lease. Click Continue. Note: If you choose Yes, you will have to choose which tests you want (IDV, criminal, credit, eviction) Important: If you chose the option to run screening without having a decision rendered, you will be moved to the final screen in this process flow. If you choose to set approval parameters, you will continue through the following additional steps. Review and select the level of importance for the identification verification. Click Continue. Clicking the located at the end of any option will display a pop-up that further describes the option. In order to pick the best setting for Identity Verification, consider if most of the applicants moving into your property will have a valid SSN and if they will Tenant Screening

13 Page 9 Choose the tolerance level for the applicant s credit risk. Click Continue. have established a public identity that can be verified. Tip: Check with your attorney on applicable statutes in your area that may restrict the use of older records in your decision process. Choose the tolerance level for eviction risk. Click Continue. Here are the options: Require relatively clean credit history Some mild credit issues allowed Poor credit expected but not severe Severe credit expected Most customers will choose to decline for any evictions in the last 7 years, Tenant Screening

14 Page 10 Select the manual county search options. Click Continue. but a lower threshold can be set. The default option is complete the criminal portion of the background screen with only multi-state database search(no additional fees). In many areas, it s recommended that you enable Advanced Screening, which includes manual county or direct-t0-the-jurisdiction searches. Additional charges will apply. Check with your account representative if you want to turn on Advanced Screening and are unsure of the additional costs. Note: If you choose Enable Advanced Screening, you will get an additional Manual Counties Search Options screen to complete. Tenant Screening

15 Page 11 Choose the criminal tolerance. Click Continue. For each of the risk levels, a number of years is defaulted. This is the most common selection for each test; however, you can change the number of years after you select the risk level you want to include. Note: If you choose medium or low tolerance, you will get additional options to use the criminal ignore classifications as selected or to customize the crimininal ignore classifications. Tenant Screening

16 Page 12 Choose the Rental History tolerance. Click Continue. Click Continue to complete the portfolio. Tenant Screening

17 Page 13 Rental Payment History Effective June 30, 2011, Propertyware Integrated Tenant Screening Powered by LeasingDesk includes Rental Payment History searches. There is no additional cost above the standard screening fee. Your applicants screened are automatically checked against the Rental Payment History database, and any rental payment records found is displayed in the screening report. Rental History Decisioning Criteria The following shows the available rental payment history decisioning criteria settings: Decline if Applicant has more than $ XXX balance open on all past rentals. Decline if Applicant has more than X payments reported as late averaged over twelve months. o Total late payments reported divided by number of years payment reported on lease(s). For example, six late payments during three years equals average of two. Decline if Applicant has more than X landlords reporting security deposit not returned. Decline if Applicant has more than X landlords reporting proper notice not received. Decline if Applicant has more than X prior landlords reporting 'would not rent to again'. After completing the profile wizard, you can review all of the settings and make modifications before finalizing your profile and applying it to your buildings. To make changes in the future or create additional profiles, you need to contact the Screening Department at Tenant Screening

18 Page 14 Managing Screening Settings Once your parameters are set, the account administrator will need to manage the settings associated with screening. The following settings will be covered in this section: 1. General settings including provider and billing. 2. Property Restrictions 3. Screening Profiles General Settings The general screening settings are handled by an administrator. Here are the steps to manage the general settings: Step Click the Setup link located in the upper right hand corner of each page in Propertyware. Action/Screen Expand the Administration Setup option in the submenu located on the left hand side of the screen. Expand the Tenant Screening option. Tenant Screening

19 Page 15 Click the Settings option. At the top of the Tenant Screen Settings page, will be the general settings. Click the Edit Settings button. The Tenant Screening Settings will be available for editing. 1. Screening Provider This list can contain any of the following values: None or Leasing Desk. Once your account has been activated, this should be set to Leasing Desk. Note: If you previously activated using another screening provider in Propertyware, that provider will also display in the dropdown. 2. Billing ID This will be an alphanumeric number provided during your implementation. This ID should always be set. Once set, this will activate Leasing Desk Screening for all of your buildings. 3. Billing Mode This field can be set to Use my subscription billing information or Use different card. If Use different card is selected, you will be required to enter the card details. Tenant Screening

20 Page 16 Property Restrictions You have full authority to restrict tenant screening by property if, for any reason, you do not want it activated for all buildings. Click the Edit Property Restrictions button to mark screening active or inactive on the desired properties. Only buildings that are marked active for screening will allow you run screening. Note: The list below shows a number of properties already restricted. Manage Screening Profiles You can edit which profiles are available to use at each of your buildings by clicking the Manage Screening Profiles button on the settings page. Tenant Screening

21 Page 17 Click the Default Profiles button to mark your profile(s) available for use on your buildings. A pop up window will display that allows you to select the default profiles that will be made available for all of your buildings. Click the checkbox next to each profile you want to make available or deselect the checkbox to remove the profile as an option. Once you have determined your default profiles, click the Assign Profile(s) button to save the changes. Tenant Screening

22 Page 18 Manage Profiles If you do use different profiles at different buildings, you can assign those profiles to specific buildings by managing your exceptions. Click the Manage Exceptions button to begin the process. The Manage Exceptions Profiles window will appear. Click the checkbox next to the profiles you are trying to assign. Search for the portfolio or building and select the impacted building/portfolio from the list. This will add that profile to that building. Tenant Screening

23 Page 19 All impacted buildings will be added to the Profile Exceptions list with the profile currently assigned to it. Note: If a building or unit does not have an exception assigned, it is using the default profile. Clicking the Remove action link will delete the exception. Tenant Screening

24 Page 20 Screening Applicants from Your Online Application If you have subscribed to Propertyware s Premium Add-On Sites module, you can design and customize your Propertyware-hosted web site and can include an online application for prospects. Propertyware s powerful tenant application editor allows you to customize the following aspects: Customization Look and Feel Tenant Application Information Legal Disclaimers Company Information Property epayments Application Setting Header Personal Information Current Residence Prior Residence Employment Co-Applicant Settings Background Legal Contact Us/Hours Property Information Online Payments To access the application editor, navigate to the Sites tabs in Propertyware. Locate the site you would like to edit, and click the Configure link on the right hand side of the page. Locate the tenant application from the menu list and click the Edit link on the right hand side. Tenant Screening

25 Page 21 The application editor will display with the following options: Setting Header Personal Information Current Residence Prior Residence Employment Co-Applicants Background Other Information Legal Contact Us / Hours Property Information Online Payments Function Add and edit a header for your online application. You can use the header to display your logo and any other important information. Choose what personal information is collected from the tenant. You can also make these fields required. Choose what residency information is collected from the tenant. You can also make these fields required. Choose what prior residency information is collected from the tenant. You can also make these fields required. Choose what employment information is collected from the tenant. You can also make these fields required. Allow co-applicants and guarantors. Choose the background information is collected from the tenant. You can also make these fields required. Create custom fields for your application. Include legal information in the application. Include contact information for your company. Allows you to collect information about the property the prospect is interested in. Allow online payments for the application fee. Tenant Screening

26 Page 22 Important: After you have completed creating your online rental application, click the Update Site on the top of your Site set-up page. With your Site configured and activated, and your online rental application set-up, your prospects can fill-out and submit an application online. If you have the epayments service activated and configured, your prospects can even pay their application fee online. When submitted, all information provided in the application will be available to you in two areas of Propertyware: 1. In the Contacts section of the Prospect page. 2. In the Prospect s Contact page. After you have reviewed the application information, simply screen the applicant as described in the next section. Tenant Screening

27 Page 23 Screening Prospects Once your settings are complete, you can begin screening prospects. The following steps will need to be completed before screening can be run: 1. New prospect created 2. Contact added to newly created prospect that includes all of the relevant application information. The application information on the contact will be used to run the screening. Creating the New Prospect Step Click the Marketing tab. Action/Screen Click the New Prospect button at the top of the page or the New Prospect link in Related Activities in the sub-menu. Enter the prospect details and attach the Contact by clicking the New Contact button. Note: If a contact already exists, you can add them using the Add Existing Contact button. Clicking New Contact or Add Existing Contact again will allow you to add another contact to the Household. When you screen this prospect, all contacts will be screened and screening charges will apply for all. Tenant Screening

28 Page 24 The New Contact window will appear. Complete all the required fields. The following fields are required: 1. First Name 2. Last Name 3. Address 4. City 5. State/Province 6. Zip 7. Birth Date 8. Gender The additional fields may be required depending on settings you established in your profile. For example, the SSN is always recommended to be included, but it can be required in your profiles, so applicants must provide their SSN for the background screening request to be submitted. Click the Save button at the bottom of the New Contact window. Note: You will also need to complete any relevant prospect details and save the prospect. If you subscribe to the additional Sites services in Propertyware, this information may be auto-populated through the online application form. Tenant Screening

29 Page 25 Screening Prospects Once the prospect and application information are saved in the system, you can begin screening the applicant. Propertyware will display two new views in the Marketing tab, Prospects page view. 1. All Applicants 2. Applicants Screened Each list will filter the results on the page. Once the page is filtered, there are two locations from which screening can be initiated: 1. Using the Action column located on the right hand side of either page view. The options will include: a. Screen Household Always available. This allows you to screen or rescreen the household. b. Input Screening Information This option is only available if more information is needed to complete the screen. If for example, the person s ID test returned other names or a different address that needs to be verified. It will also be available if you have step screening turned on, and if review/approval is required to continue. c. View Detail Report This will only be there if a screen has been run, and there s a report to be viewed. d. Check for Change in Status This will be there if the household is pending. It lets you just check for a change in the status for that household, instead of for all pending households. This can also be used to check for overrides. Tenant Screening

30 Page 26 The options available in the dropdown will depend on the screening status. 2. From the Prospect Lease Renewal Screening You can also screen existing leases. Navigate to the Leases Summary page view for the lease that is being renewed. At the bottom of the page, click the Screening tab. Once the screening tab is selected, you will be able to click the Send Screening Request link to start the renewal screen. Tenant Screening

31 Page 27 Checking for a Change in Status The Check for Change in Screening Status link is available in Related Activities on the Marketing tab, Prospect page view. If a household status returns as pending, you will want to use this link to check for recent updates. A pending status usually means that a hit is waiting to be classified, or if you re running Advanced screening, it can indicate that a manual county search is being completed. Clicking this link will bring up the Check for Change in Screening Status window. You can sort this window by All Households or Pending Households by selecting the corresponding radio button at the top of the window. The list will display the name of the prospect and status. Click the Check button at the bottom of the window to update the statuses. Tenant Screening

32 Page 28 Sending Adverse Action Letters You can print adverse action letters using the Print AALs link on the Marketing tab, in the Related Activities submenu. Clicking this link will open the Printing Adverse Action Letters screen. You will have the following options for printing letters: 1. Print all letters since the last time 2. Enter a date range 3. Print letters for a specific household. This is a search field that allows you to search all prospects. A window will appear that displays a list of all the applicants along with their results, and a checkbox to print their letter. You can prevent a letter from printing by deselecting the checkbox next to their name. Tenant Screening

33 Page 29 When you have reviewed and edited the list, click the Print Selected button. Note: This process can also be completed from the lease page in the related activities section. Tenant Screening

34 Page 30 Reviewing Results Once the screening has completed, the prospect will be visible in the Applicants Screened view and the result will be available on the prospect s page. Let s review the results screening in more depth. Tenant Screening

35 Page 31 1 Status Icon Request Date 4 2 Status Application Fee Status 5 3 Resend Request View Report 6 1. Status Icon This will display an icon associated with the status. Green thumbs up for approved, approved with conditions, and complete. Red thumbs down for declined. Yellow warning for Pending, Pending-Input Required, and Errors. 2. Status This will display the status based on your approval parameters. If you did not set approval parameters, this will display complete. Possible statuses are: a. Approved b. Declined c. Approved with Conditions d. Overridden Approved e. Overridden Approved with Conditions f. Pending g. Pending Input Required h. Error User Action Required i. Complete 3. Resend Request This will allow you to completely resend the request. 4. Request Date This will display the date that the most recent request was sent. 5. Application Fee This will display paid or not paid. This can be updated manually on the prospect, or if you subscribe to the premium services of Sites and epayments, your prospects can pay online. 6. View Report This will allow you to view the details of the report. Tenant Screening

36 Page 32 If additional information is required to complete the screening, a link will be available at the bottom of the report details widget to Input Screening Information. Viewing Report Details Once the report is complete, you can click the View Detail Report link for more specifics. A list of all the applicants will be available. Click the link to the applicants name to view the report. The background screening interface will launch with a dropdown that displays all the detail reports. Always use the top or most recent Current report. Tenant Screening

37 Page 33 If there is only one report for the applicant, that will display. If you have run more than one screen on an applicant, you will be given a dropdown to select the report you want to view. Once the desired report is selected, click the Submit button to launch the report. The entire report will display. Navigating the Screening Results Each section of the report has its own tab. This allows you to locate and navigate to the content that you are attempting to research. The Summary tab will provide the applicant details, report #, and results at the very top of the page. Tenant Screening

38 Page 34 Each area the tenant was screened in will appear below with a synopsis of the results. Depending on what was screened and your permission levels, you may be able to drill down further into the results. Tenant Screening

39 Page 35 Helpful Hints Here are some helpful hints when interacting with the detailed report: Tenant Screening

40 Page If an applicant fails one of the tests, information about what caused them to fail will be at the top of the section/tab. For example, if the applicant had too much outstanding bad debt that caused them to be declined, that reason will be listed at the top of the credit section. The detail of their outstanding debt and collection accounts will be listed in the detail sections. 2. You should always review the identification information to be sure that the information was verified and that there are no warnings about the information the prospect gave on their application. This will show if there are any warnings about the SSN or other problems with personal information. 3. If you choose to run criminal, it is important that you review the criminal section of the report. There is a section for Name Match Only hits. These are not used in the decision but can be returned for jurisdictions where there is not enough information provided by the courts or sex offender registries to positively match the records to the applicant. For some serious crimes and many sex offender hits, a picture is returned and displayed in this section, so you can determine if the information is for the applicant. 4. The last page of the Detail Report will be the AAL if the applicant had a result of declined or approved with conditions. 5. The entire report can be printed out, or it can be printed one section/tab at a time. Tenant Screening

41 Page 37 Rental Payment History in Screening Reports The Rental History tab is visible on your screening reports. When decisioning is enabled on Rental Payment History, if an applicant in the household fails your rental payment history criteria, that result displays in the Household Summary section. The Household Summary Section will also display the result for the applicant and household. Tenant Screening

42 Page 38 The Rental History tab will display any records returned from the database. 1. Landlord and their contact information 2. If there is an open balance, it is displayed here. 3. This will indicate if proper notice was received (not available unless a lease end date is reported) 4. Security deposit was able to be returned (not available unless a lease end date is reported) 5. Would landlord rent to this person again? (not available unless a lease end date is reported) 6. Number of late payments reported Note: Not all records will have information reported for all fields. Tenant Screening