Place Tenant Into a Property | Move-In

It's easy to document a tenant's move-in in Rentec Direct.

This article reviews steps for moving a tenant from your Lead List, Tenant List, or those who haven't been added to your software.

While minimal information is required to process a move-in, we highly recommend providing complete tenant data to unlock the full potential of automated features.

Tip: If you received an online rental application, click this link for steps to move in tenants directly from the application: Managing Online Rental Application

Move-in a Tenant

In your Rentec Direct account:

1. Click on Properties
2. Right-click on the Property and select Place New Tenant
3. Under Tenant Information, select from the following options:
   1. Use an Existing Tenant from your Tenant List
   2. Place Lead  from your Lead List
   3. Enter New Tenant to move in a tenant who is not in your software
4. Under Rental Charges
   1. Rental Frequency: The default is Monthly. Use the dropdown to change the frequency to Daily, Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Quarterly, or Yearly if needed.
   2. Rental Amount: (Defaults from the property) can be changed manually here
   3. Security Deposit:  (Defaults from the property) can be changed manually here
   4. Move-in Date: The actual date the tenant moved in

   5. Begin Charges On: - Enter the date that you would like charges to begin in your Rentec Direct software

      Tip: If you are transferring from another property management software or are new to Rentec Direct, this allows you to preserve the historic move-in date and begin charges in the software as of a specific date.

   6. Lease-End Date - This date is used for the Lease Expiration Report, Rent Roll Report, and the Lease Expires Soon alert on the Summary Page of the software
5. Under Rental Options
   1. Pro-rate First Month is the default setting. There will be a charge to the tenant ledger for the remaining days of the month, then rent will resume with whole-month rent charges on the first of each following month
      1. If the first month is not prorated, uncheck the box for a whole month to charge to the tenant ledger, and rent charges will continue to post on that day each month (Example: If the Begin Charges is the 10th of the month, rent will continue being charged on the 10th of each following month)
   2. Rent Charge Category - Defaults to 120 from your Accounting Defaults. If you've created a different category for Rent Charges, use the dropdown to select the category.
   3. Grace Period  - The time between when the invoice is due and when a late fee is charged. The Grace Period will auto-fill from Accounting Defaults and can be changed manually here. (example: If late fees begin on the 5th day, this would be 4)
   4. Create Invoice Early - How many days before rent is due should the rent charge be posted to the tenant's ledger? (example: If rent is due on the first and you want the charge to show and an auto notification sent a week early, enter 25). The Create Invoice Early will auto-fill from Accounting Defaults and can be manually entered here.

6. Under Automatic Rent Escalation, you can implement automatic rent increases in accordance with your lease terms. Check the box to enable Automatic Rent Escalation and enter the escalation details.

   

   Tip: Click this link to learn more about Automatic Rent Escalation

7. Remove Online Listing - This box will be displayed and automatically checked to remove the property from online listing and syndication when a tenant moves in. Uncheck the box if you would like to keep the property listed.

   

   
   
8. Click on Place Tenant to move the tenant into the property and automatically open the Edit Tenant screen, where you can update information as needed and enable the tenant portal if desired.
9. Click on Update Tenant

FAQs

Q) Why is the rent charge posted on the wrong day of the month? 

This is usually caused by unchecking the "Pro-Rate first month" box when moving in a tenant, and is easily corrected. Click the following link for a quick solution: Adjust a Tenant Charge or Rent Due Date.  

Q) How does the "Pro Rate first month" option work?

Here's how the "Pro Rate first month" option works:

1. If a tenant's beginning charge date is on the 10th of the month and the "Pro Rate first month" box is checked, the tenant will be charged for the remaining 20 days of the month at the pro-rated rate. The following rent charges will be on the 1st of each month, and the "Interval day" is 1 for the first of the month.
2. If a tenant's beginning charge date is on the 10th of the month and the "Pro-Rate first month" box is unchecked, the tenant will be charged for a complete month. Rent will be due on the 10th of each month, and the interval day is 10, which falls on the tenth of the month.

Q) What is an Interval Day?

An interval day is the day of the month/billing cycle when rent is considered due, most commonly the first of the month. Auto notifications and late fees are usually scheduled to populate around this day.