Add Roommates, Secondary Tenants, Co-Renters

Rentec Direct property management software makes it easy to add Roommates or Co-Renters once the primary tenant has been moved in. 

Note: Learn more about how to Place a Tenant Into a Property | Move-In

There are two options when adding Roommates or Co-Renters:

Option 1: Grouped Together means there is one primary tenant and all the Roommates in the unit are collectively responsible for the rental invoice. 

Pro Tip: Clients have added a primary renter with an assumed name, such as "Dorm Room 1," in situations where grouped Roommates are seasonal or temporary. Settings used for the move-in details (rent, late fees, etc.) will apply to all grouped tenants.

Option 2: Keep Separate means the Roommates are not grouped together but have their own separate rent charges they are responsible for paying.  

Adding Tenants to Rentec Direct

Since the primary tenant has already moved into a property, the Roommate or Co-Renter will need to be added to the list of tenants in your Rentec Direct account. 

There are three ways tenants can be added to your list of tenants:

• Convert a Lead to a Tenant
• Manually Add Tenants
• Add Tenant from online application. More information can be seen in Managing Rental Applications

The following steps walk through manually adding a tenant.

In your Rentec Direct account:

1. Click on Tenants
2. Click on Add Tenant
3. Enter Tenant Details
4. Click on Add Tenant

Now you're ready to Group Tenants

Option 1: Group Together Co-Renters

Adding roommates (or secondary tenants) who are all responsible for the same bill is easy within the property management software. 

In your Rentec Direct account:

1. Click on Tenants
2. Right-click on the newly added Tenant and click on Add to Group from the menu
3. Using the dropdown select the Primary Tenant to group them with
4. Click on Add to Group
   
   

Repeat step 2 as many times as necessary until all sub-tenants have been added.

Important Notes: 

• All accounting operations (payments, charges, deposits, etc.) will apply to the group leader's ledger. All Roommates will not have a ledger. If it is important to you to know which tenant a payment was received from, be sure to label that in the memo field when entering the transaction.
• Online Payments are compatible with this function. You can set up Online Payments for each roommate, and their transactions will be posted as credits to the group leader's ledger. Online Payments posted in the ledger will be tagged with the subtenant's name.
• Email addresses can be entered for secondary tenants grouped under the primary tenant. This allows you to email the secondary tenant directly and to include them in auto notifications.
• Auto notifications will be documented in messages for Roommates / Co-Renters as a copy

Option 2 - Keep Separate

Choose this option if the new tenant is not to be grouped with the primary renter(tenant). Each separate co-renter receives their own account ledger, rent charges, etc. 

In your Rentec Direct account:

1. Click on Properties
2. Right-click on the property and select Place New Tenant
3. Click on Keep Separate
4. Click on Use Existing Tenant (Click on Enter New Tenant, if they haven't been added yet)
5. Review Rental Charges and Options
6. Click on Place Tenant

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