Manhattan-based sales and rental real estate brokerage Bond New York has launched a tagging and tracking system for keys to rental apartments, the brokerage announced.
Each key has a unique barcode that is tracked in Bond’s proprietary database. The keys are kept in a locked cabinet under camera surveillance and swiped out on a barcode reader by agents, the brokerage said.
"Access to apartments is the most important aspect of the [rental] brokerage business especially in today’s low-vacancy environment. Having tight inventory tracking controls on our keys allows us to be more efficient than our competitors by eliminating lost and missing keys. We also provide landlords and tenants an added layer of privacy and protection," said Noah Freedman, Bond New York’s co-founder, in a statement.
"The old way of handling keys using only a sign-out book lead to lots of confusion and people forgetting to sign keys in and out. In addition, most firms assign a person to be in charge of key tracking. The listing fee the tracker is paid comes directly out of agents’ pay. We are leveraging technology to save our agents money."
