As the home rental market rises, a consequence of the foreclosure crisis that has led to a glut of vacant homes across the U.S., services to fill those homes with renters are ramping up.
LeaseRunner, a company founded in 2011 that digitizes the rental process for property managers and renters, has launched a streamlined version of its service.
Currently, about 800 landlords in about as many cities across 48 U.S. states now use the service.
The update digitizes every step of the rental process, including rental applications, background checks, e-signature and rent collection. The interface is designed for use by both property managers and applicants/tenants, though property managers initiate the service.
The service, which looks clean and easy to use, charges users — either property managers and/or applicants/tenants, depending on the fee arrangement — on a pay-as-you-use basis. Rental applications are free; the cost of tenant screening is $30; eviction screening costs $12; business screening costs $50; and the payment collection service costs $3.
The Web-based service, which works on computers, tablets and smartphones, offers tools for document management, organization and storage.
LeaseRunner is designed to eliminate "common pain points for customers," said Joe Buczkowski, founder and CEO of LeaseRunner, in a statement. He noted that landlords, property managers, real estate brokers and tenants are among LeaseRunner’s users.
The service allows users’ sensitive information to remain private, so that renters don’t have to hand over their Social Security numbers and financial/payment information to property managers, for example.
