Mr. William Murdock II, of Royal Oak Michigan has a total of 25 years of experience as a rental property owner. He used to do it on a small scale, by knocking on doors to collect rent. However, four years ago when he purchased a 115 unit apartment complex he knew he needed a better "system". He spent a lot of time investigating property management software and decided on RentRight. His apartment complex, The Roanoke, is rated A- on the Apartment Rental Guide. He attributes much of his success to his choice of RentRight Property Management Software. "RentRight is a big part of my business, RentRight RUNS my business".

Mr. Murdock's words of wisdom to landlords are:

"A Firm Collection Policy + Prompt Completion of Work Orders = Happy Tenants and Happy Landlord."

Mr. Murdock believes "Awareness" is the main thing that RentRight brings to his business. "RentRight will make you aware of where your dollars are. Awareness is everything. A lot of landlords are not even aware they are losing anything."

First he makes sure that he selects reliable tenants. With the RentRight Credit Check feature he gets an instant credit check and criminal background report during the application process. In this way he can make a quick and well informed decision about a prospective tenant.

Once tenants have rented an apartment, RentRight's reminder system is another valuable tool that enhances Mr. Murdock's awareness of where his business stands. Daily, the reminder system tells him who owes rent and whose leases are expiring. Mr. Murdock has found an interesting correlation between these two reports. When a tenant's lease is due to expire and they are also late to pay, this is a red flag to Mr. Murdock. It signals to him that the tenant may be planning to skip out. Every vacancy translates into a business loss that Mr. Murdock makes every effort to avoid.

Mr. Murdock's focus is on prompt collections. He strictly enforces his late fee policy. He has found it is important to retain a reputation with his tenants that he will not tolerate late payment. He feels that this reputation helps to keep all of his tenants paying on time.

Based on requirements in the state of Michigan, Mr. Murdock's average month is as follows:

1st of the month: Run the RentRight reminder system to see immediately who has not paid.

2nd of the month: Apply late fee. Merge the Rent Due letter from RentRight with all tenants who have not paid and send it out as a friendly reminder. Every letter sent to a tenant will be listed in the tenant's history so Mr. Murdock has an exact list of all letters that were sent to each tenant.

4th of the month: Fill out a 7-day notice to start legal proceedings. Send a copy to the tenant. Mr. Murdock has created a new document in RentRight Letters and Forms. With the use of RentRight merge fields he can print multiple forms quickly.

8th of the month: A second RentRight letter is sent and merged with a list of tenants who have still not paid. This letter states that forms will be filed with the court on the 12th of the month at Noon, so payment must be made before that time to prevent legal proceedings.

12th of the month: A complete package is filed with the clerk of courts including: A copy of the 7 day notice sent to the tenant, a summons, a complaint form, a copy of the RentRight lease signed by the tenant, and a Detailed Payment History report from RentRight.

22nd of the month: Court appearance to get judgments against tenants who have not paid. Add court costs to tenants charges in RentRight.

Usually by this time the tenant has paid and eviction is unnecessary. However, if the tenant does not pay within 10 days of the judgment, there is an "Order of Eviction" which the bailiff will deliver. Mr. Murdock schedules court appearances for an average of 8 tenants per month. Usually the tenants pay before the court date.

"Because of RentRight this month, I only have one tenant who owes me rent from last month". Before RentRight, I spent much more time in organizing and preparing for court each month. "I used to shuffle through mounds of paper". For example, he used to prepare the 7-day notices by hand and this took hours each month. He stated, "I sent out 42 last month, when I used to do by hand, it used to take 30 minutes each."

"Because of RentRight our awareness and efficiency in collections has greatly improved. We usually only have 1-2 tenants who have not paid by the end of the month."

Keeping tenants happy is also a great part of Mr. Murdock's success. His company is quick to respond to all requests for repairs and he makes use of the RentRight Work Order feature on a daily basis. "We stay on top of work orders because of the RentRight Work Order feature".

Mr. Murdock has established an efficient system of managing his rental properties. He collects rents promptly while satisfying his tenants' need for a safe and well-maintained residence. This could not be done effectively without RentRight. As Mr. Murdock states, "RentRight RUNS my business."