Products from the NAA Conference and Exposition

Products from the NAA Conference and Exposition
Published: June 27, 2008

NWP’s Pay by Cash Solution

Orlando, Fla.--NWP Services Corp. recently launched its enhanced Resident ePay electronic rent payment processing service with its new Pay by Cash solution.

Powered for NWP by CheckFreePay, now part of Fiserv Inc., Pay by Cash enables residents to pay their monthly rent balance with cash at retail locations in their area. CheckFreePay has more than 15 years' experience providing walk-in agent cash payments. Their network of agent locations, more than 12,000 nationwide, includes grocery stores, convenience stores, mail and shipping centers and other convenient locations.

The new program eliminates the need to take cash and money order payments at the apartment property and helps reduce instances of lost payments, theft and fraud. Because Resident ePay routes cash payments made off-property into the property's bank account, and payment information into the residents' electronic ledgers, it also helps cut down on administrative work and data entry conducted on-site.

"NWP's cash pay program will prove to be an excellent solution for Riverstone" states Kelli Smith, director of business services for Riverstone Residential Group. "This program has helped us save time and improve compliance at our site-level management offices, and we are able to offer a greater level of service by simplifying the rent payment experience for our residents. Our Residents can now pay by cash at the same location where money orders are typically purchased, saving residents an extra trip back to the leasing office," Smith adds.

RentPredict.com Helps Avoid Delinquent Renters

Orlando, Fla.--RentBureau launched RentPredict.com, the first predictive measure of an apartment applicant's likelihood of paying rent, at the National Apartment Association Conference and Exposition. RentPredict.com (pictured) uses rental payment history and other data to create a score from 1-999 to aid apartment owners and managers in making better leasing decisions. RentPredict.com will produce a score for approximately 80 percent of Americans regardless of whether or not they are currently renting an apartment.

"Credit scores have always been combined with other information to report a person's financial history," says Eric Hartz, CEO of RentBureau. "RentPredict.com is the first score to use detailed rental history and other data to forecast how likely that potential resident is to pay the rent."

The product was designed to offer the smaller- to mid-size property owner a tool to evaluate potentially risky residents, and prevent losses due to residents skipping on their rent. The apartment industry loses $3-5 billion annually due to skips and evictions. And, while large property owners with tens of thousands of rental units have sophisticated resident screening providers to evaluate potential residents, fewer resources are available for the other 70 percent of smaller property owners.

"RentPredict.com addresses the needs of smaller apartment owners—or even the person who has an extra room to rent—who want the same protection from financial losses that the larger companies receive," Hartz says.

RentPredict.com, including the score and rental history, is available online for $9.95 per report, or can be easily integrated into the existing screening services frequently used by large property owners.