After 5 years serving landlords in Fall River and New Bedford, we have outgrown our role as franchisees and are eager to provide our clients with industry leading software and service. We are grateful for our time as Nexus franchisees, but we are proud to announce the service upgrades we will provide as Fall River Property Management.
The future of this property management company is one of constant improvement, self-evaluation, strong and meaningful communication and client-first decision making. We have chosen to leave the tech development to the professionals so we can focus our energy on providing high-quality homes to our residents and top-notch service to our clients.
We endeavor to align our company closely with our values and leave behind that which doesn’t serve our clients.
FRPM clients have a lot to look forward to. Here are some of the improvements we will be making immediately to our management service:
FRPM will provide monthly reporting to the major credit bureaus for both on-time and late payments. Based on previous case studies, we believe our landlords will see a 70% reduction in delinquency. Delinquent rent reporting will also allow landlords to collect on old debts as those will be reported as well.
Property Meld integrates seamlessly with our currently property management software. One of the greatest challenges in our industry is hiring and keeping talented employees, this software will not only improve the experience for clients who will see improved response time and reporting, but it will improve the tenant experience and, perhaps most importantly, it will allow our technicians to spend less time acting as secretaries and more time doing the work they love.
In aligning our business with our values, we are pivoting our processes to make them more proactive. Our previous lack of relevant infrastructure left us playing defense, we want to play offense. Our new operations automation software is going to quarterback our operations so we can ditch our checklists and put out fires before they start. We will be automating processes such as lease renewals, owner onboarding, tenant onboarding, turnovers, move-outs and-move ins. Each of these processes will ensure that no stone is left unturned. We were sick of being asked to do things that should have been done already. This software will provide our team with long needed infrastructure and accountability. The state-of-the-art property management specific software we are using for operations automation will not be directly seen by our clients, but it will certainly be felt.
This is perhaps the area in which FRPM practice diverges from franchise practice most glaringly. We believe that our clients’ top priority is rent collection and in acknowledging this priority, we have chosen to implement more rigorous rent collection practices. Our clients deserve to know that we have communicated with non-paying tenants. Particularly in the current housing court climate, we need to do everything possible to collect rent or set up housing assistance before we file for eviction because evictions are expensive, and clients cannot afford to pay for evictions only to have the court dismiss the case because the resident applied for assistance in the 11th hour. Tenants will receive daily phone calls, emails and text messages urging them to work with us to set up a payment plan or cure their balance before their credit is adversely affected and before we begin the eviction process. Clients will also receive regular communication specific to their residents letting them know what communication we have had with the resident and what the next steps will be. We are now working with the most effective eviction attorney in our area and we have employed a reliable and professional constable service so that the eviction process, when needed, is successful. We are going after rental income from all angles and leaving nothing to chance because our clients need to collect their rent and we intend to do everything in our power to make that happen.
Residents will be provided with a one phone call utility setup experience. This is an amenity for residents but it also prevents landlords from getting a utility bill belonging to residents who did not set things up as they should have. This is a free service to our tenants and will save everyone time and headaches.
Would-be animal residents will now undergo a rigorous screening process which will allow us to verify validity of service and emotional support animals and will assign a risk score to pets based on a series of questions designed to identify problem behavior on behalf of the pet and pet owner. Pets with a high-risk score will not be allowed to reside in our client’s properties, we will also be able to tailor the pet rent amount to reflect lower scores if the client does choose to allow the animal on their property. Previously, anyone with a computer or smartphone could pay $70 online to register their emotional support crocodile and property management companies would need to accept this documentation or potentially face a discrimination law suit. The company we have contracted will screen all pets and emotional support animals (crocodiles included) and will say “no” on our behalf. The most valuable part of this service is that it insulates our clients from the liability of irresponsible pet owners and creates a database of the specific pets that are, and are not, allowed on our client’s properties.
Our new screening process protects our clients from fake id’s and fake check stubs. Facial recognition software will verify id and the software connects directly to applicant’s payroll provider or bank to verify income. We will be provided with extensive and thorough criminal history, eviction history, credit history and income verification. With this improvement clients can rest assured that we know exactly who is residing in our properties.
Our inspections process previously wasn’t conducive to interior inspections. Our new inspections software will allow us to easily and cheaply inspect the interior of apartments as well as the property exterior and common areas. Inspections can be completed by FRPM staff or by residents. Using our operations software, we will be able to flag residents that we believe are at risk for damaging their apartment and schedule regular inspections. We will also be conducting apartment interior inspections three months after a resident is placed and yearly thereafter to protect our client’s investments. This is a service that we believe is needed in our service area as we see a larger percentage of destructive residents than the average service area does.
Over these last five years, we have learned that you can’t take anything for granted in property management. Investors in our service area face challenges that are unique. Our entire infrastructure is built around a common goal of protecting our clients’ investments so they’re not vulnerable to these challenges. It has taken tremendous thought, effort and thick skin to get good at managing properties in this area. We have learned how to anticipate issues before they arise, and we have built a staff that values the company they work for and wants what’s best for our clients and residents. Now, more than ever, we are poised to take on the beast that property management is and do so with grace.
I couldn't be happier with Lyndsey and her team. From the initial phone conversation right through to the closing and management they have always been there with sound advice and prompt service. As an out of town investor it is very comforting to know that they are there 24/7 looking after both my investment and my tenants.