Product Updates: Week 31

Two of this week's releases give you new ways to move applications to the finish line. Coupon codes let you discount the application fee — timed to a completed showing, aimed at applicants who started but never submitted, or set to charge less for every additional applicant in a group. And when an application is missing documents, RentEngine now requests them and follows up on its own until they come in.

There's more: a mass text that tells every active lead the moment you add a special offer to a unit, agent assignment straight from the applications dashboard, a Command Center search that shrugs off extra spaces and phone formatting, and multiple reply-to addresses on owner reports.

Here's what's new in RentEngine.

Rental applications

Coupon codes: discount the application fee three ways

You can now create coupon codes that reduce the application fee.

Three discount types cover the moments where a small discount changes the outcome:

Time-based (after showing). Set a discount that stays valid for a set window after an applicant completes a showing — say, 5 hours. RentEngine texts them the offer at the end of the showing, while the unit is still fresh in their mind.

Abandoned cart. Reach applicants who started an application but never submitted. Choose how many days after they started to send the offer, and how long to keep it live. The text lets them know a discount is waiting if they finish today.

Additional-applicant discount. Charge a reduced fee for every applicant after the primary one in the same group. It auto-applies, and the primary applicant is never discounted.

Every discount also applies to linked co-applicants and co-signers. Each promo message is yours to edit, with variables for the code, the discount details, the unit address, and the offer window.

Where to find it: Open your rental application template and add a discount under Pricing > Coupon Codes.

Automatic follow-up for missing information and documents

When an application is missing something, you no longer have to chase it yourself. On the application, choose Take Action > Request Additional Info and describe what you need — for example, paystubs from the last 3 months. RentEngine sends the applicant an email and a text with your request and a link to upload the documents to their Existing Applications page. The email comes from your company name, in plain text.

From there, RentEngine follows up for you — up to 3 times over 3 days — until the documents arrive, whether the applicant or your team uploads them. Once they are in, the follow-ups stop.

Both the first request and the reminders are yours to edit, with variables for the applicant's first name, the unit address, the information required, the upload link, and your company name.

Where to find it: On an application, Take Action > Request Additional Info. Edit the templates in your rental application template, under the Automation tab.

Assign an application to an agent without opening it

Rental applications can now be assigned to a team member or subteam straight from the applications dashboard. Click the assigned-agent chip on any row and pick from the same list you use to filter — no need to open the application first. Inside an application, the top-right menu and Take Action both offer the same assignment.

The dashboard also loads clean: no agent is selected by default, so you see every application waiting on a decision. Assign yourself and save the view, and it will load with you selected next time.

Where to find it: Rental applications dashboard — click the assigned-agent chip; or open an application and use the top-right menu or Take Action.

Pull submitted income through the public API

The public API can now return an applicant's submitted income — document-based, payroll-based, and bank-based — as both the raw figures we display and the underlying PDF documents. Income is calculated the same way it is in the Household and Applicant Summary, with nothing excluded for fraud or mismatch flags, so the numbers you pull match what you see in the app.

Where to find it: https://docs.rentengine.io/openapi

Special offers

Text every active lead the moment you add a special offer to a unit

Add a special offer to a unit and RentEngine asks whether you want to tell the people already interested. Check the box and every active lead on that unit gets a text with the offer and a link to the listing — the same reach as a price-reduction alert.

The default reads: "We just added a special offer for {address}. {special offer}. Let me know if you're interested: {listing_url}", and each lead's own listing link fills in automatically.

The message is yours to edit in the moment, and you can save your own version as the default in your message settings.

Where to find it: Add a special offer to a unit and choose to notify active leads. Edit the default in your message settings, under Special Offer Messages.

Command Center

Search that ignores extra spaces and phone formatting

Command Center search now matches a prospect even when their name was saved with extra spaces — search "James Smith" and a record stored as "James Smith" still comes up. Phone search works the same way, ignoring country codes, spaces, dashes, and other formatting characters, so you can paste a number in any shape and still find the person.

Reporting

Send owner report replies to more than one inbox

Each property owner can now hold multiple email addresses, and multiple reply-to addresses. Replies to that owner's leasing report go to every reply-to you set, so the right people see an owner's response without anyone forwarding it around. Add or edit these when you manage an owner.