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arrears

Rent arrears procedures are too slow and time consuming - we created a property tree template for a 1B termination notice to be able to issue a bulk mail merge which was working amazingly well and we could issue multiple 1B notices to all tenants in one go... but then the template inputs dropped off for no reason (worked well then started not working) with no resolution on why it works sometimes but not all the time. Amanda from support was amazing by the way - sorry for my frustrations... however, upon trying to upload a docx file and attach a 1B notice with mail merge fields we again came up with the issue of having to enter each tenant in arrears termination date in individually... not ideal at all when we are trying to do a simple mail merge.
GeeDee used to have such a simple arrears procedure, you could go to the arrears list, select the tenants you wanted to issue a notice to, entered the termination date then send - it was that simple... you did not have to go into each tenancy card to update individually. Can you please look at streamlining the arrears process to something more simple that can be easily completed from the arrears list on the dashboard - each state has their own statutory notices so the forms can be input based on location... the arrears process used to take me less than a minute to send multiple, complete and correct notices and now it seems I am spending way too much time on induvial integrations through REIWA forms or spending hours trying to get mail merge templates right that end up failing - so scary when these are the forms we rely on to terminate tenancies and we dont have time to check that every email sent has collated the correct data.

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Amanda Griffin shared this idea  ·   ·  Report…  ·  Admin →
Closed  ·  AdminAngela Sutton (Admin, MRI Software) responded  · 

There is current work in progress regarding mail merge and communications that this falls into. Keep an eye out in 2023 for these great updates

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  • Amanda Griffin commented  ·   ·  Report

    Hi Angela, The issue is multi-tiered,

    1. The termination process is not streamlined enough to be time effective.
    2. Entry of termination dates has to be done individually on each tenancy card – should be able to input one date for multiple tenants (bulk edit)
    3. The mail merge email templates were not working – the property management fields were missing sometimes, working others so the emails issued to tenants would go out with blank fields – this has a knock on effect with tenants calling us to complain, call to ask what it means & the notice sent was invalid… which we asked to find out why but there was no solution or reason provided at the time.

    The old termination system we used was very simple; Alerts drop down > select overdue rent tab for that day (default opens on this tab) > select all tenants you wanted to issue notice to > click terminate > vacant possession date pop up (enter date) > select the letter / notice you wanted to send (templates already saved in letters/emails) > send…

    Within 30 seconds you have sent a 1B notice (or other notice) to multiple tenants. The arrears tab referenced above would show tenancies in arrears, days in arrears, when last letter was sent, when a breach / termination notice was last sent, termination date if a notice has already been sent so you do not need to worry about double ups & can keep track on when termination notice dates are expiring & vacate date if one has been made applicable to that tenancy – all the information you need to effectively monitor rental arrears & if you need to lodge court. This system also logged when 1B's etc were issued through tenant comms (letters tabs) & made a date stamped note in the notes section on that notice going out.

    Process through Property Tree; From dashboard > check arrears list > view all > (no option to select or send letters from this page) > now print or create PDF list of arrears or write down who you are sending notice to > individually enter termination dates for tenants on their tenancy card (this number varies each day due to tenancies in arrears – so go to tenant card, vacate info, edit, check termination circle, enter termination date, save… for each tenant ) > go to management tab > go to create mail merge link > choose email option > next > select template > choose template and add attachment if required > choose profile type (tenancy) and contact type (tenant) > next > choose filter (residential arrears) > check portfolio > tenancies drop down > arrears type drop down > period or effective > days to and from > next > choose tenancies from applied filters > send email….

    This process is way too long, the last breach or termination notice issued date not on the list either, I believe this option on the check list on what you can see refers to the automated communications emails / SMS’s sent out which are NOT the legal notices required to vacate a tenancy through the courts, more so a reminder system (this auto system is awesome but not what we need on the arrears list to effectively manage the arrears & court process).

    Yes, you can also individually send a 1B notice through integrations which is great, however it again is too time consuming when you are dealing with multiple notices being issued for NO tolerance rent arrears procedures & these integrations DO NOT show on the comms history when they are sent (this would be handy) – so let’s print a tribunal report to go to court, these notices sent via integrations are not in the communications list on when it was sent, it should have some sort of record on the tenants communication history for future reference and or court information (yes you can get it separately through the integrations you use site – lets say REIWA but the idea is to make the system a one stop shop, easy to use, easy to read & a property managers dream).

    I created a 1B termination template to give our office a work around on the current issues at hand and it was awesome (when it worked) – notice could be bulk issued to tenants from mail merge, showed on the communications list and was backed up by the auto communications notices we have saved–easy peasy, but the mail merge template would work one day & not the next, this is a huge issue when it sometimes works as we do not have time to check on every single mail merge sent out to see if it has gone out properly & can be so very detrimental & time consuming… there was NO reason available as to why this wasn’t working properly - unfortunately.

    The support team were great & we tried a work around with an edited department of commerce 1B termination template with input mail merge fields which we attempted to use in the mail merge but we came to a cross roads as without individually entering each tenancy termination date this would not work either as a one stop shop, hence the original reason for creating the email mm template in the first place so back to square one we go.