Resident Rewards Training and Documents for Property Management Companies

There is one specific principle that makes the resident rewards program work. It's a marketing strategy that is used in the business community by many companies but few residents recognize it when it's used on them. 

Trainers and vendors don't always understand the liability they expose their students and customers to when building a Resident Rewards Package. We've watched them evolve over the years with our clients and have had to litigate them more than once so we know the disclosure and legal tripping points. With the help of national trainer Robert Locke RMP, MPM we've put together a training video to alert managers on the 10 hazards of a badly crafted Resident Rewards Package. 

When managers hear the words "waive fees" they often pull back thinking they are actually going to lose money. The opposite is true. This video will explain why waiving fees in a Resident Rewards Package is a great strategy.

For three decades the ability to improve or diminish a tenant's credit score has been withheld from the property management industry. Some managers report to Experian but that can't diminish the tenant's credit score so tenants don't really care. In 2019 a new service came into the market that allows managers with 50 properties or 5,000 to easily report everyone to Transunion and Equifax and affect credit scores. It's a huge profit center for the manager and gives you a new tool to collect both during and after an occupancy. Check it out here

What managers don't understand is most of the benefits they put in their Resident Rewards program won't cost them anything. The bulk of the services they can list they are already doing. Watch this video and see how cheap and easy it can be. 

Caution: The goal with a Resident Rewards Package is to make money; not create activity. There are things you should include in your package and things you should NOT include. Listening to vendors might be a good way to figure this out, maybe not. 

If you keep your costs down you'll make a ton of money. If you load up your package with costly products and pay outside vendors for expensive services, you'll end up simply laundering money and little will stay in your pocket. You need to be selective about what you put in your package. This video by Robert Locke RMP, MPM will help you figure this out.

Many managers provide a year's supply of furnace filters to their tenants. Some have figured out how to pay nothing while others pay a lot to have filters delivered by an outside vendor. Here's one way to deliver a year's supply of furnace filters to every tenant for nothing.

The biggest mistake we see managers making in their resident rewards documents is adding an outside vendor. This strategy adds substantial liability to the manager and is strongly discouraged. The lease should be between the manager and tenant, not between vendors, managers and tenants. You can tell the tenant everything they need to know about a benefit without naming the vendor underwriting the service. Add their name and you'll pay dearly for it down the road when things go badly. Never add a vendors name to your lease, exhibit, addendum or your Resident Rewards Package.