The Company
Founded in 1922 and based in Chicago, Sherman Residential is a real estate firm that owns and manages apartments throughout the United States. The company is committed to maintaining safe and attractive apartment communities, providing exceptional customer service and delivering excellent annual returns for its investors.
The Challenge
Risky Renters
The company used a third-party screening product that did not connect with its property management platform and online leasing process, which impeded thorough applicant vetting. “We needed more transparency to ensure qualified residents were coming into the properties and also wanted stricter screening criteria that tied into our leasing workflow,” said Garrett Salk, vice president at Sherman.
The Solution
ScreeningWorks Pro
ScreeningWorks Pro is a proven online resident screening system featuring comprehensive reports, reliable data and automated recommendations built into the Yardi Voyager leasing workflow. The system enables clients to approve low-risk residents automatically and compliantly, and helps increase net rental income by reducing loss from collections, evictions and legal action. ScreeningWorks Pro also provides analytics for better insight and adjustable screening criteria to ensure leasing and occupancy goals are met.
The Story
Quality Residents and Safer Communities
Using ScreeningWorks Pro as a seamless part of its Yardi platform, Sherman has gained what Salk calls a “one-stop shop.” The company now has transparency into its applicants and leasing process, with the ability to drill into property traffic and rental performance. With detailed reporting and analytics, ScreeningWorks Pro helps Sherman prevent applicant fraud and eliminate the loss and damages that result from allowing high-risk renters with criminal backgrounds into its properties.
“We had some instances of applicants forging IDs and social security numbers and their applications were approved. ScreeningWorks Pro has alerts built into the system that are a great stopgap for us. Now, we can stop the approval process and request further documentation to review. This feature has prevented fraudulent applicants from becoming our residents,” explained Salk.
Sherman also promotes its high screening standards to prospects. It is a selling point that every applicant is screened for criminal records. “We do everything possible to keep our communities safe. ScreeningWorks Pro has really helped us to do that,” Salk said.
Superior Support and a Better Bottom Line
With fast responses and quarterly phone calls to help Sherman get the best results, the ScreeningWorks Pro team delivers superior service. Sherman and its ScreeningWorks Pro support team review reports, share notes and identify issues to look into. “I’m so pleased with this product, the Yardi support team and the results we are getting,” shared Salk.
“We’ve learned that even a few bad renters can impact our larger community of good residents. So it’s great that ScreeningWorks Pro helps us keep the quality of our overall tenancy high,” Salk added.
With reliable renters and safer communities, Sherman is protecting the value of its assets and improving its bottom line.
