Along with changing the way we do almost everything, 2020 caused multifamily operators to re-think their marketing and leasing strategies — including applicant screening. While most businesses have pivoted to online services and are seeing benefits including reduced operational costs, online resident screening requires some attention to ensure quality renters are selected and risk is minimized. The latest webcast of The Executive Brief series, Emerging Trends & Strategies in Resident Screening, tackles this very issue. In this session Patrick Hennessey, Yardi’s vice president overseeing ScreeningWorks Pro, talks to Sarah Ogelsby-Battle, president of residential at Beztak and Jennifer Hayward, vice president of transition management at Pennrose, about how they’ve adjusted their resident screening strategies during the pandemic and for the future. From national trends in apartment application data to fraud prevention, these industry pros share insights to help guide multifamily screening practices in 2021 and beyond. National Rental Application Trends While screening volumes were at a historic low from mid-March to mid-May in 2020, after reaching normal volumes by the end of May, the industry saw a spike with higher-than-ever volumes in July, August and September. According to Hennessey, “Not only did most of the people who weren’t in the rental market in March and April re-enter, but we also saw additional people entering the market.” Hennessey pointed out a few other interesting trends in rental applications including how and when they’re being submitted. “One of the interesting things we observed as things went virtual and people were doing self-guided tours and applying online, is we’ve been seeing fewer and fewer screenings on weekends and into Mondays, and a spike in screening and leasing activity on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.” He added that some clients have restructured their on-site team schedules as a result. With...