Meet Yardi Case Manager

Q&A with Mark Livanec

By Mike Sederholm on Aug 28, 2024 in Technology

Yardi Case Manager was introduced in 2023 and is one of the newest solutions integrated within the Yardi Affordable Housing Suite. Let’s learn more about it from Yardi Affordable Housing Industry Principal Mark Livanec.

Mark, let’s start at the beginning. Tell us what a case is.

Cases are any situation, ticket, or task that requires property managers or resident service staff to track and resolve.

The flexibility of defining and managing case resolution workflows is one of the things I like most about Yardi Case Manager. Affordable housing providers have a lot of flexibility and powerful ticketing tools that will help them track the services they provide daily.

There is also flexibility in how cases are created given Case Manager’s integration with the Yardi Affordable Housing Suite. A resident can create a case using their RentCafe Affordable Housing app on their mobile device, eliminating the need to make a phone call or visit the front office. There’s even automation built in that creates a set of tasks and team assignments necessary to resolve each case that come in from various sources.

What’s the main reason Yardi clients should add Case Manager?

Integration with Yardi Voyager, including our upcoming solution Compliance Manager powered by Voyager 8, make Case Manager a prime opportunity to strengthen affordable housing compliance without complicated workflows.

Affordable housing programs are highly scrutinized by the federal, state and local funding programs. Yardi Case Manager can help keep providers in compliance by tracking service requests, reasonable accommodation requests, the work done to accommodate requests and how each case is resolved.

How does tracking cases mitigate risk?

One important example is fair housing, which includes laws that ensure affordable housing providers treat applicants and residents equally. Throughout the resident lifecycle, affordable housing providers need to document their interactions with every household they serve. When it comes to tacking and following through on requests, Yardi Case Manager is a great tool to keep everything consistent for everyone.

Similarly, several laws require housing providers to accommodate reasonable requests for modifications to forms and living spaces. For example, applicants or residents may need special equipment installed in a unit because of a physical disability, others may need forms translated to a specific language.

Not providing a reasonable request to make housing physically accessible can raise red flags with auditors and can lead to litigation.

Yardi Case Manager is designed to make sure affordable housing site staff not only record the request for reasonable accommodation but serves as a tool to document follow-through efforts. Without proper documentation, your organization can be at risk of fair housing litigation.

Domestic violence situations are another type of case that requires special attention and extreme confidentiality. Yardi Case Manager enables affordable housing providers to keep certain cases private and, on a need-to-know basis, to keep everyone safe and prevent unlawful disclosures.

Why Yardi Case Manager when there are already prospect and resident records in Yardi Voyager?

Yardi Case Manager has workflows that are specifically optimized for service delivery staff. That functionality can help keep things simple and effective since it’s easy to train, configure and use throughout the workday.

There is, of course, integration with Yardi Voyager for access to cases through the upcoming Compliance Manager, powered by Voyager 8 dashboard. Cases can be tied to specific members of a household record, and notes from maintenance techs and inspectors can be copied to cases.

But, if an affordable housing provider prefers to keep Yardi Case Manager as a tool primarily in use by their resident service coordinators and other front-line site staff, that works as well.

How can Yardi Case Manager expand to help cover more types of requests?

Case types can be configurable to unique request scenarios for applicants, residents, vendors/landlords, and even employees. Service coordinators can track case progress from start to finish via customizable tasks, team assignments and reports. The table below gives examples of cases that we have set up in development and testing:

Property-Based Case Examples	Unit-Based Case Examples	Employee-Based Case Examples
InspectionsInspection follow-upMOR/Audit preparationLocal ordinance violationTenant selection plan managementResident policy changesParking enforcementEviction processingCollections management	Noise complaintSmoking complaintsOdor/smell complaintsUnauthorized visitor reportingUnauthorized household memberMajor rehabilitation/remediation process & trackingVAWA unit managementProspect interest lists	Request for assistance/escalationPTO requestsIT requestsTraining requestsHarassment complaintsBonus/merit requestsProcedural task lists of any kinds

​ Vendor-Based Case Examples	Company-Based Case Examples	Resident Services Coordination ​Case Examples
Billing/payment questions and reviewQuality complaintMissed milestones	Special event requestPolice incident reportLegal/lawsuit requestPolicy change dissemination	Resident services trackingSocial service referralsReasonable accommodation requestsCase tracking and workflows

Thanks for your time, Mark!

I’m happy to speak about Yardi Case Manager any time! Affordable housing providers can call (800) 866-1144 to schedule a demo.