Lease renewals: how to respond and what happens next

Before your resident's lease ends, we recommend the rent to offer them and ask you to approve it. You make one decision; we handle the conversation with your resident and the paperwork.

1. 1

   We prepare a recommendation

   About 90 days before the lease ends (120 days for a home in Oregon, where residents must get longer notice of a rent increase), we look at market rents for similar homes nearby, how your resident has paid and the lease's renewal history, and work out three prices. We don't recommend lowering the rent: the target is normally at or above what your resident pays today.
2. 2

   You respond

   Approve our recommendation, set your own prices, decline to renew, or ask us a question first.
3. 3

   We make the offer to your resident

   Once you approve or set your prices, we send the offer to your resident and handle any back-and-forth.
4. 4

   Your resident decides and signs

   You can follow each step on the renewal page. When the resident signs, the status changes to Complete.

There are three ways in. They all lead to the same renewal, so answer wherever is easiest.

• Action items. While we are waiting on you, a card titled Lease renewal awaiting your approval shows on your dashboard and under Action items in the sidebar, with the date the lease ends. It opens the Lease renewal page.
• Messages. We send the recommendation as a message, and the email or text we send you about it points you to that conversation in Messages. The same four choices appear at the bottom of the conversation.
• Your home's page. Open My Homes, choose the home, and use the Renewals row on its Lease card. It opens the home's most recent renewal.

Under Proposed terms, the renewal page shows the current rent, the date the current lease ends, and the three prices we recommend. Together they tell us how to negotiate for you.

Recommended target rent

The rent we offer your resident first.

Lowest acceptable rent

The lowest rent we may agree to if your resident pushes back on the target, so a good resident is not lost over a small difference.

Month-to-month rent

The rent for a resident who stays without signing a new fixed-term lease. It is usually set higher than the target because it gives the resident the flexibility to leave at short notice.

If one of them says Not set, we have not filled it in yet. Ask us a question in the renewal conversation in Messages rather than approving.

1. 1
   Open the renewal from your Action items, from Messages, or from your home's page. The box at the bottom is headed Respond to renewal offer, with the target rent beside it.
2. 2
   Pick one of the four choices. The table below says what each one does.
3. 3
   Select Submit Response. It only appears once you have picked a choice.

If you answer in Messages, your choice is also posted in the conversation, so you have a record of it there. While the four choices are showing in Messages, the usual message box is hidden; use Ask a question to write to us.

If the page shows a Message us to respond button instead of the four choices, the renewal is not ready to answer on the page yet. Use the button to send us your answer in Messages.

Choose Set your own renewal price to send the offer with your numbers instead of ours. Three boxes open, each filled in with our recommendation, so you only change the ones you disagree with.

Target Rent

The rent we offer first.

Low Rent (for pushback)

The lowest rent we may accept if the resident pushes back.

Month-to-Month Rent

The rent if the resident stays without a new fixed-term lease.

All three are required. If you set the target or month-to-month rent above our recommendation, a warning explains that a higher rent can make your resident less likely to renew, which risks turnover costs and lost rent while the home is vacant. It is a warning only; you can still submit.

Every choice except Ask a question reaches your resident right away. With No, I don't want to renew, that is a notice that the lease will not be renewed, sent as soon as you submit it, and it ends the renewal rather than making an offer. You can add a comment for us in the Additional comments (optional) box.

Approving, setting your own price and declining are final in the app. Once you submit one, the choices do not come back and the renewal conversation in Messages goes back to being a normal chat.

To change your mind, message your Success team in that conversation and say what you would like instead. A message is read by a person, so typing “yes” or a new price does not record an answer by itself; your Success team will see it and follow up. Keep in mind the offer, or the non-renewal notice, has usually already reached your resident.

Once you have answered, the renewal page shows a status line in place of the four choices, and says so whenever nothing is needed from you. These are the statuses you may see, roughly in order.

When your resident makes a decision, we usually post the result in the renewal conversation in Messages. The Proposed terms box keeps showing our original recommendation, even if you set your own prices, so check the status line rather than the prices to see where things stand.

Open My Homes and choose the home. The Lease card shows the rent, the lease start and the lease end date for the current lease, and its Renewals row opens the renewal. Once the new lease takes effect, the card shows the updated rent and lease dates.

The new rent goes with the new lease term. If a charge or the Lease card still shows the old amount, or you would like a copy of the signed renewal, ask your Success team.

If your management agreement includes a renewal fee, we charge it after the renewal is complete, once your resident has signed. It appears on the home's ledger as a Renewal Fee line with the start date of the new term. The amount is set by your management agreement, so it can differ between homes, and some homes have none.

The quickest way to reach us about a renewal is the renewal conversation in Messages, so your Success team sees the whole history. You can also email success@doorvest.com.