![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/rhenti_leasing_process.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo: James Bombales<\/em><\/p>\nFor tenants and landlords alike, the leasing process can often turn into a disorganized scramble of events. Back-and-forth messages across multiple online listing sites, endless in-person showings and a rush to organize paperwork frequently characterizes the negotiation and application phases of renting.<\/p>\n
Now, one Canadian real estate tech startup is looking to deliver clarity to a historically disjointed rental landscape with its transparent application process.<\/p>\n
Hailed as a tool that brings \u2018renters and property owners together,\u2019 the team at Rhenti<\/a> has built a platform that connects both sides of the rental transaction through its centralized cloud software. Using the hub\u2019s \u2018Apply Anywhere\u2019 technology, prospective tenants can use their detailed Rhenti profile to inquire about and apply to apartments through top listing websites, while streamlining all of their communication with landlords through a single platform.<\/p>\n\n Rhenti\u2019s multiple-site integration also helps to draw more viewers to listings for property owners, in addition to providing automatic marketing services and online lease signing tools.<\/p>\n Founded in April 2016, Rhenti was created by a group of individuals who met while attending the MBA program at the University of Toronto\u2019s Rotman School of Management. As renters, the team found leasing an apartment to be a fragmented experience.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a very fragmented, disjointed process that becomes opaque and cumbersome and there\u2019s no accountability, and so, from that fragmentation stems a series of problems that affect renters,\u201d Tomas Ronis, founder and CEO of Rhenti, told Livabl.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe started to look at it from the perspective of \u2018How do we solve those things for renters?\u2019 by creating a platform that unifies all of these fragments,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n After formally launching the platform in 2019, Rhenti now services hundreds of landlords \u2014 big and small \u2014 and thousands of rental users, with operations mainly focused in Ontario.<\/p>\n COVID-19 has upended urban rental markets, which have seen shrinking demand and falling prices throughout 2020. But in the past, finding an apartment in renter-dense cities like Toronto meant fierce competition among wannabe tenants. In a world where a listing can be gone in a matter of days with several interested applicants all vying for the same unit, Rhenti aims to give renters an edge with the help of its professional-looking profile and \u2018Apply Anywhere\u2019 features.<\/p>\n Rental users start by building their online profile, which includes the typical application requirements like contact information, documents, references and a free credit check report provided by TransUnion, in addition to voluntary personal details and preferences. By creating one centralized profile, Rhenti says that it eliminates the need to fill out rental applications multiple times.<\/p>\n \u201cTiming is important, no matter what way that you look at it,\u201d explained Ronis. \u201cGetting your offer in quickly is always good, and so what\u2019s really neat about our \u2018Apply Anywhere\u2019 feature is that you build your profile, you build your whole renter passport and then you take it with you.\u201d<\/p>\n When a prospective tenant submits a listing inquiry through Rhenti or any one of the major rental websites Rhenti is integrated with, such as Rentals.ca, ViewIt or Padmapper, their contact information is shared with the landlord. Rhenti verifies each listing by connecting with the landlord directly to confirm details and proof of ownership, eliminating the risk of fraudulent apartments. All conversations and real-time messages are funneled back through Rhenti into one place, so long as the tenant has the listing party\u2019s email address and phone number.<\/p>\n Whenever a renter decides to \u2018Apply Anywhere,\u2019 their in-depth application information is shared with the landlord on their Rhenti dashboard. Users are also notified when other applicants have applied to the same property.<\/p>\n \u201cIn most cases right now, the process is opaque. You have no idea how many people you\u2019re up against, so that can be a very anxiety-prone process,\u201d said Ronis. \u201cWe try to give you the transparency and the tools to kind of lessen that anxiety and give you a bit more power in that transaction.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>Image: Rhenti<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>Image: Rhenti<\/em><\/p>\n