As of of the leading providers of on-line rental and lease forms, we receive many questions from property managers who are considering a transition from handwritten to electronic forms. They are often pleased to learn that electronic forms can provide the benefits of physical forms while introducing new features, such as portability and new methods of organization and storage. These are a few questions that we commonly answer for inquisitive property managers:

Q. What software is required to use electronic forms?
A. The forms are supplied in PDF format. Although you may be able to use one of several PDF readers, we recommend the free Acrobat Reader application from Acrobat.com.

Q. Can I see the forms that you have available?
A. Yes, all of the forms have watermarked preview versions that you can download. Please see the "Preview them all" link on the front page of Rentegration.com in the right hand column.

Q. How do I purchase these forms?
A. Forms are available singly from the "Single Forms" area, where you pay for each form, or from a subscription to Rentegration.com, which gets you unlimited production of forms for every unit that you sign up for.

Q. If I prefer to fill out some details by hand, can I do so?
A. Yes. There are a few basic required fields that must be filled in before producing the form, but you can save the rest for manual entry at a later time. An example situation where this is helpful is when you are going to meet a prospective resident later in the day and only have a few details on hand at the time of producing and printing your Application to Rent form.

Q. Which states do you provide forms for?
A. Rentegration currently provides state specific forms for 25 states. They are all listed under the "Preview them all link" mentioned earlier.

Q. What if I have properties outside of the states Rentegration provides forms for?
A. Tenant laws vary from state to state. Rentegration does not recommend using any rental or lease forms that are not designed to comply specifically to the laws of a particular state. Rentegration provides self help forms and cannot be held responsible for misuse of the forms provided.

Q. What if I already have a stock of paper forms? Will my association or you give me a refund for using electronic forms instead?
A. Although no refund is available for previously purchased forms, we tend to find that property managers value their time saved not hand filling forms far more than the value of the remaining physical forms that they may possess. Additionally, we find that often landlords will purchase a packet of paper forms and use them until they are gone, regardless as to whether or not they are the most current versions available. Each time you create a form with Rentegration.com, it is the most current version available.

Q. Should I make backups of my automated forms?
A. Forms generated on Rentegration using a subscription login are stored in Rentegration's forms history. If you choose to use Rentegration property management software, you can track history for each tenant, unit, or property. Although you will have your forms stored in this way, you may choose to additionally print and store physical copies of the forms, or store the forms electronically on your computer for future reference, emailing, printing, etc.. The old adage of "You can never back up too much" still applies!

Q. Will these forms print at the same quality as my physical forms?
A. Our forms print crisp digital copies from PDF files. We also think that you and your tenants will appreciate improvements to readability thanks to having printed text.

Q. If I use any custom forms outside of what Rentegration offers, is there a way to use them within Rentegration.com?
A. Yes, we are typically able to import your form into the system. Importing takes time and, at times, slight modifications to our systems, so we offer quotes based on the projected time to introduce the new form(s).

Q. What process would you recommend for preparing to fill out a form on Rentegration?
A. A good first step is to download the preview of the actual form so you have a good idea of what information you will need handy at the time of filling out the form. Another tip is to create one smaller form first, just to get used to the process of producing forms on Rentegration.com.

Q. What if I have a question about filling in a particular form?
A. If you have any issues using Rentegration, contact our support at support@rentegration.com. If you need advice on the proper use of a particular form, we recommend getting in touch with an attorney versed in landlord and tenant law in your area.

Q. How many forms are available?
A. Rentegration.com provides a basic set of forms for each state available on the system. The number of forms will vary state to state. When a change is made to a form as an improvement, or as a reaction to changes in the law, we will update the forms on Rentegration.com to reflect that change.

Q. How are the forms protected?
A. The forms can be printed or copied as many times as you like. The only limitation is that the forms are read-only. I hope that this quick Q & A gives you some insights into using online forms on Rentegration.com. In the future, we will cover use of the online property management database and simplified property management accounting module.