Rently Renter 4+

I Registered Online Like I Was Instructed And Received A “We Found An Issue With Your Rently Account, Please Login To Resolve” Text Message With A Provided Link. I Followed The Instructions On The Link And 20 Minutes Later I Received The Same Text With Link. This Time I Called Rently And Had Someone Finish My Registration. I Got A Text Saying Congratulations, You’ve Been Approved. So I Drove An Hour To The Rental Property To Let Myself In To Take A Look. So I Used The Link Provided For Me To Access The Padlock To Enter The Home. I Spent 40 Minutes Talking To Three Different People Using Three Different Phone Numbers To Trouble Shoot The Issue With Their Website And App. Nothing Worked, I Finally Gave Up Because I Had To Get To Work. One Thing I’ve Learned About Internet Reviews Is You Can’t Count On Them Anymore Because Companies Are Manipulating Their 5 Star Ratings. The Internet Is Slowly Becoming An Unusable Tool. It Use To Be A Great Tool For Consumers. Thats Not The Case Anymore. Meh

The Rently app promises users, in exchange for a 99¢ processing fee, access to lock boxes to enable self visits of your next place to live.

During the onboarding process, I encountered multiple verification issues where the app spewed out API data and failed to actually verify. Their website told me to use the mobile app, while the mobile app pushed me back to their website with no solution in sight. Finally I got lucky and made it through the process.

After finally managing to get my phone number and identity verified, I walked to the first property. No indications on where to find the lockbox were found, putting me on a ten minute scavenger hunt. The steps to open the lockbox are convoluted. Once inside the apartment, things went off without a hitch. On my way out, the keys were returned and the mandatory post-visit survey filled out. As soon as I “check in” in front of the next property, the app informs me that my account is flagged for fraud and requires additional verification. No more visits are possible. I don’t know what behavior triggered this alert, but visiting a single apartment shouldn’t sound off any alarms.

Three days later a succinct email informs me that my account will be cancelled due to suspicious activity and my 99-cent fee refunded in 3-5 days. The refund has yet to arrive over two weeks later.

I love RENTLY! The only reason I only gave it 4 stars is because it is limited to only showing the properties that are signed up on Rently. While this makes sense if the property is occupied (who wants random strangers showing up at your home and letting themselves in at any given hour of the day) there are still a lot of vacant properties that don’t make the list for whatever reason. My advice to Rently is market this app to every rental management company and private owner looking to rent out their property with an incentive to list their vacant properties on Rently. This app could narrows the gap of a major problem in the property rental industry. The key is to bridge that gap Rently.