Category: operations

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Referral Fee Flyer Reminder

Need to Boost Your Marketing Efforts?

Referral flyer

You can find your property’s customized Referral Fee flyer posted on the eExchange in the Filing Cabinet section of the website.

Reminder that $150 is the set standard for referral fees. If you really need to amp up your marketing to fill a lot of vacancies contact your supervisor about distributing the $300 version — supervisor approval must be obtained for this referral fee amount.

Resident referrals can be a great way to get some buzz started about your vacancies and help find qualified applicants that may become a valued resident of your community.  For more information on these flyers and other marketing efforts check out the Cambridge University – Resident Referrals webpage.

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Daylight Savings — Fall Back

Picture1Daylight Saving Time occurs on Sunday, November 2nd at 2:00am and everyone should turn their clock back one hour. No worries if you forget, you will just get to work an hour early!

Things to remember with this time change:

WINTER OFFICE HOURS

Switch out your Summer Office Hours signs for the Winter Office Hours (some properties may only have 1 sign)

In order to prepare for the change in hours, please review the following:

  • Signs in and around common areas such as the clubhouse or laundry facilities
  • Telephone Recorders
  • Printed Advertisements

EXTERIOR LIGHT TIMERS

Adjust your exterior lights if they are on timers due to the fact that it will be light earlier as well as get dark earlier. As we progress toward the winter solstice, the timers may need slight adjustment to keep pace with the shorter days. Of course, on the other side, they’ll need to be adjusted back as the days grow longer.

EXTERIOR LIGHT CONDITION

Take this opportunity to check for any exterior bulbs that may be burnt out or broken, and check the general condition of your exterior lighting. Resident safety is very important to all of us and everyone will appreciate having well lit parking lots, walkways, and patios during this darker time of year.

If you have any questions or concerns about the above policies, please contact your Property Supervisor.

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Resident Notices

resident noticesGood Afternoon,

If and when you have exhausted your efforts in trying to collect a past due balance, get a patio back into compliance, encouraging an unauthorized resident complete an application etc. etc. etc. — you’re now requesting Cambridge to assist you by preparing a formal violation letter. The most common letter we prepare is known as a 30/14. This notice gives the household 14 days to remedy the violation or vacate in 30 days. If they remedy the violation within 14 days, their tenancy will continue. However, if a similar violation occurs within a 6 month time-frame, the household can be asked to vacate without the option to remedy. In these cases, the household can be legally required to vacate just 10 days after a the repeat offense and after they receive a follow-up notice from Cambridge..

In the event you have a household that has violated their lease agreement that’s extreme in nature, always involve your supervisor. Based on the seriousness of the violation, we may choose to handle the matter differently.

We’re asking for your assistance when submitting a ‘Request for Termination’. By following the steps below, this will allow Cambridge to respond to your request sooner and more effectively.

  1. Be sure to complete the ‘Request for Termination’ request found on ‘Tenant Tech’ and provide as many details as possible, preferably in chronological order
  2. Make sure to include all supporting documentation regarding the violation(s) which has (have) occurred
  3. This should be emailed or faxed to your Supervisor only. Once approved by your supervisor, a termination notice will be prepared. You should normally receive a response to your ‘Request for Termination’ documentation within 2-3 days. This response will often but not always be a Termination Notice forwarded to the household. If a response from the central office is not received within 5 business days, please follow up with your supervisor.

Be sure not to issue a subsequent violation notice from Tenant Tech’s e-forms program to a household at the same time you’re awaiting a Termination Notice from the central office. The 30/14 requested from the central office will be your final effort to correct a lease violation and should only be requested if you haven’t succeeded in-house by either visiting with the household or sending at least two violation letters.

For more information on violation letters, refer to your Operations Manual, Chapter 15.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact your supervisor.

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After an Eviction Notice – Rules on Accepting Payment

After an eviction notice has been served to an occupant by an attorney or their ‘process server’, please do not accept any payment of any kind without consulting with your supervisor and/or the attorney handling the eviction. When payment is accepted, a court of law may claim that the parties have resolved their interest and the eviction action could be terminated by the court.

By comparison, for a household which is subject to a notice of termination issued by Cambridge (rather than by an attorney), do not accept rent beyond the pro-rate due for the remaining term of the tenancy. For example:

• Non-Compliant Resident, unit 100 – rent $500 per month
• Served 60/14 on April 15 that expires June 17
• They do not cure the lease violation
• May rent: $500
• June prorated rent: $283

Do not accept more than $283 for June rent or the eviction process stops.

If you have any questions please ask your Supervisor!

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The Importance and Process of Powersite Transfers

transferWhat are Powersite Transfers?

The email you send to the Cambridge AMSI account (amsi@cambridgeres.com) which indicates how much rent you have collected and deposited at the bank

When Should they be Processed?

Powersite transfers are due every Tuesday by the end of the day and are very important for your accountant to determine which invoices your property can afford to pay.

Why is a timely transfer important?

As a rule of thumb, accountants do not use any funds that you deposit until they actually show up on the books which only happens by your Powersite transfer being completed.  While it is always important that this transfer be done in a timely manner, it is extremely important those first couple weeks of the month.  This is when mortgages are being deducted from property bank accounts and an accurate understanding of the property’s finances is imperative.  Accountants need to be sure the mortgage is covered and know what remaining funds are available for utilities and other payables.  Processing and emailing your Powersite transfer late can result in your vendors having to wait additional time to be paid.

The Details…

When you are sending your weekly email to the AMSI mailbox please be sure it is labeled as indicated below:

_____________________

TO: amsi@cambridgeres.com

SUBJECT: Your Property Code, WEEKLY POWERSITE TRANSFER, Date MM/DD/YYYY

ATTACHMENT: batch.gls, aspront.dat (if applicable)

BODY OF EMAIL: Include the amount transferred – if you have multiple properties, please list out the amounts next to their property code

_____________________

Month End Powersite Transmittal

This transfer which occurs on the 3rd Tuesday of every month should be labeled slightly differently.  See below:

_____________________

TO: amsi@cambridgeres.com

SUBJECT: Your Property Code, MONTH-END POWERSITE TRANSFER, Date MM/DD/YYYY

ATTACHMENT: batch.gls, apsdat.dat, packedps.zip, aspront.dat (if applicable)

BODY OF EMAIL: Include the amount transferred – if you have multiple properties, please list out the amounts next to their property code

_____________________

Thank you for your attention to this very important process!  Click here for more detailed information about the Powersite Weekly Transfer

If you need any assistance with the transfer process or have any questions please contact your AMSI Peer Trainer.

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Utility Rate Increase Notices

utility guyIt is that time of year when utility companies will begin sending out notices to their customers about upcoming rate increases.  Be sure to keep an eye out for this type of notification and forward along to your supervisor so we can be sure to add any increases into future property budgets.

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Spring Flags Arriving Soon!

The Spring Flag order is being shipped from Elmer’s Flags today, and should arrive within a week! We are very excited to be introducing a new design this Spring, similar to the new version introduced in the Fall. Please do not mis-match with the old flag versions. The new flags have magenta waves with orange and lime green polka dots. Please have your maintenance team switch your flags as soon as possible. To learn more about the marketing flags, including how to install them click here. Enjoy!

*Please disregard if your property does not have flags

Any questions or concerns?

Please feel free to contact Kelsey Schneider.
503.445.2794

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Resident Files

From time to time applicants/residents will ask to receive a copy of their complete resident file.

As a company policy you are approved to release:
• Copies of the rental agreement and all addenda to the rental agreement.
• Any letters or notices sent to the household from our office during their term of residency. Continue reading “Resident Files”

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Spring Clean Up Starts Tomorrow!

Are you ready for the 2014 Spring Cleanup?

This is a great way to motivate residents to clean their apartments and patios and they will definitely appreciate the convenience of having dumpsters on site.

Make sure your drop boxes are ordered and your residents have been informed!  Here are the flyers that were included in your Spring Into Action packet and also emailed on March 7th in case you need to post some more around your property.

community cleanup 2014 – manager flyer

Dumpster flyer (english) – local portland

Dumpster flyer (english)

Dumpster flyer (spanish)

If you have any questions, feel free to contact your property supervisor.