BOULDER, CO -- (Marketwire) -- 05/22/12 -- LeaseRunner, a comprehensive digital leasing suite that allows users to manage leasing transactions from any web-connected device, today announced the findings of its first Rental Industry Report. The bi-annual Rental Industry Report reveals trends and data within the rental market from the viewpoint of brokers, landlords, and property managers. This edition of the report highlights the diverse challenges landlords face when managing rental properties, touching on finding the right tenant, lease execution, tenant screening, rent collection and tenant eviction.

Challenges and Time Constraints of Property Management
Respondents identified finding the right tenant as the toughest challenge, with cash flow weighing in as the least challenging -- likely due to the high demand for rentals and therefore landlords' ability to charge higher rent.

• 58% Finding the right tenant
• 17% Property maintenance
• 8% Tenant eviction
• 7% Managing lease transactions
• 6% Collecting rent
• 4% Cash flow

When asked which transaction during the leasing process consumes the most time, respondents reported listing and showing property as their most time consuming obligation, followed by lease execution.

• 65% Listing and showing property
• 14% Lease execution
• 9% Background checks
• 6% Rent collection
• 4% Rental application
• 2% Paper signature process (drafting, reviewing, signing)

Of the 62% of respondents who have had to evict a tenant, the most common reason identified as cause for eviction was past-due rent. 47% of respondents said they had had to evict a tenant due to past-due rent at one point in time.

• 47% Past-due rent
• 37% Never had to evict a tenant
• 26% Violation of lease terms
• 11% Disrespect of neighbors or property
• 4% Unlawful living conditions

The New Landlord & New Solutions

Adding to the challenges of renting property, the survey also found that 59% of respondents were "Accidental Landlords" -- those who became a landlord by obligation or circumstance rather than choice, who are usually inexperienced managing property.

Given the time consuming responsibilities of managing rental properties and the large number of respondents identified as accidental landlords, the report identified a popular solution: paperless leasing. When asked if taking the leasing process online had strengthened the respondents' relationships with their tenants, results showed:

• 73% Yes - The online leasing process has strengthened my relationship with my tenant
• 27% No - The online leasing process has not strengthened my relationship with my tenant

With reports predicting the continued growth of the rental market -- landlords and renters alike will be forced to find ways to ease these challenges and streamline the overall leasing process.

"With the surge of renters entering the market, landlords and rental industry professionals, not all of whom have experience managing property, are pressed to deal with more rental applicants, screenings, lease executions, and payments," said LeaseRunner CEO Joe Buczkowski. "High rents and low vacancy rates do present difficulties for renters looking for a place to live, but we should be equally concerned about the challenges faced by landlords, brokers, and property managers -- many of whom are also the consumer who has been forced into managing property by circumstance rather than choice."

Visual representations of the data above can be found at http://s171396594.onlinehome.us/

About LeaseRunner

LeaseRunner is a consumer-facing web application that digitizes the property leasing process from application through rent collection. The platform provides a comprehensive, paperless, and virtual solution for leasing rental properties with its built-in technologies that handle each transaction involved with property management: processing and archiving rental applications, in-depth secure financial and background tenant screening, digital lease signage management, and automated rent collection. LeaseRunner is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado and was founded in 2011 by Joe Buczkowski, an internet and business attorney and finance instructor at the University of Colorado, Boulder.