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Once you've documented and automated your processes in LeadSimple, you'll want to have certain processes start automatically.
You can set up rules to start your processes automatically, in bulk.
These are the most common processes to start automatically and in bulk.
Lease Renewals - start lease renewals automatically every month for leases ending in 90 days
Rent Collection/Delinquencies - start delinquency processes automatically every month for tenants that have a delinquent balance
Move Ins - start move in processes when the move in date is a certain number of days away
(Buildium Users: Note that currently the Buildium direct API doesn't allow us to sync move in dates automatically. Until that is the case, we recommend that you use an automatic "create process" step in your Application Screening process to start the Move In process.)
Move Outs - start move out processes when the move in date is a certain number of days away
(Buildium Users: Note that currently the Buildium direct API doesn't allow us to sync move out dates automatically. Until that is the case, we recommend that you use an automatic "create process" step in your Lease Renewal process to start the Move Out process.)
Inspections - start inspection processes a certain amount of time after the tenant has moved in
(You can also start processes automatically from other processes! Here's the help article on how to do that for all other processes apart from the ones listed above.)
Step 1: Set up your Default Settings
To start, you'll need to set up some other settings first. Specifically, your default due dates and team member role assignment.
Once you've done that, you're ready to add your first Autopilot rule!
Step 2: Add an Autopilot Rule
First, navigate to the process settings. (Settings > Process Settings in the lefthand sidebar.)
Be sure you're editing the correct process type, then go to the "Autopilot Rules" tab and click "Add Autopilot Rule".
Start by deciding how often to start the process: either every month, week, or day. If you choose month, you can choose which day of the month. If you choose week, you can choose the day of the week.
To start the process on the last day of the month:
Some months have 28, 29, 30, or 31 days in the month. To start the process on the last day of the month, you can use negative numbers in the "day" field to ensure that the process will always be started on the last day of the month.
To start the process on the last day of the month, put "-1" in the "day" field.
To start the process on the second to last day of the month, put "-2" in the "day" field.
etc.
Then select the time of day you want the process to start and which stage to start in. Note that this will override any default starting stage you might have set in the General settings.
Then, select whether you want the process to be for each property or unit.
Then, choose the criteria you want the rule to use to determine which units or properties to start these processes on.
The available fields are:
Occupancy
Property Type
State
City
Zip Code
Amount Receivable
Delinquent Rent
Beds
Baths
Square Feet
Estimated Rent
Current Rent
Market Rent
Lease Start Date
Lease End Date
Current Lease Move In Date (currently for AppFolio API users only)
Current Lease Move Out Date (currently for AppFolio API users only)
Future Lease Move In Date (currently for AppFolio API users only)
Future Lease Move Out Date (currently for AppFolio API users only)
Property Groups
You can add multiple criteria to your rule.
Be sure to save your rule.
Once you've saved it, you may notice that the rule is not turned on (see the toggle on the far right side). Hover over the toggle to see why the rule was not turned on. It will usually be because you have not set a default due date for the process type yet.
Then, you can add another rule or click on a rule to edit it.
Previous Step: Custom Default Starting Stages | Next Step: Autopilot History
Here are examples of rules to set up for each of the Autopilot processes above:
Lease Renewals
Start lease renewals automatically every day for leases ending in 90 days
Active on PM Software ---> is true
Lease End Date ---> is less than ---> 90 days ---> in the future
(Note: be sure to update your lease end date when renewing leases so that the Autopilot rule won't pick up leases that have already been renewed!)
Current Lease Move Out Date ---> is empty
(To avoid starting processes for tenants that moved out prior to their lease expiration date.)
Active Processes ---> does not include ---> Evictions, Move Outs
Rent Collection/Delinquencies
Start delinquency processes automatically every month for tenants that have a delinquent balance.
Delinquent Rent ---> is greater than ---> $1
Use Delinquent Rent to only start processes for units with a delinquent rent. Use Amount Receivable to start processes for units that have a delinquent balance (including rent, fees, security deposits, etc).
Active on PM Software ---> is true
Active Processes ---> does not include ---> Evictions
Note: if you would like the process to start on the last day of the previous month, select "every month" and put -1 in the "on day" field. That will then start the process on the last day of the month, regardless of whether the month has 28, 29, 30, or 31 days.
Move Ins
Start move in processes when the move in date has been added
(Note that Move In Autopilot rules are currently only possible for AppFolio API users, as the Buildium API doesn't allow us to sync move in dates.)
Future Lease Move In Date ---> is less than 45 days ---> in the future
Active on PM Software ---> is true
Move Outs
Start move out processes when the move out date has been added.
(Note that Move Out Autopilot rules are currently only possible for AppFolio API users, as the Buildium API doesn't allow us to sync move out dates.)
Current Lease Move Out Date ---> is less than 45 days ---> in the future
Active on PM Software ---> is true
Active Processes ---> does not include ---> Make Ready, Marketing, Owner Offboarding, Property Sale
This will exclude any units that have already completed the Move Out process and have moved on to the next process.
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