Property Vista provides default wording for many compliance-related and legal sections throughout the application and resident portals.
However, every property management company (PMC) has its own business practices and legal requirements. We recommend reviewing all default wording and making any necessary changes to ensure it reflects your organization's requirements.
Important: Property management companies are responsible for reviewing and approving their own legal and compliance wording. Consider consulting with your legal counsel before making changes to legal agreements, consent language, or payment authorization terms.
The following guide identifies key policy areas that should be reviewed, explains their purpose, and shows where to update the wording in Property Vista.
Policy Areas to Review
1. Lease Agreement
Purpose: Controls the wording used in the Lease Agreement presented to residents.
Where to update:
Policies > Application/Leasing > Lease Agreements
2. Lease Applications
Purpose: Controls the wording displayed in the Lease Application process. This also includes wording applicable to guarantors.
Where to update:
Policies > Application/Leasing > Lease Applications
3. Consent Policy
Purpose: Controls consent wording for the communication module, including opt-in and opt-out language. You can also customize the associated header and footer information.
Where to update:
Policies > Communication > Consent
4. Maintenance Requests
Purpose: Allows you to configure wording related to permission to enter a unit and entry instructions associated with maintenance requests.
Where to update:
Policies > Portal > Maintenance Requests
5. Terms and Conditions
Purpose: Allows you to customize the terms, conditions, and privacy wording displayed throughout the resident and prospect portals.
The following areas can be configured:
- Resident Portal Terms and Conditions: The terms and conditions displayed through the resident portal.
- Resident Portal Privacy Conditions: The privacy policy displayed through the resident and prospect portals.
- Prospect Portal Terms and Conditions: The terms and conditions displayed through the online application and prospect portal.
Where to update:
Policies > Portal > Terms and Conditions
6. Financial Terms
Purpose: Contains compliance-related wording associated with accepting and processing payments.
The following areas should be reviewed:
- Billing Terms: Billing and refund terms presented to customers. These should reflect your organization's payment and refund practices and applicable payment-processing requirements.
- Pre-Authorized Payment eCheck Terms: Authorization wording for automatic bank account payments, such as Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) or Automated Clearing House (ACH), where applicable.
- Pre-Authorized Payment Card Terms: Authorization wording for automatic credit or debit card payment processing.
Where to update:
Policies > Portal > Financial Terms
Final Review
Before making these policies available to residents and applicants, ensure that:
- All applicable policy wording has been reviewed.
- The wording reflects your organization's business practices.
- Consent and payment authorization language has been reviewed for applicable requirements.
- Legal agreements and privacy wording have been reviewed by appropriate legal counsel where necessary.