Real Estate Technology
PR Newswire | January 10, 2024
RentSpree, the industry's premier end-to-end rental management software provider, announced it achieved System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 Type II compliance, demonstrating RentSpree's commitment to data security and adherence to industry-leading information security policies and practices.
Acknowledged as the leading data security standard for SaaS providers, SOC 2 Type II compliance involves a rigorous process, ensuring that a company securely manages data, safeguarding both the organization and the privacy of its customers.
Developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the SOC 2 Type II audit provides a report on the examination of a company's controls related to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy. RentSpree's audit report was issued with a "clean" audit opinion from national audit firm Sensiba LLP.
"This achievement is huge for us and was a top priority this past year as the integrity of our systems and the policies and practices we have in place to protect sensitive information is integral in today's marketplace," said Michael Lucarelli, CEO and Co-Founder, RentSpree.
RentSpree offers rental software solutions such as tenant screening, online applications, document automation, e-signatures, denial and approval communications, and property landing pages. RentSpree has also added renter services capabilities including rent payment reporting.
"While we've consistently prioritized the security of our platform, having this affirmation from a nationally-recognized third-party auditor adds further validation that we are implementing the necessary measures to safeguard our systems and users," said Jonathan Holland, Chief Technology Officer, RentSpree.
In addition to auditor Sensiba LLP, RentSpree utilized Drata, the leading compliance automation platform, to streamline its compliance efforts and continuously monitor its security controls.
About RentSpree
Los Angeles-based RentSpree is a provider of award-winning rental software that helps seamlessly connect real estate agents, owners, and renters to simplify and automate the entire rental process, from listing to lease. The all-in-one platform is known across all 50 states for its easy and secure interface and suite of rental tools, including tenant screening, rent payments, marketing and renter management. To date, RentSpree has partnered with more than 300 of the most influential MLSs, real estate associations and brokerages to serve over two million users in the U.S. RentSpree has been ranked on Inc. 5000's fastest-growing private companies in 2022 and 2023.
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Real Estate Investment
PR Newswire | January 04, 2024
Pennington Partners & Co., a multi-family investment office that specializes in working with entrepreneurs, CEOs / founders, and their families, has announced the launch of Pennington Real Estate Partners (PREP). The new vertical will make direct investments in residential and commercial real estate across the United States, providing new and existing Pennington clients with proprietary real estate investment expertise.
The new offering will focus on tax-advantaged investing including Opportunity Zones, structured equity, and senior secured lending given emerging opportunities in the existing marketplace. The launch represents an expansion of the Pennington team with the addition of Taylor Coe and Alex Rongione. Both come from distinguished careers in institutional real estate investment management, most recently at Walker & Dunlop Investment Partners, and will join the firm as Managing Directors and members of the PREP Investment Committee. As leaders of Pennington Real Estate Partners, Coe and Rongione will each be responsible for designing investment strategies, sourcing opportunities, executing business plans, and realizing investments. Additional information and bios can be found below.
"Pennington Real Estate Partners opens the door to many new opportunities for our clients," noted Brian Gaister, co-founder and CEO of Pennington Partners. "We have expanded our in-house real estate investment expertise that will allow us to capitalize on investment opportunities throughout the United States. We are incredibly honored to have Taylor and Alex join us to lead this new endeavor. Both bring significant experience that will be essential in uncovering and navigating new investments."
The launch of Pennington Real Estate Partners comes on the heels of notable growth and expansion for Pennington Partners. The firm closes out the year with more than 100% growth in assets under management, the launch of a new offering in private equity, and has been recognized in numerous industry accolades. "We're thrilled to be joining forces with a top-tier firm like Pennington, where we can add commercial real estate and associated structured finance to the array of opportunities available to our advisory families," added Coe and Rongione.
About Taylor Coe and Alex Rongione
Taylor Coe joins Pennington Real Estate Partners as a Managing Director and member of the PREP Investment Committee. Prior to joining Pennington, Taylor was on the equity investment team at Walker & Dunlop Investment Partners ("WDIP"), a middle-market real estate investment platform with over $6.1 billion of assets under management as of his time of departure. At WDIP, Taylor was responsible for closing investments with a total capitalization in excess of $1.3 billion. Taylor is also the founder of Sunshine Peak Partners, a boutique investment management firm, and is a graduate of the University of Colorado.
Alex Rongione joins Pennington Real Estate Partners as a Managing Director and member of the PREP Investment Committee. Prior to joining Pennington, Alex was also on the equity investment team at Walker & Dunlop. He contributed to all aspects of the investment process including but not limited to capital raising, strategy, origination, and execution. At WDIP Alex was responsible for closing investments with a total capitalization in excess of $1.7 billion. Alex is a CFA charter holder, a NAIOP Developing Leader, and a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh.
About Pennington Partners & Co.
Originally founded to serve the needs of the two founding families who have built and sold companies in various industries, Pennington Partners & Co.'s mission is to elevate the lives of highly successful entrepreneurial founders and their families. We provide a breadth of investment, wealth planning, and personal financial administration solutions that were created by and for founders, CEOs, wealth creators, and multi-generational families. We partner with successful families and their advisors by providing objective advice, strategy, sophisticated investment solutions, and family office services to generate meaningfully higher efficiency while maintaining the intimacy of a single-family office. In short, our vision is to transform the landscape of financial advice for families of complex wealth, in order to deliver better outcomes.
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Real Estate Technology
PR Newswire | January 09, 2024
Nestfully, an innovative public search portal in the real estate industry powered by some of the country's largest MLSs, today announced a collaboration with Local Logic, a leading location intelligence software provider. Local Logic's advanced location and demographic insights are now directly integrated into Nestfully's platform, enhancing the home search experience for both consumers and real estate professionals.
Nestfully connects consumers directly with the most accurate and up-to-date listing information from the MLS and is elevating its service offerings by integrating two of Local Logic's flagship products - Local Content and Local Demographics. These additions will empower homebuyers with deeper insights into potential properties, covering aspects such as neighborhood characteristics, local services, transportation options, and detailed demographic data.
"Our collaboration with Local Logic marks a milestone for Nestfully," said Amit Kulkarni, Bright MLS Chief Marketing Officer. "Integrating Local Logic's advanced location and demographic insights directly into Nestfully introduces new value to agents and homebuyers and brings them a new innovative tool that enhances the homebuying search."
Local Logic's Local Content product offers 18 distinct location scores across services, transportation, and character, along with details on nearby points of interest and school data. This user-friendly and customizable interface ensures brand consistency while enriching the user's understanding of a home's lifestyle and location characteristics.
Local Demographics provides a comprehensive view of neighborhood dynamics, including income, employment statistics, population demographics, education levels, housing data, and more. This feature is designed for fast implementation and consistent site design, allowing real estate companies to focus on their core business while offering valuable insights to modern home seekers.
"Nestfully's innovative approach to real estate search aligns seamlessly with our mission at Local Logic," said Vincent-Charles Hodder, Co-founder and CEO of Local Logic. "By infusing our comprehensive location intelligence into their platform, we're not just enhancing the homebuying experience; we're reshaping it. This partnership reinforces our position as the go-to provider of neighborhood insights, benefiting both real estate professionals and homebuyers."
About Nestfully
Nestfully delivers millions of residential property listings and a wealth of information to home buyers and sellers from the definitive source used by real estate pros – the MLS. Consumers get access – at no charge – to a search experience that has no advertisements, just home listings and seamless connection to local agents and brokers who know the properties and markets the best. Nestfully was designed, engineered and launched by several of the nation's leading MLSs including California Regional MLS and Bright MLS, with REcolorado, BeachesMLS and Miami REALTORS® as participants.
About Local Logic
Local Logic is a location intelligence platform that digitizes the built world for consumers, investors, developers, and governments – delivering unrivaled clarity and actionable insights capable of creating more sustainable, equitable cities. With more than 85 billion unique data points – the largest unique location data set in the U.S. and Canada – the platform creates a digital twin of cities, quantifying the built world and offering predictive, precise analytics to inform the present and future of over 250 million individual addresses.
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Real Estate Technology
Business Wire | January 25, 2024
SmartRent, Inc., the leading provider of smart home and property operations solutions for the rental housing industry, today announced the launch of Alloy SmartHome Hub+, the Company’s first thermostat with an integrated smart hub device developed under its Alloy SmartHome hardware brand.
This innovative product, one of few on the market that integrates a thermostat with a smart hub device, operates on Z-Wave protocol and has less hardware to install and maintain. In addition to the built-in thermostat technology, Alloy SmartHome Hub+ establishes a single interface to control connected smart home devices, enabling users to turn off multiple lights in a home at once, remotely lock and unlock doors, receive alerts and automatically notify maintenance when a sensor detects a leak.
“Alloy SmartHome Hub+, a device years in the making, is our latest solution that paves the way for the next generation of smarter living and working in rental housing,” said SmartRent CEO Lucas Haldeman. “Designed with our customers’ needs in mind, and inclusive of the feedback they’ve shared about the desire for less hardware, Alloy SmartHome Hub+ delivers sophistication and convenience, all while driving rent growth. Feedback from our beta pilot has been positive, and customer interest indicates eager demand to deploy this solution at scale. We are proud to bring Alloy SmartHome Hub+ to the market at large and to continue eliminating obstacles and easing implementation in the industry.”
This high-value yet economical device builds upon existing SmartRent technologies by consolidating the hub hardware within a smart thermostat, which streamlines procurement, expedites installation and IoT setup. Alloy SmartHome Hub+ can be configured and paired with most HVAC systems and is compatible with smart locks, smart lights, leak sensors and other Z-Wave devices.
About SmartRent
Founded in 2017, SmartRent, Inc. is a leading provider of smart home and smart property solutions for the multifamily industry. The company’s unmatched platform, comprised of smart hardware and cloud-based SaaS solutions, gives operators seamless visibility and control over real estate assets, empowering them to simplify operations, automate workflows, benefit from additional revenue opportunities and deliver exceptional site team and resident experiences. SmartRent serves 15 of the top 20 multifamily owners and operators, and its solutions enable millions of users to live smarter every day.
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