Coffee Break Things You’re Already Paying For
(But Probably Not Using) Learn how to make the most of your software!
How MODERN
IS YOUR MANAGEMENT? Free Domains & Website Hosting Website Price Breakdown
? Quiz:
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Four
Step Guide to Leased!
23
Seconds.
Why Renters Insurance is a Must.
W h a t I s Yo u r Rental IQ?
Trends & Tools For Rentec Direct Property Managers and Landlords 1
Renters lie.
Credit reports don’t.
Opt for Tenant Screening with Rentec Direct, and rest assured that your new tenant is just as wonderful as their application proclaims. 2
tent Con
On the Cover . . . .
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How Modern is Your Management? Free Domains & Website Hosting Website Price Breakdown
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Four Steps to Leased! Type. Click. Syndicate. Rent. Convenient tools make it easy.
What Is Your Rental IQ? Test your rental knowledge with this short quiz!
23 Seconds. Accidents happen, and renters insurance can protect both you and your tenants.
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Top Reads . . . . Matchmaker, Matchmaker Your software allows for intuitive property matching with tenant leads.
Access Granted Navigating the most advanced permissions system in the industry.
21 You Can’t Remember Everything With the custom fields function in your software, you can store detailed info on your tenants.
Also Featured . . . .
8 Transaction History Log 10 5 Must-Have Management Tools 12 Know How to Market Your Properties 14 The Right Forms for Your Business 15 Business Reporting 17 Property Managers Really Do Want it All 18 Merchant Accounts for Every Owner 25 Pay Owner Wizard 3
What Is Your Test your understanding of rental laws
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My tenant moved out, leaving a ratty couch and bags of clothes behind. It looks like trash to me, but I have to store this stuff until the tenant claims it.
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It is my right to refuse to rent to someone who has been arrested for drug use.
False. True.
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There is a great park and good schools near my rental, so it’s a good idea to put “Perfect for Families” in my rental ad.
False. True.
False. True.
My applicant has a mediocre credit score. So, I’m requring a cosigner on the lease and must provide an Adverse Action Notice to this tenant.
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False. True.
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Landlord-tenant laws are state driven rules that will protect the owner, the property, and tenants in all rental transactions. Managers and landlords are required to understand the federal and local laws that pertain to their property but a surprising number of landlords do not fully understand their rights or legal obligations regarding landlord-tenant laws, according to a Zillow survey.
Rental IQ? with these common landlord scenarios.
False. True.
HOW WELL DO YOU REALLY KNOW YOUR RENTAL LAWS? 1. False. Arrest records are not a valid reason to deny a rental applicant according to HUD’s Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records.
Answer Key
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I have to tell my renter that a previous occupant has died in the rental property.
2. True. Although you might be tempted to sell, keep, or throw away items your tenant left behind, there are certain procedures a landlord must follow in order to avoid liability claims or legal proceedings from the tenant. While each state is different, in general, you must itemize and store property for a reasonable amount of time for your tenant to come collect the property. 3. False. Familial status is a protected class under the Fair Housing Act. Mentioning families in your rental ad could insinuate that families will receive special treatment which could violate the Fair Housing Act. 4. True. If you reject an applicant, increase the rent or deposit, require a cosigner, or take any other adverse action based partly or completely on information in a consumer report, like a credit score, you must give the applicant or tenant a notice of that fact with an Adverse Action Notice to meet Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act laws. 5. Depends. There is no federal law regarding deceased tenant disclosures to your renters. Although some states only require landlords to disclose this information if a tenant asks you directly about deaths on the property, others only require a landlord to inform tenants about past deaths that happened in the past three years. Others still, have no requirements. Check your state and local laws about deceased tenant disclosures to renters.
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Matchmaker, Matchmaker ...make tenants match the property they want.
56%
of renters spend 14-90 days searching for an apartment.*
Tenant lead tracking goes beyond Excel to intuitive property matching in your software. A few tenant leads would be easy to sort and manage on an excel file, but what happens when you have hundreds of tenants visiting your rental business and inquiring about your properties? Enter tenant lead tracking software, like that found in Rentec Direct, giving you the tools to collect, sort and manage tenant leads. These tools are linked to properties in your software and will match the vacant property to your tenant leads’ preferences for you! Say goodbye to the time spent creating excel filters and sorting data.
you online they can fill out their own tenant lead profile about their ideal rental property.
“If a prospect finds you online they can fill out their own tenant lead profile about their ideal rental property.”
How Does Lead Tracking Software Work? Depending on the lead source (email, phone call, or online inquiry) you can create a prospective tenant profile, sometimes referred to as a “Guest Card” in the industry, that contains a tenant lead’s interests. If a prospect finds
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At a minimum, these criteria include number of bedrooms, bathrooms, a maximum amount of rent and the city of interest. If a prospect calls or emails, you can create your own tenant lead profile about them or email them back a link to fill out their own profile and property search on your customized marketing website.
The system will then automatically scan your properties to find matches based on the prospect’s interests and your available properties that have matching features. * Source: Google/Milward Brown Digital Real Estate Survey
For example, if a prospect is looking for a two bedroom apartment under $1000 in Grants Pass, Oregon, the system will display all your available properties to the lead that fit this criteria as potential matches.
that works for you is important. A good tenant lead management system can help you fill vacancies faster, limiting the amount of time a rental sits empty generating zero rental income.
Saved Searches for Tenant Leads
Did You Know?
Property searches are linked to the tenant lead’s email address and saved in the system. A tenant lead has the option to revisit or edit his or her property search by using the email address linked to the original search.
If a new property in your account becomes available, you can easily send an automated email to a lead to check out the newly available properties that match their search criteria.
If a new property in your account becomes available, the account manager can easily send an automated email to the lead to check out the newly available properties that match their search criteria. Whether you choose to manually track your tenant leads or find software to save you time, having access to a system
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Ever wonder what your team members have been up to in your Rentec Direct program?
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ith a transaction history audit log, you will be able to identify and correct errors, reconcile bank accounts more efficiently, provide transparency, and train employees confidently. And if you suspect anything fishy happening to your accounts or funds, the transaction history audit log will aid you in identifying suspicious activity.
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This feature makes it easy for account managers to see which transactions have been updated, edited or changed in the system.
Why is This Helpful? • • • • • • •
Audits Training new employees Identifying accidental edits Correcting errors Bank account reconciliation Identifying embezzlement Preventing embezzlement
Transactions can be filtered to show only transactions that have been edited by a user and/or with a date range. When you have multiple users creating and modifying transactions in your accounting system, account managers need to keep track of who created or modified a transaction. The Transaction Audit Log provides the answer for Rentec Direct clients!
A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN...
RENTEC DIRECT HAS PARTNERED WITH A RENTAL INSPECTION APP!
Why an Inspection App? Connect your Rentec Direct account with the leading rental inspection software from zInspector to make rental inspections easy and efficient. This integration allows you to sync your properties directly into zInspector. This integration means you do not have to manually enter any property data to complete a rental inspection through zInspector.
QUESTIONS ABOUT ZINSPECTOR? Contact: support@zinspector.com 9
5 Must-Have Management Tools Photos of Work Orders Including a photo with maintenance requests will help illustrate the problem and provide additional help to landlords or managers to understand what needs to be fixed. Your tenants can take a picture of a maintenance problem with their smart phone and attach it to a maintenance request or work order in the Tenant Portal. This will improve your efficiency in handling maintenance requests.
E-File Taxes Your software already tracks your rental income and expenses, so why not go further with tools to help eliminate tax season stress. In a couple clicks you can generate a 1099-MISC Tax Assistant Report and even e-file your 1099 tax forms.
Text Tenants Whether you are sending an email or text message to just one tenant or a specific group of tenants, Rentec’s enhanced editor and automatic data fields will streamline the process.
Tool Tips Want to find your renter’s contact information faster? A simple hover of the mouse is all you need for an at-a-glance view of your tenant’s contact information like phone number or email. The hover-over pop-up, (also known as a tool tip) lets you send an email or text message directly from the pop-up window. Less clicks equals more time saved!
You can build a library of email and text notification templates and refine their layout to convey the professionalism of your company.
Mobile App Shortcut Want to instantly access your Rentec Direct account from your mobile phone? Set up a home screen app shortcut. A home screen shortcut will appear on your phone alongside your other mobile apps and, when clicked on, will open your Rentec Direct account, so you can use Rentec on the go.
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GOING THROUGH AN AUDIT can be SCARY.
Try Rentec Direct’s Audit Assistance Service: Rentec Direct will happily guide you through your audit to help you find the necessary reports that demonstrate your compliance with real estate commission accounting guidelines and principles for your state. Rentec PM software is certified by the strictest states to do trust accounting correctly and provide the necessary reports in the event of an audit. Rentec Direct is Trust Account Certified: You can confidently face an audit knowing you will have no issues with trust account compliance when using Rentec Direct’s accounting features to manage your portfolio, including three-way-reconciliation between trial balance reports, bank reconciliation reports, and general ledger reports.
Rentec is here to help. 11 11
Know How to Market Your Properties ental vacancy rates are at a historic low, but that doesn’t mean property managers can take a back seat when it comes to marketing their empty properties. Vacancies are a cash-flow killer for your owners. To keep your clients happy, take steps to make sure vacant units are getting the maximum exposure possible.
Websites are affordable and easy to maintain with modern tools. Property managers can create their own custom website through platforms designed especially for them. Rentec Direct provides a free customizable website that publishes rental advertisements in one easy click. Increase Exposure with Rental Advertisement Syndication
Marketing each rental “72% of renters use the effectively will reduce your internet when looking for vacancy rates--a top The best way to get selling point when signing a new apartment...� maximum exposure for new owners. Additionally, your rental vacancies inif you base your volves placing rental ads management fee on in key locations online. collected rent, the faster you get a property rented, the faster your income Rentec Direct automatically posts your rental will grow. vacancies to the top rental listing sites, eliminating the need for you do it yourself. Keep Your Website Up-to-Date With 61% of online apartment searches 72% of renters use the Internet when looking for beginning with either an apartment listing site a new apartment according to a study conducted or a search engine, making sure your property by Apartments.com and Google. An active online is included on every top rental listing site will presence must be a priority for guarantee maximum exposure. marketing vacancies. 12
4 Step Guide to Leased! Type. Click. Syndicate. Rent.
Convenient tools for property managers make it easy to create one rental ad that gets syndicated to the top rental listing sites like Zillow, Trulia, Realtor, Apartments.com, Rent.com and more. Rentec Direct has partnered with these sites to form the most advanced rental listing syndication network in the industry.
Step One: Create Your Listing. Create a marketing profile for each of your properties with details and pictures that will get published to the most popular and frequently used real-estate rental listing websites.
Step Three: Syndicate Your Rental Ad. The next time your property becomes available to rent your beautifully created property profile can be used in Rentec Direct’s software to post to the rental listing syndication network. With your listing automatically published to these popular sites you are guaranteed more exposure.
Step Two: Activate Online Rental Applications. Using online rental applications makes it easy to process tenant screening reports and keep your records organized. Online applications eliminate the potential for misplaced paperwork and reduce the need for you to manually enter any applicant information.
Step Four: Screen your Applicants. You will be able to review an applicant’s credit report, criminal background, and eviction history with instant tenant screening features. Rentec’s software will link a rental application directly to the tenant screening features and all the applicant’s data will populate the screening reports for quick ordering.
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The Right Forms For Your Business
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andlords and property managers often have to use standardized forms to communicate with tenants regarding things like lease violations or notices to pay rent or quit. Standard form templates are now available in the Forms Editor, allowing users to access and customize templates for commonly used rental forms according to their needs.
Use the Forms Editor to Create: • • • • • • • •
Lease Agreements Renewal Notices Move in/Move out Checklists Pet Addendums Tenant Vacant Notice to Management Security Deposit Deduction Letter And More!
These forms can be printed for mailing, emailed to your renters, or sent via DocuSign to if an electronic signature is required. Don’t see a form you are looking for? If you don’t see a form you need, you can add a form that you have previously used or create a new one in the Forms Editor. The Forms Editor gives users absolute power to create any type of document using data fields that pull data from the software to input information like your tenant’s name, addresses, past due balances, etc.
Did You Know? Rentec Direct offers the forms that you need to manage your rental-all for free? With easy-to-customize forms, your day just got easier.
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Business Reporting
Is your business reporting the right way? Pulling the right report gives you a snapshot of your properties, funds, and business transactions. Whether you want to know which properties each of your managers is in charge of or which vacant rentals are available, your software can generate an easy to read report in seconds.
While your software offers dozens of different types of reports, there are useful reports that have been added to the system. Property Manager Rent Report: This list of your property managers, the units they are assigned and corresponding financials. Available Rentals Report: With improved property search criteria and a visually appealing Available Rentals Report, your renters will have a much easier time finding the property that best suits them. Summary by Property Report: A new report, “Summary by Property�, tallies subunit ledgers into the master unit. This report will match the amounts shown on the Properties list.
Reports are organized by Financial Reports, Renter/HOA Reports, Miscellaneous Reports, and Screening Reports. You can create custom reports using filters to set a date range, property, tenant, manager, owner, or other criteria.
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How MODERN IS
YOUR MANAGEMENT? R
enters are using Facebook, Twitter, and the Internet multiple times a day. They expect every professional and business they interact with to have a website and social media presence at the bare minimum. Think About It. . . If your future renters have to choose between “Old School PM” that has no website or online rent payment
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options vs “Johnson’s Property Management” with an amazing website and tenant portal… guess which one they will choose? The good news is it is easy for any property manager to be competitive with modern rental tools. Even better? It’s affortable too! Property managers can get free professional website hosting and a free domain included with their management software.
Website Price Breakdown Domain: Self-register:$12-30 Rentec Registration: $0
Website Hosting: Self-host: $90-$150/yr Rentec Webserver: $0
Web Design: Hire Designer: $300 - $1,000 Rentec Site Editor: $0
Property Managers Really Do
Want It All
Total Price for Rentec PMs and Landlords? $0.00
Google Analytics support – Your website will
receive the best in class reporting on who is visiting your website, where they are coming from, and what they are viewing.
A custom web address. Choose your own domain and custom url to match your business’s name. Rentec takes care of registering the domain and hosting the website for you at no additional cost to you.
3 customizable pages & all your listings.
Your website includes a template to create a fully customizable Homepage, About Us page, and a Contact page. Your available listings will also automatically load to a page on your website. You’ll have everything you need for renters, owners, and vendors to discover your properties and learn about your business.
Multiple mobile compatible themes.
Every page is designed using responsive web design to ensure compatibility with every mobile device. This will help you attract more renters and clients, and give you better rankings in search engines for your area.
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Merchant Accounts for Every Owner
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roperty managers who receive funds into separate bank accounts for each owner can now receive those fund directly into the appropriate account by setting up multiple merchant accounts. Multiple deposit accounts are tied to your merchant services and allow you to deposit payments received from your tenants for a certain property (or set of properties) into separate accounts. Access to multiple merchant accounts will streamline your payment processing duties and makes it easier to pay your owners or receive funds for separate properties into their own corresponding account automatically.
This enhanced feature works with Rentec Direct’s merchant services which allow you to receive tenant payments online via e-check (ACH) and credit/debit card.
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How do multiple merchant deposit accounts work? Banks will typically only deposit (or send funds) into one connected bank account. This is a restriction in the credit card and automatic funds transfer (ACH) banking industry. To help property managers, Rentec worked with the banks and our funding partner, Forte, to come up with a solution around this limitation to better serve you and your owners. Rentec is now able to setup additional merchant accounts for the same Rentec client, with each one pointed towards a different account. We then connect the secondary merchant account to your additional bank account within Rentec Direct’s system. Then and all properties using that bank account as the default income account will automatically route the funds properly to the new merchant account.
What does it cost? Are you ready for some good news? For the majority of our clients asking for multiple merchant accounts, it will cost nothing. That’s right, you can get up to 5 merchant accounts at no additional cost.*
*Rentec Pro and Rentec PM subscriptions that manage 200 or more properties are eligible for up to 5 merchant accounts at no additional cost.
Did You Know? “Multiple merchant accounts streamline payment processing duties and makes it easier to pay your owners or receive funds for separate properties into their own corresponding account automatically.”
Want more information? Your Client Success team is always here to help.
Email: support@rentecdirect.com Call: 800-881-5139 -Or- Live Chat in Your Software 19
WHEN RENTERS PAY ONLINE? Everyone can rest easy.
Landlords whose renters use online payments every month are 32% less likely to need to issue a late fee. That’s great news for your tenants and for you.
You asked and we listened. If you use Rentec Direct’s EasyPay merchant services to collect rent payments online, via echeck (ACH) or credit card, the sign-up process just got easier for your renters. Your renters can now securely input their own bank account and routing number via the Tenant Portal to initiate online rent payments instantly.
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You Can’t Remember Everything {And No One Expects You To}
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magine doing a property walk-through and spotting one of your tenants walking an adorable French Bulldog. You’re so excited to say hello to that so-ugly-it’scute smashed face pup you forget that you have never seen this dog before.
Could it be you just encountered an unauthorized pet on your property? Luckily you keep detailed tenant data, including pet information, stored in your management software for a quick reference.
It’s time to put some paperwork together to issue a warning, get a pet deposit collected, and start collecting pet rent. With the custom fields function in your property management software, you can easily store detailed information, on your tenants (like pet information), or details about properties and owners. The information is kept neatly organized for a quick reference in your database, and the data can even be pulled and auto-populate into lease agreements, forms, addendums, or other documents created in the Custom Forms Editor.
Back at the office, accessing tenant information only takes 3 clicks to check out the custom fields for each tenant - sure enough there is no French Bulldog recorded for this tenant.
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Access Granted Navigating the most advanced permissions system in the industry
I
f your employees (or property managers) have specific areas of responsibility in managing your rental business, you now have the ability to ensure they can only access areas of the system and information pertinent to their jobs. This feature is the most advanced permissions system anywhere within the property management software industry – and you get it with Rentec Direct included with your subscription. We have taken steps to ensure sensitive information is not visible to your sub-users if you choose not to give them permission to see it. For example, bank accounts, balances, ledgers, financial reports and many other system functions can now be hidden from users whose jobs do not involve those functions. Here is a look at some of access you can give your employees within your management software advanced permissions feature: 22
Editing of Reconciled Transactions – Allow or disallow users to edit transactions that have been marked as reconciled. View Ledgers and Balances – Allow users to view ledgers and balances per item. For example, you can restrict access to bank account ledgers and balances, but allow access to tenant ledgers.
To access these new features? Login and visit Settings, Manage User Accounts. Click on the Permissions link (3rd column) to view and edit the permissions of any existing users.
Manage User Accounts – You can now delegate the task of managing user accounts to an emoloyee. Allow access to add or edit other user (employees/property managers) accounts. Income & Expense Categories – Allow access to add/edit income & expense categories. Email / Text Messaging – Allow access to send emails and text messages. Utilities: 1099 e-File and Print – Allow access to electronically file 1099s. Utilities: DocuSign Configuration – Allow access to send electronic leases (or other electronic signature documents). Utilities: Transaction History – Allow access to the new transaction history audit logs. File Library – Allow access to view files within the file library. Website and Branding – Allow access to modify the professional property management website and custom branding. Financial Reports – Allow access to run financial reports.
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Pa� r e n w O r� a � W In one simple step, you can pay all your owners affiliated with the properties you manage, saving you hours of work every month.
account, doing outgoing ACH payments to your owners will fully automate your processes.
If you aren’t already setup with a merchant account, it is a very simple process. Owners will love getting monthly direct deposits into their account.
Rentec created the Pay Owner Wizard to automatically disperse your owner payments.
How Does it Work?
The Pay Owner Wizard supports all the payment methods used to pay owners including Check, Print Check, and ACH.
The system handles all the back-end processing for you by creating the ledger entries for checks and sending out the ACH payments via your merchant account.
Get the Pay Owner Wizard If you are setup with an EasyPay Merchant
Keep reports so you can view and audit any payments sent. The feature can be found under the Reports tab, Owner Payments Wizard.
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That’s how often fire departments respond to a fire in the U.S. And these fires can end up costing you an average of $20,700 in damages if it’s a structure fire.*
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Seconds.
ousehold fires are most commonly caused by cooking equipment or negligence in the kitchen. And if your tenant doesn’t have renters insurance, who do you think will ultimately be responsible for that twenty-thousand dollar bill? Is a court battle over liability something you even want to consider dealing with when you are trying to rebuild your investment? While renters insurance can help cover the cost of replacing your tenants stolen or damaged personal possessions, it can also cover the cost of damage caused to the property by negligence -- say, a forgotten food item left in flames on the stove. Ultimately, it is in a landlord’s best interest to encourage tenants to get renters insurance so the homeowner isn’t left with a bill due a tenant being unable to cover the cost of damaged property or court fees. Accidents happen, and renters insurance can protect both you and your tenants.
by letting them sign up in the Tenant Portal. Your renters will be able to use the Tenant Portal to pay their rent and access their renters insurance.
“ Ultimately, it is in a landlord’s best interest to encourage tenants to get renters insurance...”
A lot of landlords and property managers are finding assurance in requiring their tenants to sign up for renters insurance. SURE for Rentec Direct gives landlords and property managers the easiest way for their renters to get insurance for personal property, liability, and more,
Property managers and landlords can: • Require renters have proof of insurance • Provide easy sign-up for renters insurance • Track enrollment & compliance
Renters insurance is available for as little as $8/ month and will protect clothes, furniture, electronics, and even your renter from unexpected damages and injuries.
*Data based on National Fire Protection Association Annual Fire Department Survey
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COLLECT RENT ONLINE Wherever you may be.
Manage from anywhere with the number one rated property management software. With US-based support and an easy-to-learn software, it’s no wonder so many chose Rentec Direct. Rentec Direct: Simplify. Automate. Grow.
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