WO2013150332A1 - A tenant screening method and system using personality assessment - Google Patents
A tenant screening method and system using personality assessment Download PDFInfo
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- WO2013150332A1 WO2013150332A1 PCT/IB2012/051586 IB2012051586W WO2013150332A1 WO 2013150332 A1 WO2013150332 A1 WO 2013150332A1 IB 2012051586 W IB2012051586 W IB 2012051586W WO 2013150332 A1 WO2013150332 A1 WO 2013150332A1
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q50/00—Systems or methods specially adapted for specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism
- G06Q50/10—Services
- G06Q50/16—Real estate
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q30/00—Commerce
- G06Q30/06—Buying, selling or leasing transactions
- G06Q30/0645—Rental transactions; Leasing transactions
Abstract
A system and method of using a computer and computer program for rapid tenant screening using a personality assessment. The personality assessment measures tenant characteristics then weights those characteristics to predict tenant behaviors of interest to landlords. The tenant is invited to participate in a personality assessment. The computer software and processor generates an assessment report for the landlord indicating the strengths and weaknesses of the tenant's profile. The landlord uses that profile as selection criteria affecting acceptance decision.
Description
This invention relates to business
practice and management in the field of risk
processing and in particular to a tenant screening
method and system using a personality assessment.
The residential and commercial real
estate management industry consists of properties with
rental tenants that are screened and managed by a
landlord. Prior tenant screening generally included an
in-person meeting, an application form, and possibly a
reference screen and/or credit screen. Tenant
screening constitutes a long and arduous process with
an often unsuccessful outcome. Furthermore, this process
was often the subject of charges of discrimination.
Therefore there remains a need to improve the tenant
selection process.
The employee screening industry shares
a common goal with the tenant screening industry: to
differentiate suitable individuals from unsuitable
ones. Personality assessments designed to evaluate the
suitability of prospective employees are becoming
increasingly popular with employers due to their high
validity, low cost, and low adverse impact. Despite
their usefulness in the employee screening industry,
personality assessments have never been developed for
or applied in the tenant screening industry. The
personality assessment component of the current
invention was constructed using theories and methods
that underlie all scientifically developed assessments
of individual characteristics (e.g., classical test
theory, scientific research method). The current
invention differs from all prior assessments in three
main ways: content, target audience, and platform of
delivery. Content is different because many behaviors
that are relevant in tenant screening (e.g., punctuality
with payments, conscientious use of utilities) do not
have analogues in employee screening. Consequently,
assessments for prospective tenants require inclusion
of different sets of personality traits and behavioral
outcomes than assessments for prospective employees.
Selection of relevant behaviors and personality traits
for the current invention is the result of two years of
proprietary research. Target audience differs from all
prior assessments in that tenant screening is a
separate industry from employee screening. The
industries are governed by separate laws, have separate
professional and regulatory bodies, and have little or
no crossover in methods or research. The platform of
delivery - the software component of the current
invention - was developed entirely and solely for use
in applying personality assessments in tenant
screening. It has no analogue in employment.
It is one object of the invention
to improve the tenant selection process for
rental units.
A second object is to integrate a
personality assessment into a tenant selection process.
A third object of the invention is
to allow the landlord the opportunity to provide
weight factors to desirable and undesirable
characteristics of prospective tenants in a
screening process.
A forth object is to save the
landlord time in assessing a prospective tenant.
A fifth object is to automate the
tenant selection process.
A sixth object is to increase the
fairness of the tenant selection process by
reducing adverse impact on minorities relative to
other tenant screening processes.
Figure 1 illustrates one embodiment of
an Internet portal of the invention for landlords and tenants.
Figure 2 illustrates one embodiment of
a landlord enrollment process.
Figure 2A illustrates one embodiment
of a landlord login screen of the invention.
Figure 3 illustrates one embodiment of
a 'Signup' page of the invention.
Figure 4 illustrates one embodiment of
a 'My units' page of the invention.
Figure 5 illustrates one embodiment of
a screen for modifying the importance weights of
behaviors and sub-behaviors.
Figure 5A illustrates one embodiment
of a screen for choosing the comparison sample used in
scoring algorithms.
Figure 6 illustrates one embodiment of
an 'Inbox' page of the invention.
Figure 7 illustrates one embodiment of
a form for inviting candidates via email to complete a
personality assessment.
Figure 8 illustrates one embodiment of
a form for inviting candidates via phone or in person
to complete a personality assessment.
Figure 9 illustrates one embodiment of
a prospective tenant login screen of the invention.
Figure 10 illustrates one embodiment
of a personality assessment of the invention.
Figure 10A illustrates a partial list
of lead-in statements of one embodiment of the invention.
Figure 11 illustrates a partial list
of sub-behavior names and definitions of one
embodiment of the invention.
Figure 12 illustrates one embodiment
of a list of scale names and definitions of the invention.
Figure 13 illustrates one embodiment
of a list of items/statements of one embodiment of the invention.
Figure 14 illustrates a list behavior
names and definitions of one embodiment of the invention.
Figure 15 illustrates one embodiment
of an assessment report generated by the system of the invention.
Figure 16 diagrams one embodiment of
the personality assessment process of the invention
from the perspective of a landlord.
Figure 17 diagrams one embodiment of
the personality assessment process of the invention
from the perspective of a prospective tenant.
In this submission, the term
'landlord' refers to a landlord and/or the
landlord's agent (e.g., property manager, building
manager, site manager).
The description contained in this
application is exemplified by references to a
residential landlord situation where a tenant seeks to
rent accommodation. However, it is to be understood that
the invention can be applied to commercial real estate
markets where a tenant may wish to rent office space.
The invention provides landlords with
a method and system for assessing the suitability of a
prospective tenant based on a personality assessment.
The personality assessment measures characteristics of
perspective tenants that predict behaviors of relevance
to landlords. Characteristics include personality
traits, attitudes, judgments, and candidness of
responses on the assessment . The landlord is provided
access to a system of the invention comprising a
computerized selection system. The computerized
selection system is comprised of computer processing
modules, data storage modules, and software program modules.
The invention is intended to be one
component in a larger battery of tenant screening
tools. To make use of the current invention, landlords
would apply the method and system of the invention at
the time of their choice during their screening
battery. Landlords retain control over which other
screening methods and systems are applied (e.g.,
in-person meetings, credit checks, reference checks,
past eviction checks, criminal record checks), and the
order of administration of those screening tools. For
instance, one landlord may invite prospective tenants
who pass the in-person interview to take the
personality assessment described in this application.
People who pass the assessment might then be asked to
consent to a credit check. Alternatively, another
landlord may use the personality assessment of the
invention as an initial pre-screen, then chose to meet
only with prospective tenants who pass the personality
assessment. Yet another landlord may administer to all
prospective tenants a reference check, past eviction
check, and the personality assessment of the invention.
In other words, landlords choose when and how the
current invention fits into their larger tenant
screening battery.
Initial access Landlords and prospective tenants access the
system through an Internet portal. One embodiment of
the Internet portal is illustrated in Figure 1 and
screen 100. Figure 1 also shows the landlord login
screen 101 and prospective tenant login screen 102.
The access to the system and method of the invention is
permissions based and the invention comprises a
security module so that the landlord and the tenant
can only gain access to the system and method of the
invention by entering valid credentials. Figure 2A
illustrates the login screen 210 used by the landlord.
Figure 9 illustrates the login screen 900 used by the tenant.
Enrollment The enrollment process is diagrammed in Figure 2
and relies upon an enrollment module as part of the
system. A landlord without an account 201 becomes a
client of the system by enrolling using the system
signup page 202 (illustrated in Figure 3), providing
payment information 203, then configuring some initial
settings for their account (204 illustrated in Figures
4, 5, and 5A). After enrolling, the system and method
of the invention are accessible by the landlord on a fee
for services basis or on a subscription basis through
a payment module.
If the landlord is accessing the
portal for the first time then he or she must create a
new account. Referring to Figure 2A and the landlord
login screen (210), the 'Create new account'
link 218 takes the landlord to the 'Signup'
page (Figure 3 and screen 300). The 'Tell us about
yourself' section 301 of the Signup page collects
basic personal information such as name, birthdate,
and location of residence. The 'Select a username
and password' section 302 of the Signup page
activates a security module and asks landlords to
provide their email address 303, choose a desired
password 304, and confirm the desired password 305. A
password strength meter 306 helps landlords choose a
password that meets security best practices. The
'What type of account would you like'
section 307 asks landlords to choose an account type
from a drop-down menu 308. Available account types
include various levels of subscription-based accounts
billed periodically, as well as fee for use accounts
for occasional users. In another embodiment of the
invention, there may be a facility to provide a free
screening service on a promotional basis. The payment
means is controlled by the payment module of the system.
Landlords are given a link 310 to the terms and
conditions of service, and must agree to those terms
by checking a checkbox 311 before submitting their
information by pressing the signup button 309. Because
the invention is going to be revenue positive, after
completing the 'Signup' page, the landlord
will provide a method of payment - either PayPal
account information, Google Checkout account
information, or a credit card number - through a secured
window as shown in Figure 2, step 203.
Initial account configuration After completing the 'Signup' page and
providing payment information, there are some initial
settings landlords use to customize their account:
'My units' (Figure 4), 'Importance
weights of each behavior' (Figure 5), and
'Comparison samples used to generate percentile
scores' (Figure 5A).
My units . The first screen new account holders see is the
'My units' page (Figure 4 and screen 400). The
screen lists all the locations 404 that a landlord
managers. In the embodiment of the 'My
units' page illustrated in Figure 4, locations are
displayed as elements in an accordion display that
shows information for the active location. Each
location (e.g., 553 Ridout St., London, Ontario) can
have multiple units 406 (e.g., basement suite, attic
suite, main floor suite). Landlords can 'Add
locations' 403 and 'Add units' 405 to
their account. A screen 402 appears upon the curser
hovering over a unit that allows landlords to manage
the information for that unit as well as delete the unit
401. Landlords can return to the 'My units'
page at any time after login to manage their location
and unit information stored in the system of the invention.
Importance weights of each of the behaviors . Referring to Figure 5, landlords often prioritize
some tenant behaviors (e.g., making payments) more
than others (e.g., housekeeping). These priorities are
a matter of personal preference and are highly specific
to each individual. Landlords who hold feature rich
account types are able to customize the importance
weights given to each of the behaviors using a
weighting module of the system. The system then takes
those importance weights into account when producing
scores that represent a prospective tenant's
suitability to that landlord.
Importance weights of behaviors are
managed on the 'Importance weights of each
behavior' tab 503 of the 'Account
Settings' 500 page. The illustrated pie charts
504 and 511 display how heavily each main behavior
category is weighted by the landlord in calculations of
overall score (pie chart 504), and how heavily each
sub-behavior is weighted by the landlord in
calculations of main behavior category scores (pie chart
511). Exact percentages are shown in pie chart labels
505. Landlords can click on any slice of the pie chart
in order to change the importance weight of the given
behavior. Landlords can also click on the 'Reset to
default weights' link 506 to reset the weights to
their default configuration.
Comparison sample used to generate
percentile scores . To facilitate interpretation of assessment
results, scores displayed to landlords are comparative
in nature. They reflect how a prospective tenant
scored relative to other prospective tenants (Below
Average to Above Average). Specifically,
scores represent the percentage of people in a
comparison sample who scored lower than the
prospective tenant. Comparative information is most
useful when the comparison sample closely matches the
landlord's applicant pool.
Referring to Figure 5A, the
'Comparison samples used to generate percentile
scores' tab 521 of the 'Account Settings'
page accordion 522 displays options for selecting
comparison samples. The default setting 523 is for
landlords to use a country-specific 'default
comparison sample.' Those 'default
comparison samples' are selected by the system to
be representative of the country's rental
population. Default samples include the most recent
prospective tenants who applied to a variety of units,
with care taken so that the demographic composition in
the comparison sample reflects the demographic
composition of that country's rental population.
Alternatively, landlords with
feature-rich accounts are able to apply a customized
comparison sample using a sample customization module
of the system. Still referring to Figure 5A, customized
comparison samples allow landlords a high level of
control over who will be included in the comparison
sample. In the embodiment of the invention shown in
Figure 5A, the landlord may decide to only include
prospective tenants in the comparison sample who
applied to:
- · Units managed by himself/herself 524
- · Units within a certain location 525 (e.g., country, state/province, city)
- · Units within a given
price range 526
- · Units with a certain number of
bedrooms 527
- · Units with a certain number of
bathrooms 528
- · Units with (or without) shared
living
spaces 529
- · Units within certain types of buildings 530 (e.g., house, apartment building, townhouse)
- · Units with (or without) furniture included 531
- · Units with (or without) certain
utilities paid for by the
landlord 532
Landlord login The sections described so far have focused on
initial account creation and configuration. Once a
landlord has created an account and configured it to his
or her satisfaction, he or she can login at any time.
Login is required to manage the account and to apply
the invention to screen prospective tenants.
As shown in Figure 2A, the login form
210 contains two primary data fields: one for the
email address 212 of the account holder and another
for the account holder's password 220. The password
is an alphanumeric code that was chosen by the
landlord during the enrollment process. Once the email
and password are entered, the landlord clicks on the
'Log in' button 214.
Password reset There is also a facility on the login window
Figure 2A screen 210 to reset a forgotten password
216. The forgotten password link 216 directs account
holders to a password reset page. On the password
reset page, account holders enter their primary email
address and request an email containing a password reset
link. The system then sends the landlord an email
containing a password reset link. Upon clicking on the
password reset link contained in the email, the account
holder is directed to a page on which he or she can
input a new password. After successfully choosing a
new password, the account user is automatically logged
in to their account on the system.
Inbox Once the landlord has logged in, he or she is
taken to the inbox page illustrated in Figure 6 as
screen 600. In the embodiment shown, the inbox page
600 has four additional tabbed headers: My units 601,
Settings 602, Help 603 and Logout 604. The 'My
units' tab 601 directs the landlord to the
'My units' page (Figure 4, screen 400). As
previously discussed, that page shows the database of
buildings under administration by the landlord and a
description of the units within those buildings. The
'Settings' tab 602 directs landlords to the
'Account Settings' page (Figure 5 screen 500
and Figure 5A screen 520). Referring to Figure 5, the
'Account Settings' page is where landlords can
purchase additional account credit 501, change their
username and password 502, customize importance
weights of each behavior 503, configure comparison
samples used to generate percentile scores 507, manage
who has access to the account 508, configure reminder
emails sent to prospective tenants 509, and change the
account type 510. The 'Help' tab 603 takes
the landlord to a menu of help topics and the
'Logout' tab 604 is self-explanatory.
Sending an invitation to complete an assessment At the top of the 'Inbox' page (Figure 6,
screen 600) is a form labelled 'Invite someone to
take an assessment' 605. This is the form
generated by the invitation module of the system and
used by the landlord to send prospective tenants an
invitation to participate in the screening method of
the invention. It is the same form as depicted in Figure
7 screen 700 and Figure 8 screen 800.
Still referring to Figure 6, clicking
on the 'Invite someone to take an
assessment' link causes the 'Invite someone to
take an assessment' form to expand into view
(Figures 7 screen 700 which is the same form in a
different view as Figure 8 screen 800).
Referring to Figure 7 and screen 700,
the landlord selects the building of interest from the
drop down menu 701. The landlord then selects the unit
of interest from the drop down menu 702. The landlord is
then presented with a choice of whether to send the
invitation to the prospective tenant by email or by
telephone/in person. This choice is indicated using the
drop down menu 703.
The subsequent structure of the
'Invite someone to take an assessment' form
depends on a landlord's choice to drop down box
703. If a landlord selects the 'By email'
option, fields for indicating the prospective
tenant's name 704, email address 705, and a
customized message 706 to include in the email 705
shown on the screen 700. Upon clicking the 'Send
invitation' button 708, the system sends an email
to the prospective tenant using the name and email
address provided. The email message invites the
prospective tenant to complete a personality assessment
by following a link contained in the email message.
Landlords can also press the 'Close' button
707 to close the form 700.
Referring to Figure 8, when the
'By email or in person' option 806 is
selected in the drop-down box, the 'Invite someone
to take an assessment' form changes into the view
displayed in Figure 8, screen 800. Landlords are shown
an invitation code 801 and given instructions 802 to
give the invitation code to the prospective tenant. At
the bottom of the 'Invite someone to take an
assessment' form 800, landlords can click on a
button to 'Invite another person' 804, which
generates and displays a new invitation code on the
same form. Landlords can also click on the
'Close' 803 button to close the form.
Prospective tenant login Prospective tenants require a valid invitation
code as shown in Figure 8, item 801 in order to access
the personality assessment portion of the invention.
Invitation codes are only valid for a predefined time (1
month), and can only be used once (i.e., one
invitation code per completed personality assessment).
Prospective tenants who receive an
invitation by email have a choice of how to login.
Following a link in the invitation email immediately
logs the prospective tenant in to the system, displaying
the personality assessment (Figure 10, screen 1000).
Alternatively, prospective tenants can navigate to the
Internet portal (Figure 1, screen100) and enter the
invitation code contained in the email on the
appropriate login screen (Figure 1 screen 102, which
is the same as Figure 9 screen 900). Specifically,
prospective tenants enter their invitation codes in the
invitation code field 902 on Figure 9, and then press
the 'Go' button 901.
Prospective tenants who receive an
invitation by phone or in person have only one method
of login. They must navigate to the Internet portal
(Figure 1, screen 100) and enter their invitation code
on the appropriate login screen (Figure 1 screen 102,
which is the same as Figure 9 screen 900).
Administering the personality assessment After login, prospective tenants can access the
system of the invention. Specifically, they are
provided access to the personality assessment form
generated by the system assessment form module.
The personality assessment consists
of statements that assess a prospective tenant's
characteristics that predict behaviors of interest to
landlords. Characteristics include personality traits,
attitudes, judgments, and/or candidness of responses
on the assessment . Prospective tenants are asked to
respond to statements that may or may not be descriptive
of them. One embodiment of the personality assessment is
found in Figure 10 screen 1000. The particular
assessment displayed in Figure 10 is 10 pages long and
would comprise about 100 statements. For most
statements, prospective tenants are given the lead-in
statement (an example of which is shown at 1002)
'How much do you agree with the following
statements?' Alternative lead-in statements for
other items are listed in Figure 10A. For most
statements, the response scale is Strongly
Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, and
Strongly Agree. On the particular assessment
displayed in Figure 10, the statements (examples of
which are listed at 1001) are listed on each page each
with a slider scale 1004. Prospective tenants slide the
knob 1005 along the slider 1004 to a location that
matches his or her choice between Strongly
Disagree 1003 and Strongly Agree 1006. An
alternative form of the same assessment may use radio
buttons or drop-down menus instead of sliders for
recording answers to statements. With radio buttons,
each radio button corresponds to one response scale
anchor for a given statement (i.e., one radio button
for Strongly Disagree to statement 1, another for
Disagree with statement 1, etc.). With
drop-down menus, each drop-down option corresponds to
one response scale anchor for a given statement.
Statements are selected automatically
by the system software from a database of over 1200
statements. The process by which the system software
selects statements for administration has several
components. First, statement selection is partly random.
Randomization enhances test security by making it
extremely unlikely that any two prospective tenants
will receive the same assessment. Second, statement
selection is partly based on a person's responses
to previous statements. Statements are chosen that are
expected to provide optimal information given past
responses. Third, statement selection is partly based
on the importance weights for each of the tenant
behaviors specified by the landlord in Figure 5 screen
500. The system software selects statements that are
most related to the behaviors of particular interest
to the given landlord.
To illustrate the process that the
system follows to select items for administration,
consider the sub-behavior Temper Control,
defined in Figure 11 at 1100 as 'Inclination to
stay calm rather than say things in anger. Angry
outbursts toward the landlord/manager are more likely
to occur from people who score below average compared to
those who score above average.' Suppose that a
landlord has given Temper Control a high importance
weighting on the 'Importance weights of each
behavior' section on Figure 5 screen 500. The
system first identifies which characteristics (listed
in Figure 12) are important for the prediction of the
Temper Control sub-behavior. In the case of Temper
Control, the characteristic scale of Anger
(1202) is of primary importance, defined as
'Tendency to experience and show anger. Includes
becoming irritated easily and proneness to losing
temper.' Because the prospective tenant has not yet
made any responses on the personality form, the system
assumes that he or she is about average on the Anger
scale. The pool of Anger items currently consists of 33
items. From this pool of 33 Anger items, there may be
5 items known from research to provide optimal
information for people with average levels on Anger. The
system would then choose one of those 5 optimal items
at random to be administered. For example, referring
to Figure 13, the system might administer item 26-
'When people yell at me, I yell back.' 1302.
If the prospective tenant agrees with the statement,
the system infers that the prospective tenant is likely
above average on the Anger scale. The next Anger item
administered may be on the next page of the assessment
(page 2). That item is chosen at random from a pool of
items known based on previous research to provide
optimal information for people suspected of being
above average on the Anger scale. The prospective
tenant might strongly agree with that item. If so, the
next Anger item (on the third page) is chosen at
random from the pool of items known to optimize
information for people with a similar level of Anger as
the prospective tenant's responses thus far would
suggest he or she possesses.
This process - random selection from
a pool of items that optimize prediction based on past
responses - continues until a stopping criteria is
met. The stopping criteria is that a certain level of
measurement precision has been reached for the given
scale, or that a predefined number of items has been
administered (e.g., system stops administering Anger
items after a maximum of 10 Anger items has been
displayed). Given that Temper Control is of high
importance to the landlord, the system may aim to
obtain a higher level of measurement precision on the
Anger scale than on other scales. That higher degree of
measurement precision may require administration of
more Anger items than would have been administered if
Temper Control was less important to the landlord. If
Temper Control was very unimportant to the landlord,
the system may not have administered any Anger items,
thus shortening the assessment and the time required
to complete it.
Once stopping criteria for all scales
has been met, and the prospective tenant has answered
all statements, the software records that the dataset
is complete and is ready for subsequent scoring.
Scoring the personality assessment Scoring the personality assessment consists of 5
main steps. These steps are outlined below and
described in the paragraphs that follow.
1. Calculate scale raw scores
2. Calculate sub-behavior raw scores
3. Calculate main behavior raw scores
4. Calculate raw overall scores
5. Convert raw scores to percentile
scores
In step 1, item responses are used to
calculate scale raw scores. Figure 13 shows a list of
random statements or 'items' 1300 selected
from the statement pool of over 1200 items held in the
system database. Each item measures one of over 60
tenant characteristics or 'scales.' A random
sample of scale names and their definitions is provided
in Figure 12. For example, item 26 on Figure 13
'When people yell at me, I yell back' is an
item/statement measuring the scale of Anger,
defined as 'Tendency to experience and show
anger. Includes becoming irritated easily and proneness
to losing temper'. Agreeing (or disagreeing) with
the 'yells back' statement would affect a
person's scores on the Anger scale. In the initial
embodiment of the invention, scale raw scores will be
simple averages of all the items answered that measure
the given scale. In a later embodiment (after a year of
data-collection in which the system learns about the
items), scale raw scores will be weighted averages.
More precisely, scale raw scores will then be theta
scores that represent estimates of underlying levels on
the scale. Thetas are calculated using a combination
of the prospective tenant's responses to the
items and the item difficulty and discrimination
parameters of those items. Calculations for theta will
follow Samejima's (1973) method for continuous items.
In step 2, scale raw scores are used
to calculate sub-behavior raw scores. A sample of
sub-behaviors in one embodiment of the invention is
provided in Figure 11. Sub-behaviors (and main
behaviors) were selected to represent all categories
of tenant behavior that at least 1 in 1000 landlords
report caring about. They were derived based on a year
of proprietary research. Each scale may contribute to
the scoring of one or more sub-behaviors. For example,
the Anger scale may be heavily weighted in calculating
the sub-behavior labelled Temper Control. The Anger
scale may also contribute to scores on the Revenge
sub-behavior, though may contribute less to Revenge
scores than to Temper Control scores. The exact weights
used to produce sub-behavior raw scores from scale raw
scores will be propriety and secret. They will be
regression weights that optimize prediction of the
sub-behaviors. Those regression weights will be
determined based on empirical research.
In step 3, sub-behavior raw scores
are used to calculate main behavior raw scores. The
main behaviors and their definitions in one embodiment
of the invention are provided in Figure 14. Like the
sub-behaviors, main behaviors were derived based on a
year of proprietary research. Main behavior raw scores
are a weighted average of sub-behavior raw scores.
Specifically, sub-behaviors raw scores are multiplied by
the importance weights specified by the landlord in
Figure 5, screen 500. The sum of those products is
divided by the number of sub-behaviors. The result is a
weighted average representing the main behavior raw score.
In step 4, main behavior raw scores
are used to calculate overall raw scores. Overall
scores represent a holistic summary of the degree to
which a prospective tenant is suitable for a given
landlord. Just as main behavior raw scores are a
weighted average of sub-behavior raw scores, overall
raw scores are a weighted average of main behavior raw
scores. Main behavior raw scores are multiplied by the
importance weights specified by the landlord in Figure
5, screen 500 and then averaged to produce the overall
raw score.
In step 5, raw scores are converted
to percentile scores. Raw scores on scales,
sub-behaviors, and main behaviors have limited
interpretability. It would be difficult to know whether
any given raw score (e.g., 1.38) is good or bad. To
increase interpretability, raw scores are converted to
percentile scores. Percentile scores compare a given raw
score against raw scores of similar prospective
tenants as defined in a comparison sample. The
comparison sample is defined by the landlord in the
'Comparison samples used to generate percentile
scores' section of settings page (illustrated in
Figure 5A, section 521). For example, the comparison
sample may consist of applicants who have applied to
units owned by that landlord, or all applicants who
have applied to 1 bedroom units within a given city or
distance. Percentiles reflect the number of
prospective tenants in the comparison sample who
scored lower than did the current individual. The exact
calculation of percentile scores is as follows:
(number of applicants in the comparison sample scoring
lower than the applicant + ½ the number of applicants in
the comparison sample scoring equal to the applicant)
/ (number of applicants in the comparison sample).
All scoring is done by the server
using a scoring module with proprietary scoring
algorithms. Raw scores are calculated at the time that
an assessment is completed. Percentile scores are
calculated at the time that results are presented to
the landlord. The scoring key is never shared with landlords.
Comparing results of prospective tenants Landlords login using Figure 2A screen 210 to view
personality assessment scores of prospective tenants.
Upon login, landlords are automatically directed to
the 'Inbox' page displayed in Figure 6, screen 600.
Results comparing prospective tenants
are visually displayed in section 608. In the
embodiment of the invention depicted in Figure 6,
overall scores are displayed for each prospective tenant
using color-coded bars 609. Bars reflect percentile
scores. Scores below the 25th percentile
are highlighted in red; scores between the
25th and 50th percentiles are
highlighted in orange; scores above the
50th percentile are highlighted in green.
Anchors are provided at the low end (Below
Average), middle (Average) and high end
(Above Average) of the percentile scale.
Contact information and notes on prospective tenants
appear in screen 610 upon hovering over any given
tenant. Landlords can use screen 610 to manage contact
information of prospective tenants (e.g.,
add/edit/delete phone numbers or email addresses), and
add/edit/delete notes.
Landlords control which prospective
tenants are displayed in the scoring section 608 using
the 'Filter results by…' section 606.
Clicking on the 'Filter results by…' link 611
makes section 606 visible. Landlords can opt to only
display prospective tenants applying to a particular
location, particular unit, and/or within a particular
time frame. Landlords also control the maximum number
of results to display, and how results are sorted.
Clicking on the name, overall score,
or the 'view full report' link 607 for any
prospective tenant brings up that person's full report.
Full reports for personality assessment results Figure 15 is a depiction of one embodiment of the
full assessment report 1500 generated by the report
module and presented to the landlord. The given
embodiment of the report lists all the main behaviors
1506 and sub-behaviors 1504 that have non-zero
importance weightings. Hovering over any behavior or
sub-behavior automatically displays the definition 1505
of that behavior or sub-behavior.
Based on the responses of the
prospective tenant on the personality assessment, and
based on the scoring applied by the software, the
results of the assessment are displayed as horizontal
bars 1502 next to the corresponding behaviors and
sub-behaviors. Consistent with the 'Inbox'
page, the report highlights in red scores that are
below the 25th percentile; scores between
the 25th and 50th percentile
appear in orange; scores above the 50th
percentile appear in green. Anchors are provided at
the low end (Below Average), middle
(Average) and high end (Above Average) of
the percentile scale. The overall score 1501 is also
shown at the top of the report. A 'Candidness of
responses' score appears at the bottom of the
report. The candidness of responses score indicates
the degree to which the tenant was providing candid
answers on the assessment rather than trying to distort
responses to create a favourable impression. All else
being equal, landlords are instructed to favour
prospective tenants who responded with high candour over
those who responded with low candour.
Other embodiments of the report may
display raw scale scores in addition to or instead of
percentile scores. Other embodiments may also display
the scale scores in addition to or instead of the
behavior and sub-behavior scores.
In the case shown in Figure 15, the
overall score is between Average and Above
Average. Though the overall score may appear
satisfactory, and the candidness score is high, the
landlord may still reject the prospective tenant due
to low scores on some sub-behaviors. Specifically, the
report indicates that the person in the report may be
disposed toward bad housekeeping habits and anger
control issues.
Decision to accept or reject the prospective tenant The invention outlined in the current document
represents a new method and system for screening
prospective tenants. It is a method and system that
evaluates a prospective tenant's suitability based
on that person's responses to a personality
assessment. Though information provided by the current
invention is designed to be inherently useful for
guiding tenant acceptance decisions, the invention is
also intended to be one component in a larger
selection battery. Other components of the selection
battery may include credit checks, in-person
interviews, and reference checks, to name a few. The
system recommends to landlords that final acceptance or
rejection decisions take into consideration all
available sources of information.
Process from Landlord's Perspective Figure 16 illustrates a flow chart showing the
primary steps of using the tenant screening system of
the invention. At 1601 the landlord will open an
account with the system provider and undergo an
enrollment process. At 1602 the landlord will login to
the system using his or her username and password. At
1603 once logged in the landlord can send an invitation
to the prospective tenant to participate in the
personality assessment. At 1604 the landlord will wait
for the prospective tenant to complete the assessment
form and may send reminders to prospective tenant if
the results are not received into the system by a
specified deadline. At 1605 the tenant has completed the
personality assessment and the data is sent to the
server where the responses of the tenant are scored
using a proprietary scoring algorithm 1606. At 1607 the
landlord logs into the system portal to access the
inbox at 1608 and compare the results between a
numbers of prospective tenants. At 1609, where the
landlord wishes to view a full report of a perspective
tenant the full report with interpretive information
is made available. At 1610, the landlord may opt for
additional screening tools such as credit or criminal
record checks. At 1611 the landlord will make a final
decision on which of the prospective tenants is
permitted to rent the unit.
Process from Perspective of Tenant Referring to Figure 17, the landlord can send the
tenant an invitation to participate in the personality
assessment either by email at 1701 or verbally by
telephone or in writing at 1706. If by email, the
prospective tenant will follow the link provided in
the email at 1702. The link takes the prospective
tenant to the personality assessment 1703. The
prospective tenant completes the assessment and the
system server scores the assessment results using a
proprietary scoring algorithm 1704. The results are
presented to the landlord who makes a decision 1705 as
to who will be renting. Where the invitation is
delivered by means other than email, the prospective
tenant will log in to the server through the system
Internet portal 1707. The prospective tenant will
enter the invitation code at 1708 and then be taken to
the assessment at 1703.
The preceding description has been
presented only to illustrate and describe possible
embodiments of the present exemplary system and
method. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit
the system and method to any precise form disclosed.
Many modifications and variations are possible in
light of the above teaching. It is intended that the
scope of the present invention system and method be
defined by the following claims.
Claims (19)
- A method for evaluating the suitability of a prospective tenant for a rental unit based on results of a personality assessment comprising the use of a computerized selection system comprising computer processors and software programs, wherein said method comprises the steps of:a. Identifying said prospective tenant;b. Providing an Internet portal so that said landlord can access said computerized selection system;c. Permitting the landlord permission-based access to the computerized selection system through said landlord Internet portal;d. Sending an invitation to the prospective tenant to participate in said screening method;e. Providing a prospective tenant access to said Internet portal so that the prospective tenant can access the computerized selection system;f. Permitting the prospective tenant permission-based access to the computerized selection system;g. Providing to the prospective tenant a personality assessment comprising a plurality of statements that assess personality traits, attitudes, judgments, and/or candidness of responses on the assessment ;h. The prospective tenant providing responses to said plurality of statements thereby creating a dataset;i. The computerized selection system using said software programs for scoring said dataset using a proprietary scoring algorithm; and,j. The computerized selection system generating an assessment report summarizing suitability results about the prospective tenant for the landlord.
- The method of claim 1 wherein the step of permitting the landlord permission-based access to the computerized selection system through the Internet portal comprises the steps of:a. The landlord enrolling in the computerized selection system on a subscription or a pay-per-use basis;b. The landlord providing a plurality of suitable identification data to said computerized selection system;c. The landlord choosing an email address and password to access said computerized selection system; and,d. Said computerized selection system establishing an account for the landlord.
- The method of claim 1 wherein the step of sending said invitation to the prospective tenant to participate in said screening method comprises the steps of:a. The computerized selection system providing a menu of properties under the landlord's administration;b. The landlord identifying a property from said menu of properties in which the prospective tenant wishes to rent;c. The computerized selection system providing a menu of options for ways to invite prospective tenants to complete the personality assessment comprising one of email, mail and telephone;d. The landlord selecting one of said options identified in step (c).
- The method of claim 3 wherein the landlord has selected email and wherein the method further comprises the steps of:a. The landlord inputting the prospective tenant's email address into an appropriate data field;b. The computerized selection system generating an invitation code for use by the prospective tenant; and,The computerized selection system sending said invitation code to the prospective tenant's email address.
- The method of claim 4 wherein the prospective tenant accesses the Internet portal.
- The method of claim 5 wherein the prospective tenant enters the invitation code into an appropriate data field displayed on the Internet portal permitting the prospective tenant permission-based access to the computerized selection system.
- The method of claim 6 wherein upon entering the invitation code the prospective tenant is provided access to said personality assessment.
- The method of claim 1 wherein the step of scoring the dataset comprises the steps of:a. Calculating raw scale scores;b. Combining said raw scale scores to calculate raw sub-behavior scores;c. Combining said raw sub-behavior scores to calculate raw behavior scores;d. Combining said raw behavior scores into an overall acceptance recommendation score;e. Calculating a percentile score for each raw score comprising an overall acceptance recommendation raw score, a behavior raw scores, a sub-behavior raw scores and a scale raw scores; and,Displaying a set of requested scores on said assessment report.
- The method of claim 8 wherein the step of calculating said raw scale scores comprises the step of the computer software programs producing an average or weighted average of a set of items contributing to a scale responded to by the prospective tenant.
- The method of claim 9 wherein the step of calculating said raw sub-behavior scores comprises the step of the computer software programs combining the raw scale scores with a suitable set of regression weights for optimizing prediction of sub-behaviors for the prospective tenant.
- The method of claim 10 wherein the step of combining the raw sub-behavior scores into said raw behavior scores comprises the following steps:a. The landlord selecting and weighting the importance of sub-behaviors;b. The computerized selection system recording said set of importance weights; and,The software program calculating a weighted average for each behavior based on said importance weights of the corresponding sub-behaviors that comprise each behavior.
- The method of claim 11 wherein the step of combining the raw behavior scores into said overall acceptance recommendation score comprises the following steps:a. The landlord selecting and weighting the importance of the behaviors in the overall acceptance recommendation score;b. The computerized selection system recording said set of importance weights;The software program calculating a weighted average based on said importance weights of the behaviors.
- The method of claim 12 wherein the step of calculating said percentile score for each raw score comprises the computer software executable steps of:a. The landlord specifying a comparison sample to be used in comparing scores and generating percentile score information;b. Obtaining the given raw score for the prospective tenant (i.e., the overall acceptance recommendation raw score, behavior raw score, sub-behavior raw score, or scale raw score);c. Calculating a percentile score for the given raw score derived based on comparison of the raw score to said comparison sample; andGenerating said assessment report in a graphic manner to the landlord.
- The method of claim 13 wherein the steps of obtaining said normative percentile score is derived from said comparative sample set chosen by the landlord as an appropriate sample for use in comparing prospective tenants who applied to a given rental unit.
- The method of claim 14 wherein said percentile score describes a percentage of the comparison sample set having a raw score lower than corresponding raw of the prospective tenant.
- The method of claim 15 wherein the step of generating the assessment report includes the step of displaying behaviors and sub-behaviors with a non-zero importance weighting.
- A system for evaluating the suitability of a prospective tenant for a rental unit by a landlord comprising:a. A computerized selection system comprising:i. a computer processing module;ii. a software program module; and,iii. at least one memory module;b. An Internet portal so that said landlord and said prospective tenant can access said computerized selection system;c. An invitation module for generating an invitation to the prospective tenant to participate in said screening method, said invitation module comprising:i. a connection to an email system;ii. a prospective tenant e-mail address; and,iii. a system generated invitation code for use by the prospective tenant for accessing the system.d. A security module permitting the landlord and prospective tenant permission-based access to the computerized selection system, said security module comprising:i. a system administrator;ii. a landlord enrollment module;iii. a fee payment module; and,iv. a landlord password management module.e. A personality assessment module comprising a plurality of items associated with a plurality of scalesf. A weighting module whereby the landlord can weight tenant behaviors;g. A comparison sample module whereby the landlord can define the comparison sample used for calculating percentile scores;h. A prospective tenant-generated dataset;i. A dataset scoring module; and,An assessment report generating module for the landlord.
- The system of claim 17 wherein the software program module comprises a scoring key for scoring the dataset wherein said scoring key calculates:a. A raw scale score;b. Several raw sub-behavior scores;c. Several raw behavior scores;d. An overall acceptance recommendation raw score;e. A percentile score for each raw score; and,Requested scores for display on said assessment report.
- The system of claim 18 wherein said raw sub-behavior scores are comprised of weighted raw scale scores using a suitable set of regression weights for optimizing a prediction of behaviors of the prospective tenant.
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Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2001001309A1 (en) * | 1999-06-29 | 2001-01-04 | Saferent Llc | Method and apparatus for tenant screening |
US7376619B1 (en) * | 2001-12-28 | 2008-05-20 | On-Site Manager, Inc. | Method and system for rapid tenant screening, lease recommendation, and automatic conversion/transcription of data into lease documents |
-
2012
- 2012-04-01 WO PCT/IB2012/051586 patent/WO2013150332A1/en active Application Filing
Patent Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2001001309A1 (en) * | 1999-06-29 | 2001-01-04 | Saferent Llc | Method and apparatus for tenant screening |
US7376619B1 (en) * | 2001-12-28 | 2008-05-20 | On-Site Manager, Inc. | Method and system for rapid tenant screening, lease recommendation, and automatic conversion/transcription of data into lease documents |
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