How to Prevent Security Deposit Disputes With Better Property Management

Jerome Carter (00:00)
Yeah, definitely. Even somebody that has maybe two homes could use this. And they can do their inspection and have proof that makes them feel comfortable. And we call it peace of mind. Financial peace of mind in the sense that you’re supporting yourself. You’re supporting the tenant. Everybody knows where everybody’s at. And there’s no financial stress. We want to reduce the friction in landlord and tenant relations. We think that’s one of the ways that we can improve the right to humanity for home, for having housing and homes.

Issa Hanna (02:10)
Welcome back to The Real Estate Pro Show. I’m Issa Hanna, your host, and today I have Jerome Carter. With him and his siblings, they’ve developed revolutionary software to make sure you never lose track of a deposit again. Jerome, welcome.

Jerome Carter (02:26)
Thank you for having me.

Issa Hanna (02:27)
I’m glad to have you. Yeah, well man, I’m glad to have you. We spoke earlier. You told me about this app and you told me how it traces deposits and it does other stuff. So can you give us a rundown on on the other stuff the app does?

Jerome Carter (02:42)
Sure, sure, sure. One of the nice things about our app, it’s called depositsback.com. Want to point that out. Coort Incorporated, we’re the creators of it. We went out with the idea originally just being watching your deposits, know, making sure to see what invoices are levied against it for repairs and that kind of stuff. Gives a tenant the opportunity to dispute it. It allows them to be able to talk to each other rather than going to court. And we all know how, you know, people hate to go to court and nine times out of 10, the tenants got, you know, maybe right, but they don’t have proof of it. Okay. And I would love to say that the property management industry is always squared and out, you know, a broad reproach, but that doesn’t always happen. But what we ended up doing, we built that. Built the app and then we realized that it is so one-sided that, you know, it just doesn’t give the property people any opportunity to make or build that trust or build that accountability with their client.

Jerome Carter (04:00)
So what we did was we decided to add a property management side of it, which for them provides background checks, criminal background checks, accountability and invoicing the rents being paid, invoicing any maintenance that is outside of normal. It’s being invoiced to the rental property. They get accounting for legal compliance. We offer in our platform the ability for the parties to be able to find a neutral mediator to help them. Because one thing that we make abundantly clear, we’re not attorneys. We’re just everyday people that came up with this idea that we felt that it was a tool that could really be used not only by the middle of the road, the rich, the poor, it could be used by anybody. And this offers an opportunity for accountability all the way around. So we also include bookkeeping and that kind of stuff in our app on the property manager side. So, I mean, everybody uses QuickBooks right now. A lot of teams do. Well, we have an integration with QuickBooks. So, you know, we intend to look in at the others, but you know, hey, we’ve funded this entire thing out of our own pockets.

Issa Hanna (05:15)
Huh. That is amazing. All the stuff you’re talking about. What what a useful tool. What a what a great idea. And perfect segue to my next question. I said it was a it was a sibling thing. It’s you, your sister, your brother. You guys are funding it. You guys developed it. How’d you guys get started? What were you into before? You said you quit your job and and went full time into this.

Jerome Carter (06:35)
Yes. I, originally, my entire business background, it’s been with technology up until about, three, maybe five years ago. I ended up working at a transportation or logistics company, Penske. I, one day I just started, you know, do anyway, we were doing this on the side and I would come in and, you know, look at wire framing and looking at why we want to do it this way. And believe me, we have plenty of arguments why this should be done this way. Fortunately, my sister and my brother tended to refer to my technical background more than theirs and we’ve been able to get it verified by other technical people too. So that really helped. And then, know, just we’ve been steadily plugging at it because we want to, know, when we realize it and not, is kind of our family legacy. And this is something we just wanted to do and do it right the first time.

Issa Hanna (07:43)
Definitely. It’s it’s such a great idea, very well thought out. And and it’s not new. You guys have been this has been in the works since twenty eighteen and the last two years you guys have really caught fire and just been rolling. So can you share a little bit about the journey it’s taken from the start to now?

Jerome Carter (08:02)
Yeah, I can. We, you know, again, like from earlier questions with you, we started this out just kind of an idea my sister came up with. And then she talked to me about it because I’ve lost deposits with my family. Kids go to college and that kind of stuff. And she still had kids in college at the time when she came to me. So it basically we got, you know, It was like I advised her that what we need is we need to get a lot of people together and talk to them about the idea and get their feedback and find out if it’s even a feasible idea. What surprised us was, you know, we got 20 people together and all 20 of them flat out told us this was something that was necessary. And so we started talking how we wanted to go. That we want to incorporate, that we want to be a limited partnership, you know, and we included those 20 people in that same thing. And we had a lot of people tell us that we should be an S corporation. And I said, that sounds good, but the benefits of being an S corporation is kind of crazy because we can’t write off the cost of development.

Jerome Carter (09:15)
And see, my focus is always how is the company going to benefit? And that’s it. So I’d like to be able to write off R&D. We’ve got a lot we need to write off for. So we’re definitely a C-corporation company. We do have a structure. We expect to fill those structures as we get bigger. Because one of the things that we would like to do is eventually turn the company over to our children and say, knock yourself out. However, we’re going to remain on the board just to make sure it doesn’t change directions. One of the other things that we wanted to do is as we were building, which was kind of a crazy thorn in my neck, but every time I turned around, my sister came up with another idea that plugged in perfectly. And I kept saying, well, just make a list of it, give it a little description, and then we’ll talk about it down the road as an upgrade, but we’re not gonna do that now. That didn’t happen that way. A lot of the things she came up with were so vital to the app that we as a group really felt we needed it like the real time texting, the AI bot, the reporting of maintenance issues. And these were all things that were really valid that I finally couldn’t say, okay, we just got to build it and, and add it into the build. And it put us back a couple of times and we had to go back to rebuild and then rebuild. Then another idea came out. I’m, you know, I’m looking at her and my brother’s looking at me and we just kind of say, okay.

Jerome Carter (11:00)
At first I said, absolutely not. I don’t want to go through rebuild that costs money. She was so insistent that we said, okay. And so finally what we did, my brother and I made the decision that, instead of me being the, just the CEO, she’s going to be the chairman of the board. She’s the boss and, and I’m just a CEO. I answered to her and, but I think it works well because I’m not afraid to tell her no. And and then my brother is our sales and marketing. He does a wonderful job. He’s, we’ve tried all the different, outsource companies to do it and to start getting deposit back out there. And, to be honest, it was a miserable failure. And then, we, we looked at my brother and asked him if he could do it. And he says, well, I’ll make the time. So. And because he has his own company, EB3 Systems. And so he made the time and then he learned to do a lot of things with being able to network and post and all the things that turned out that he could use as well as us. And we’re pretty much almost folding his company in with us just because of the things he does. So like we offer IT recruitment if they need it. We offer cloud computing, but those are all things through him, but we make sure that we can plug him in as well.

Issa Hanna (13:07)
Well another cool thing that stuck out to me about the app and the features that you guys have going with it, especially as a realtor and property manager myself, is the other is the the compliance aspect of it. You guys have like built in compliance. So can you shed some more light? Share that with our viewer.

Jerome Carter (13:26)
Sure. What our app does is because we know different states have different rules and different attitudes about landlords and compliance, deposits and everything. So we built part of our engine so that it connects to your zip code, which that means it’s going to connect into the state that you’re at to their law library. So everything is connect it so that as an individual for a property manager if they have any questions they can actually go to a law library that will help them figure out an issue and be able to reach out and get help in those areas. But it also that same thing is hooked to the tenant side of the app as well. So, you know, we don’t play favorites. It’s about the tools we have is it’s all about transparency. It’s all about honesty and it’s about accountability and trust. And you can’t have one side have more than the other. So it’s a great, I believe it’s a great field leveling tool. So everybody’s on the same page.

Issa Hanna (15:19)
And the company was built through integrity, trust, transparency, you know, just a family business and honesty, exactly. And your future plans are to leave this legacy behind for your kids. So how amazing is that? You guys are are building something from the ground up that you guys want to leave for generations to come. Correct. That is very, very inspiring. So with that, three years from now, where are we gonna see depositsback.com?

Jerome Carter (15:48)
I hope to see us being one of the leading applications out there for property managers as well as tenants. Don’t, you but my main focus for myself is the property managers because I believe by focusing on their needs and what frictions they have in their industry will help it trickle down to the tenants because once they see how good Deposits Back is, they’ll see how friendly, how easy it is to use. Like our entire panel is set up so when you launch Deposits Back, you’ve got everything right out there in front of you for all your properties. If you’ve got a property manager that may have like three different properties, but he has a hundred apartments in here, 200 over here. Guess what? That can be a little daunting sometimes, especially if you’ve had a hard day. So what you will kind of want to do is you want to find the problem you’re working on. So you know it’s at this apartment. So let’s just pull everything over in that department. Then you can see what’s going on and be able to be informed about the decisions you make and be able to communicate in real time with your tenant. You know, there’s no, no ifs, ands, or buts.

Jerome Carter (17:00)
You can schedule through our app with the tenant to be able to come in and do an yearly inspection to see what needs to be painted or fixed. Again, as I spoke earlier, we have a maintenance tracker for all the different apartments. So nothing gets missed. And you see a time when it came in, you see a time when it was completed. And if something that’s being charged back against the tenant, they’ll get an invoice for it. And it also gives you both the property manager and the tenant to talk about it and make sure it was a viable charge back. No surprises when you move out. So.

Issa Hanna (17:51)
Definitely. What a revolutionary tool for for both sides of the transaction. You know, you get everything in writing, you got pictures. It’s very hard to, you know, it the truth is always there, just right in the app, right when you open it up. So that that is definitely a great, great tool. I’m excited for it. And I’m also excited because you guys are always cooking up ideas to this app. Yes, we and and you told me a future a future…

Jerome Carter (18:19)
We’re going to be adding like a AI component to the photograph side of it where it will, you can take a picture of something. The AI may see something that you as a person won’t see. It’ll block it out and make sure that it’s brought to your attention, both on the tenant side and the landlord side. Another thing that we’re, adding, which I forgot to mention is we’re going to be adding a black light inspection so that you can get, you know, those stains in the carpets and you’ll see all those, those pictures for that. But again, both sides of the coin, you’re going to have that ability for that tool. It’s, it’s about, again, about being fair and honest with each other and no hidden secrets. So it’s, it’s like a marriage. Can be married to each other for a while. Sometimes it’s a short period, sometimes it’s years.

Issa Hanna (19:18)
Yeah, definitely. And there’s nothing to fear on either side if you have, you know, if you’re if you’re doing if you’re upholding your end of the bargain, you know. So it’s just such a perfect, perfect app. I could see a lot of property managers, a lot of just, you know, regular property people that, you know, maybe they’re not property managers, maybe they, you know, they just manage their own properties. This is super useful. It’s just everything is under umbrella.

Jerome Carter (19:42)
Definitely. Yeah, definitely. Even somebody that has maybe two homes could use this. And they can do their inspection and have proof that makes them feel comfortable. And we call it peace of mind. Financial peace of mind in the sense that you’re supporting yourself. You’re supporting the tenant. Everybody knows where everybody’s at. And there’s no financial stress. We want to reduce the friction in landlord and tenant relations. We think that’s one of the ways that we can improve the right to humanity for home, for having housing and homes.

Issa Hanna (20:22)
No, I’m very, very excited about this. And like I keep saying, it’s such a revolutionary idea. And for for our viewers at home for who are, you know, hearing you talk about this, they’re excited. They’re, you know, they they want to get started. Maybe they’re tech guys just like you and they want to develop some type of software. What kind of advice do you have for them on just going for it? You know, just just getting out there and starting the business that they want, like you did.

Jerome Carter (20:49)
Well, for me, to be honest, I prayed about it. Gotta tell you, I’m definitely a God-fearing man. But the day that I, all of a sudden, I just had a peace about it, about that decision. And I spoke with my wife about it. She knew I’d been thinking about it. And I spoke with my sister and I spoke with my brother and they… They all said, are you crazy? But to be honest, there was so much peace and I still have that same piece that I made the right decision. And it wasn’t just about the business. Was about, it was time for me to go in another direction that was more benefiting for my family than more than just collecting a paycheck. So it was, definitely one of those times. But I’ve gone from my entire background has been about technology, except for the last, like I told you five years.

Jerome Carter (21:45)
I’ve gone went to work for AT&T, I’ve worked for CGS, which basically it was Microsoft. I’ve worked for Integrity Marketing, which was selling advanced technologies, you know, anything from concurred technologies up to MS small business servers, you know, so it’s kind of like, I have the background, but I don’t have, I didn’t have the paper as I kind of put it. But if you put your mind to a lot of things, I went and got certified in SaaS platforms security, and I went and got a background in learning to read Python, HTML, know, just different types of computer language. You know, I figured I wanted to be informed if I’m going to be doing this. So.

Issa Hanna (22:48)
Definitely. Jerry, if people are excited about this app, they want to get a hold of you, they wanna download it, they w you know, they want more, how could they get a hold of you?

Jerome Carter (22:57)
Well, first of all, what I would do is I truly believe in go out and educate yourself about what you want. And then visit our website, which is depositsback.com. It has information about our company, Deposits Back, as well as go visit our Coort Incorporated site. It’s the coortincorporated.com. It’ll give you our background about who we are, what we believe in and why. And then if you really make that decision, you want to try us, go back to depositsback.com and just click on the links below to Play Store and Apple Store. It’ll work on a Mac as well as Android. Because these are phone applications. Now, if you’re going to use a basic computer like I do, you’re gonna go to Play Store because that’s gonna translate a lot easier down to your computer if it’s not a Mac.

Issa Hanna (23:59)
Beautiful. Make sure you guys check out depositsback.com or you’re gonna be going to court. You know, Coort Corporate, Coort Incorporated can help you with it, can help you on that side. So but make sure you guys check it out because it’s definitely somebody who’s in the in the industry, definitely, definitely excited for this tool.

Jerome Carter (24:07)
Yeah.

Issa Hanna (24:23)
So Jerry, I’d like to thank you for coming on the show.

Jerome Carter (24:25)
Thank you for the opportunity.

Issa Hanna (24:27)
No, we man, it was all my honor. I mean, it was super informative. I’m over here excited, ready to download the app right now. So you you know, definitely a great tool to have. So thank you for coming on the show. And to our viewers at home, if you enjoyed my conversation with Jerry and want to see more just like this, make sure to hit like and subscribe. I talk to people every day that can bring us different knowledge on every aspect of the real estate industry. Until next time,