The rent roll, the renters, and the deadlines in one place.
If you hold what you buy, the CRM that found the house should also run it. Kernalite keeps properties, units, leases and renters beside your acquisitions pipeline, posts rent, warns you when it is late, and returns deposits with the itemisation the law wants.
What the rentals module does
Money is cents in the ledger, dates come from your state's rules, and every text a renter sends lands in the same inbox as your sellers.
Properties → Units → Leases → Renters
Add a property, split it into units, put a lease on each with a renter. A renter is a person in your rolodex with a lease, so they stay searchable after they move out.
Rent Ledger
Each month's rent is posted for you. Record payments, see the balance per lease, and the outstanding list per property.
Late Rent & Lease Expiry
A nightly check fires the late-rent and lease-expiring workflows, once per event: one text and one email per late month, one warning per lease term, not one a night.
Itemised Deposit Returns
Deductions are their own lines with a reason each. The refund countdown starts at move-out and uses the number of days your state allows.
Lease Renewal
A renewal is a new lease linked to the old one. Last year's rent stays filed under last year's terms; the deposit carries across.
Maintenance
Log the request on the unit, assign it, close it. The history stays with the property when the renter changes.
Unified Inbox — a renter's text and your reply on one thread. Live recording, not a mock-up.
One inbox for renters and sellers
- A renter's text lands on their record, with the lease beside it.
- SMS and email in one thread; the late-rent nudge is a template.
- Assign the conversation to whoever handles the property.
- Nothing to forward: the history stays with the person.
Setting it up
- Set your state's numbers. Settings → Rentals: deposit return days, the late-rent grace period, and how far ahead lease-expiry warnings go. These are law, not preferences, so they are per workspace.
- Add the properties you hold. Property, then units, then a lease and a renter on each. Deposits are recorded on the lease.
- Let rent post itself. The first of the month writes each lease's charge. You record what arrives; the ledger shows what did not.
- Turn on the two alerts. Late rent and lease expiring are prebuilt workflows. Each sends a text and an email to you, or to the renter, and fires once per event.
- Move a renter out. Close the lease, add deductions with reasons, return the balance. The statement is the itemisation.
What it is, and is not
- Rent roll, ledger and deposits per lease
- Alerts that fire once, on the date your state sets
- Reports and dashboard widgets that appear only when you have rentals
- Renters in the same inbox and rolodex as sellers
- Not a payment processor: record payments, do not collect them here
- Not an accounting package; export the ledger to yours
- No tenant portal (renters text or email you)
Buying and holding?
The acquisitions side, driving for dollars, skip trace and the pipeline, is the same workspace.
Questions we get
Do renters count as seats?
No. A seat is someone who signs in. Renters are people in your rolodex with a lease; they text and email you, they do not log in.
How do the late-rent alerts avoid spamming a renter?
Each alert is claimed once per lease, event and period before anything is sent. A renter a month behind gets one message for that month, not one every night the balance is open.
Can I set my own deposit deadline?
Yes, and you should: deposit return days, the rent grace period and the expiry warning window are all set per workspace in Settings → Rentals, because they differ by state.
What happens to the ledger when I renew?
Nothing. Renewal creates a new lease linked to the old one, so last term's charges and payments stay under last term's rent and the deposit carries forward.
Does the rentals module cost extra?
No. It is part of the one plan and only shows up in Reports and on the dashboard once you have added a rental.
Put one property in.
Add a unit and a lease during the trial and watch the first rent post on the first of the month.