Abstract:
A system and method for better allocation of rental properties and matching of tenants and properties, especially in a competitive marketplace, is presented. In some aspects, an automated system processes prospective applicant renter applications, refines and unifies property listings, and matches the parties and properties according to a fair, economic model including bids by tenants on properties for which they qualify. The system and method permits stress-free and organized and uniform viewing of the properties and bidding on the same without chaotic and unfair first-come-first-served practices and other unfair leasing practices found in the industry. Also, fair market pricing is more easily achieved, which gives feedback to lessors. In addition, uniform executable lease agreements are generated according to the results of the matching process.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    The present application is directed to selection and the matching of landlords, tenants and rental properties, including systems and methods for making and handling matrices to enable said selection and matching. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Tenants and landlords have long sought mutually-beneficial relationships. Tenants seek appropriate housing for themselves and their families whereby they pay rent to the owner of the housing (e.g., a house or apartment) to occupy the dwelling under certain terms and for a certain duration. Landlords seek tenants who will take appropriate care of their property while living in it and pay their rent amounts on time as agreed. Tenants and landlords execute a lease, which is a legal contract laying out the terms of the tenancy, its duration, the amount of rent and other terms as appropriate. 
         [0003]    In some geographic areas there is an abundance of rental units or dwellings (or commercial spaces) available, which favors the tenant in a supply-and-demand situation. In other geographic areas (e.g. congested urban areas like New York City) there tends to be a shortage of affordable, high quality residential rental space. This latter situation lends itself to a chaotic system for locating a residential dwelling to rent. Potential tenants scramble between open houses on their days off from work to view and decide on a new apartment to rent only to return and find that another potential renter has entered into a lease on their choice already. Available apartments can become the subject of intense competition among potential renters to secure a lease on the same. Persons looking to rent an apartment are often frustrated by this and may be tempted to sign a lease for the first open apartment that minimally meets their needs instead of having the security of visiting and considering multiple units before making an offer to rent a selected one. Also, tenants may be tempted to lie or exaggerate facts on their application for an apartment to as to secure the apartment, leaving the landlord with a tenant that may not fully meet the landlord&#39;s needs for the unit. Brokers are persons who charge fees to a landlord and/or tenant in exchange for finding an apartment for a tenant or a tenant for a landlord. Broker fees in cities with scarce availability of space can be quite high and costly to landlords and/or tenants. 
         [0004]    Traditional matching of tenants, landlords and properties has been handled through real estate listing offices, newspaper listings, bulletin boards, word of mouth, or other conventional means. Brokers are often used, especially in high-demand locations, to facilitate the introduction of prospective renters to owners of properties that meet the needs of the renters. More recently, online sites and mobile device apps exist for listing open rental units and for providing other services to landlords and tenants. Examples are offerings from Zillow, Street Easy, Trulia, Urban Compass, Cozy, and others. 
         [0005]      FIG. 1  depicts a typical scenario  10  for finding and signing leases for residential property, especially in urban environments. Landlord  120  owns one or more properties  102 ,  104 ,  106 , which are in this example rental units available for leasing (e.g., as residential or commercial accommodations). 
         [0006]    The process of finding tenants to lease rental units  102 ,  104 ,  106 , including the listing of rental units  102 ,  104 ,  106  in a directory or database of available properties for lease is often handled by a broker  110  who may be retained by landlord  120 . One responsibility of the broker  110  is usually to place a printed or electronic advertisement  140  in a specialized publication or database listing the units (represented in listing  140  property listing data  102 ′,  104 ′,  106 ′). The listing  140  can conventionally include a printed publication, e.g., Sunday paper classified section, special magazine for people relocating to a new city, and so on. The listing  140  can also be a posting in an electronic database or online advertising or classified service, e.g. Craigslist™, rent.com, a web page of a real estate agency, or myriad other online services for finding rental properties. The point being that tenants (with or without a subscription to listing  140 ) can access the contents or see the listed information therein. 
         [0007]    Prospective tenants  132 ,  134 ,  136  seeking to lease a unit thus obtain listing  140  and review property listing data  102 ′,  104 ′,  106 ′ representing the available units  102 ,  104 ,  106 , respectively. If a given tenant  136  is interested in leasing a given rental unit  102 , listed in listing  140  by its property listing data  102 ′, tenant  136  can contact broker  110  with regard to the desired unit  102 . Tenant  136  and broker  110  may arrange an in-person showing of the unit (or others) and tenant  136  may enter into an agreement (lease)  150  with landlord or owner  120 . The role played by broker  110  varies, and a management company employing broker  110  sometimes handles all of the lease arrangements and may even be authorized to execute lease agreement  150  with tenant  136 . Alternatively, broker  110  is merely a conduit for introducing tenant  136  and owner  120  to each other and the parties then execute lease  150  directly on their own. Broker  110  is typically compensated by the landlord  120  or tenant  136 , which compensation may be in the form of a percentage of the lease value (e.g., a month&#39;s rent, or up to 15% of the lease value or more). In other instances, tenants  132 ,  134 ,  136  may employ an agent or broker themselves, who in limited circumstances may be the same as broker  110  retained by owner  120 . 
         [0008]    Some listings and brokers act as aggregators of listing information. For example, the major classified sites and local newspapers and magazines aggregate listing data from a plurality of property owners, apartment complexes, realty companies, or from a plurality of listing agents. Such aggregators merely multiply the number of options in the marketplace, but do not simplify or streamline or solve any of the existing problems in the rental market. 
         [0009]    The above example illustrates how the traditional renting process is cumbersome, involves several parties that must coordinate their schedules and interests, and can involve competition among landlords and tenants for available rental properties. Tenants are pressed to pay high rents and high broker fees and to sign leases for properties that might not be ideal for their needs and budgets had they had a more transparent and fair opportunity to carry out better diligence in their search for a residence. Current systems are often first-come-first-served where the first tenant to agree to a lease and make a deposit on a property is awarded the lease in a competitive market where demand for properties is high. Landlords are also prone to signing with a tenant before having an opportunity to reasonably vet a variety of tenants, thus missing out on a better tenant or lease opportunity. 
         [0010]    Another general problem with conventional systems and methods is that the pricing of rental properties is not efficient in the economic sense and that pricing is anecdotal, based on best estimates or trial-and-error, averaging of so-called comparables, and so on. Yet another limitation of the traditional rental markets and systems is that excessive broker/aggregator/agent fees are imposed on both lessors (landlords, owners) and lessees (renters, tenants). Still another limitation of existing rental marketplaces is that there is no standardized way for achieving a final lease outcome between disparate landlords, brokers, listing services and tenant pools. 
         [0011]    In all, a better solution for matching landlords, tenants and rental properties is needed, including a solution that creates an efficient marketplace for rental property, has better inventory allocation, and reduces the stress and chaos currently existing in the residential (and commercial) rental markets. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0012]    Some implementations of the present system and method may better optimize the rental process for lessors and/or lessees, for example by improving the efficiency of the rental process and more optimally and fairly allocating rental properties at efficient prices. Aspects of the present invention or inventions provide a more efficiently priced rental marketplace, including a standardized way for multiple interested lessees to compete for a desired property without the stress, unfairness and inefficiency first-come-first-serve models used in the conventional marketplace. 
         [0013]    One embodiment hereof is directed to a system for automatic allocation of relationships among properties, tenants and landlords, comprising a server having at least one processing circuit configured and adapted to execute machine readable instructions, a digital data store coupled to said processing circuit configured and adapted to store said machine readable instructions and data for processing in said processing circuit; a landlord interface, having a first port coupled to said server and a second port coupled to an external communication layer available to said registered landlord, and further configured using machine readable instructions and executed in said processing circuit, and further configured and adapted to receive landlord information containing data identifying a registered landlord who owns at least one available rental property and for receiving property information containing data representing attributes of said available rental property; a tenant interface, having a first port coupled to said server and a second port coupled to an external communication layer available to said registered tenant, and further configured using machine readable instructions and executed in said processing circuit, and further configured and adapted to receive tenant information containing data identifying a registered tenant who seeks a rental property and for receiving attributes of properties that said registered tenant is seeking; a communication interface coupling said server to said registered landlord through said landlord interface, and coupling said server to said registered tenant through said tenant interface; a landlord data matrix comprising digitally stored and formatted information in said digital data store, identifying said registered landlord as well as other landlord information corresponding to said registered landlord; a tenant data matrix comprising digitally stored and formatted information in said digital data store, identifying a registered tenant, a tenant-property preference list, bid data containing bids by said tenant for at least one property, and other tenant information corresponding to said registered tenant; a formatting module of said processing circuit configured and adapted to format said property information for said available property from a first format to a second format and having an input receiving said property in said first format and an output providing said property information in said second format as a common property listing for said available property; a matching module of said processing circuit configured and adapted to receive at least a portion of said property information and at least said bid data from a plurality of registered tenants, and to recursively determine a best allocation of resources where said plurality of registered tenants compete for a same available property, said matching module further being configured and adapted to provide an output representing a plurality of matched registered tenants and properties; and a document generation module of said processing circuit configured and adapted to receive said output representing the plurality of matched registered tenants and properties and to output respective documents for each registered tenant allocating to them respective leases to corresponding respective properties to which they have been matched. 
         [0014]    Another embodiment is directed to a method for automatically allocating rental properties to interested tenants, comprising receiving landlord information for at least one landlord seeking to rent an available property through a landlord interface of a server, and recording said landlord information in a landlord data matrix in a data store of said server; receiving property information containing data representing at least one available property to be rented, formatting said property information into a common listing format; receiving tenant information for at least one registered tenant seeking to rent an available property through a tenant interface of said server, including receiving a tenant-property preference list representing an ordered ranking of available properties for each registered tenants, receiving tenant bids on each property in said tenant-property preference list, and recording said tenant information and tenant-property preference lists in a tenant data matrix in said data store of said server; matching said registered tenants and said available properties comprising comparing a plurality of qualified bids by a plurality of registered tenants on a same available property and comparing said same available property in respective tenant-property preference lists of said plurality of registered tenants so as to allocate said available property to only one of said plurality of registered tenants, and further comprising allocating another available property to other registered tenants under said same recursive matching step until either each registered tenant is matched with a respective available property or until each available property has been matched with a registered tenant; and generating a leasing document for each registered tenant indicative of a state of matching between said registered tenant and an available property, if said registered tenant was matched to an available property. 
     
    
     
       IN THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]    For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0016]      FIG. 1  illustrates a conventional property leasing arrangement; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  illustrates an exemplary arrangement of a system for matching landlords, tenants and rental properties according to the present method; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary tenant-property bid matrix; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  illustrates an exemplary tenant-property ranking matrix; 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  illustrates an exemplary landlord-tenant approval matrix; 
           [0021]      FIG. 6  illustrates an exemplary composite landlord-tenant-property matching matrix; 
           [0022]      FIG. 7  illustrates an exemplary process for matching tenants and available properties to generate a pairing list of tenants and properties; 
           [0023]      FIG. 8  illustrates an exemplary tenant-property preference list and bids; 
           [0024]      FIGS. 9 through 13  illustrate steps for recursively matching registered tenants and available properties based on qualified bids by said registered tenants and their respective tenant-property preference listings; 
           [0025]      FIG. 14  illustrates a result of the previous steps, culminating in the allocation of an available rental property to each qualified registered tenant; 
           [0026]      FIG. 15  illustrates an exemplary process for matching tenants and available properties to generate a pairing list of tenants and properties; 
           [0027]      FIGS. 16-26  illustrate aspects of an overall process for optimizing the matching of available properties and interested tenants in an automated system for carrying out the present process, including  FIG. 16  which depicts an overall architecture of the process;  FIG. 17  which depicts a primary navigation sub-process;  FIG. 18  which depicts a secondary navigation sub-process;  FIG. 19  which depicts management tool operation;  FIG. 20  which depicts a signup sub-process;  FIG. 21  which depicts a searching sub-process;  FIG. 22  which depicts a user dashboard and sub-process;  FIG. 23  which depicts another representation of the user dashboard and sub-process;  FIG. 24  which depicts a property listing sub-process;  FIG. 25  which depicts another aspect of a primary navigation sub-process; and  FIG. 26  which depicts another aspect of the dashboard and sub-process. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0028]      FIG. 2  illustrates one view of an exemplary architecture  20  for a system for allocating landlord-tenant-rental property relationships. A landlord  120  owns one or more properties  202 ,  204 ,  206 , which are available for rent. One or more prospective renters or tenants  132 ,  134 ,  136  seek to rent a property. Therefore, landlord  120 , tenants  132 ,  134 ,  136  seek to enter into a rental agreement or lease in connection with properties  202 ,  204 ,  206 . We have discussed conventional print, human and computerized methods for engaging the parties, and a number of drawbacks of conventional methods, above. 
         [0029]    A computerized automated system  260  is coupled to a communication network (e.g., the Internet) so as to receive and deliver information and so as to be accessible by entities managing the system  260  as well as entities  120 ,  132 ,  134 ,  136  with a need to use the system. In the present example, properties  202 ,  204 ,  206  are depicted or described or represented by rental property information  202 ′,  204 ′,  206 ′, respectively. The rental property information can include basic data about the respective properties such as overall square footage, number of rooms, amenities, location, and so on. The rental property information may also include photographs, videos or other media files representing the described properties. The rental property information is formatted and stored in a listing  240 , which may be arranged in a matrix or data structure within a database or data store, in way that is accessible to persons interested in the properties and having access to the rental property information, e.g., over an electronic network connection (Internet, World Wide Web, or other). 
         [0030]    Prospective tenants  132 ,  134 ,  136  are chosen for their attributes that make them suitable tenants for the available properties  202 ,  204 ,  206  and acceptable to landlord  120 . The tenant attributes may include a tenant&#39;s income and overall and particular financial condition, their lease price ranges, their demographics, their stated interests in properties, pet ownership, length of intended tenancies, and other factors. Each tenant  132 ,  134 ,  136  applying for the rental of an available property submits a corresponding application  232 ,  234 ,  236  into a tenant data store  230 , which can be implemented as an organized database, table, matrix or other information storage unit. The personal and financial details of a tenant&#39;s application and other personally identifying information may be encrypted or treated with the appropriate security measures to avoid compromising the tenant or the landlord to liability in the event of the unwanted release of such information. The system  260  formats and conditions the tenant application data into a conditioned or refined or filtered set of applications  232 ′,  234 ′,  236 ′. 
         [0031]    The system  260  includes a matching unit  266  (such as the one shown in  FIG. 7 ) that processes the refined tenant applications  230  and the property listing  240  according to a preferred or optimized ranking and eventual matching that best places the tenants into the most suitable rental properties as will be described in more detail below. The matching unit  266  can yield a sorted listing  241  for each tenant (e.g.,  136 ) that ranks the properties in order of suitability for that tenant, and similarly can yield a sorted listing  231  that both vets and ranks the tenants in order of their suitability for a given property or rental arrangement. For example, vetted and sorted application  236 ″ may place tenant  136  as the lead tenant candidate for a sorted property represented by  202 ″ in the sorted listing  241  and determined to be the best match for tenant  136 . 
         [0032]    In an aspect, system  260  is used to coordinate physical (or virtual) showings of the rental properties  202 ,  204 ,  206  at a predetermined time, for example on a Saturday afternoon or on a Sunday morning. Any tenant interested in a given unit (e.g.,  202 ) that has an open house time period can attend this showing during which the landlord or his/her agent will give access to the prospective tenants to inspect the unit and to answer questions about the unit, give out informational materials, etc. No offers will be accepted from prospective tenants during the open house showing times. This way, the tenants are not scrambling or competing to place offers and deposits on rental properties to secure the properties before another tenant does so as happens often with existing methods. The tenants can visit one or more properties during the time periods for showing, then the tenants go into a computer application or app designed for the present purpose, and the tenants can submit their decisions and offers for the units they are interested in. In some embodiments, tenants are given a determined time window within which to decide on and bid on rental properties that they are interested in. For example, tenants may be allowed 24 hours to think about the properties, see other (unrelated) opportunities, consider their financial needs, consult family members, etc. 
         [0033]    In an aspect, the tenants  132 ,  134 ,  136  indicate in their applications  232 ,  234 ,  236  what price range of leases they are seeking or willing to bid on certain properties and other tenant characteristic information, which is used to pre-filter which properties are presented to the tenants at the onset of the process. 
         [0034]    In another aspect, the landlord  120  can set a minimum lease price for each unit in the listing  240 . This pricing is then negotiable after the open house showing time period. If a unit is highly desirable by many prospective applicant renters, the value of the unit will be accordingly reflected in the bids by the tenants for the lease on the unit. 
         [0035]    The system  260  will finally take into consideration all of the economic and other characteristic information from matching unit  266  and use the ranked listing  241  and ranked tenant applications  231  to generate a lease  252  using a lease contract generator  268 . The lease contract generator can use existing rules and templates to customize and automatically create a legally-enforceable document (paper or electronic) that must be executed by the landlord  120  and a tenant  136  for the lease of a given rental property  202 . Landlords and tenants may be given a limited time window in which to execute lease  252 , for example one day or two days. 
         [0036]    In an aspect, the open house showings may be conducted on a Saturday and the process (execution of the lease) is completed by Sunday. The applicants for a rental property may be notified of the results of the process using a software program that generates and electronic notification message, and app or similar modality. The non-winning applicants for a rental property may be offered their next-wanted rental unit, and so on. The tenants have a tenant interface  264  into the system  260 , and the landlords may have another interface  262  into system  260 . However, this is not meant as limiting, and both landlords, tenants, as well as agents of each may use a same interface depending on the desired implementation. The present process is automated and carried out in computing and data processing systems as described herein. A system manager manages the operation, security and polices content of the information and use of system  260 . The system manager may charge a fee, which can be much less than a traditional broker&#39;s fee, for operating and maintaining the system  260 . 
         [0037]    In another aspect, the applicant renters and landlords may agree in advance to a leasing arrangement in which the tenants make several bids, one bid for each rental property they are willing to rent. The bids have corresponding prices offered by the tenants, depending on their means and on their interest in the given properties. Specifically, tenant  136  may bid $3,200/month on apartment  202  and also bid $3,000/month on apartment  206 . Another applicant tenant  132  may bid $3,000 on apartment  202  and $3,300 on apartment  206 . In this case apartment  202  would be awarded to renter  136  and apartment  206  would be awarded to renter  132 . It should be understood that the present examples are presented only for the sake of illustration. Many variations and embodiments are possible, which can be chosen based on the desired outcome of the process. As will be seen from the present examples, the process can be optimized in the interest of prospective tenants applying for rental properties, or in the interest of property owning landlords or (conceptually) in the interest of the available properties, which can be seen as seeking renters. 
         [0038]    The ranking and bidding by applicant tenants is used by the present process taking place in system  260  between the time that tenants visit the properties and the time that matches and lease contracts are generated. For example, if open house times are on Saturday and the lease generation and execution is set for Sunday. In an example, the ranking and bidding by tenants can take place on Saturday using the user interface and inputs described above. Then, the matching of tenants and rental properties is carried out in automated system  260  on Saturday night by the matching unit  266 . The results of the match and associated paperwork (e.g., leases) are sent out to the parties involved following the matching step. Matching unit  266  is programmed, configured and arranged to perform optimizations and may include computer-executable instructions to maximize the overall or specific benefits to landlords and/or tenants by an optimization matching process. As stated, a minimum bid for a given unit may be required, and such minimum floor value could be published in listing  204  or may not be published, depending on implementation. 
         [0039]    It will be appreciated that the system  260  can be generalized and scaled to accommodate a plurality of landlords  120 , a plurality of geographic locations, many tenants, and many rental properties as needed. 
         [0040]    The overall matching process above carried out in matching unit  266  can employ one or more methods and quantitative techniques, including some that are borrowed from or adapted from known matching methods. For example, the Gale-Shapley algorithm is an example of a solution that can be used along with the present system and method for matching landlords, tenants and properties. In some aspects, once the present method is implemented, no two renters would exchange apartments and be happier with the exchange made (at the prices set). Other, possibly related, techniques known or developed for organ donor matching, student-school matching, medical residency matching and so on can be used or adapted for the present application and context. 
         [0041]    In another aspect, the system manager can raise extra revenue from operating and maintaining system  260  by placing or pushing targeted advertising content to landlords  120  or tenants  132 ,  134 ,  136 . Relocation and property service vendors may send special offers to participants in the system  260  in exchange for access to the databases of system  260 , or indirectly through the system manager. In still another aspect, the parties participating may contractually allow selected use of their information, for example anonymized data, for the purposes of improving the design and operation of the system  260  or for commercial benefit of the system manager. 
         [0042]    In yet another aspect, a service which may be the same as the system manager service, can act to collect rent payments. In an example, if rent is paid on a credit card, credit card rewards on rent payments may be awarded. 
         [0043]    Other aspects allow for optional landlord improvement input from system  260 . For example, a more realistic or economically efficient base lease price can be determined by system  260  based on the amount of interest and bids being made on a given unit (upward or downward from the landlord&#39;s original expected price). This assists in efficient price setting for rental properties. 
         [0044]    Other examples and embodiments include an automated or human-assisted process for generating the rental property information listing  240 . Photography, video, floor plans and other multimedia data can be collected by the same entity or a vendor of the system  260  manager/operator. Still other embodiments may additionally include automated or human-assisted background checking, credit checking or reference checking as part of vetting renter applicants and ranking the prospective tenants. 
         [0045]    In another embodiment, the landlord interface  262  manages communication of updates regarding a listed unit to its owner landlord  120 . A computer program, email message, or app alert signals to landlord  120 &#39;s computer or mobile communication device that an offer has been made, vetted and is recommended by system  260 . Landlord  120  can then confirm his or her approval of the renting of the given unit to the given applicant simply and for example by clicking and “Approve” or similar button on the provided application. System  260  may be designed and configured to operate with a general interface, e.g., World Wide Web (browser) interface, or may be further programmed to operate with a specially made application or app installed in the computing device (e.g., personal computer, tablet, smart phone) of landlord  120  and/or tenants  132 ,  134 ,  136 . 
         [0046]      FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary tenant-property bid matrix  30 . This is a representation of a group of potential tenants (A, B, C, D and E) and some available rental properties (x, y and z). Tenants A through E visit one or more of units x through z on the allotted open house time windows. The entries in matrix  30  represent monthly lease price bids by prospective tenants for available rental properties. Here, renter A bid $3,000/month for a lease on property x and that same renter A also bid $2,400/month for a lease on property z. This does not mean that renter A wants to or will lease both properties x and z. It means that renter A is legally willing to enter a lease on either of these properties at the stated bid price. Similarly, renter B is willing to rent any of properties x, y or z at the bid prices. Renter C did not bid in time for any of the properties. Renter D would pay $3,100/month to rent property x or $2,500/month for property y. Renter E only bid on property x in the amount of $3,200. 
         [0047]    The tenant-property bid matrix  30  is entered into system  260  and matching unit  266  so as to optimally match renters, landlords and rental properties as described herein. 
         [0048]      FIG. 4  illustrates a tenant-property ranking matrix  40 , which holds data indicative of tenant ranking or preference for the available rental properties. Renter A indicated that her first choice “1” is for property x and her second choice “2” is for property z. She is not interested in property y. The other renters indicate similar preferences for properties x, y, z as shown. This information is also available to system  260  and matching unit  266  for determination of the best result in leasing the properties to the renters. 
         [0049]      FIG. 5  illustrates an exemplary landlord-tenant approval matrix  50 . This matrix represents (in a binary fashion) whether a given renter (A, B, C, D, E) is approved by or acceptable to a given landlord (La, Lb, Lc). So for example, Landlord La approves to rent to tenants A and E but not to tenants B, C, D. Landlord Lb will accept tenant B but none of the other tenant applicants. Landlord Lc agrees to rent to any tenant in the group except for tenant C. This approval process can be indicated on the landlord  120 &#39;s user interface in some embodiments as described earlier. Also, a human or machine broker can be employed to make such determinations. 
         [0050]    In yet other embodiments, the landlord or landlords can rank and rate the applications from the prospective tenants. So instead of the binary matrix above, the landlords&#39; preferences can be in ratings (zero to ten, one to five stars, on a percentile scale, and so on). The system  260  and matching unit  266  can take in the landlord-tenant approval matrix data in determining the best matches for leasing the available properties. 
         [0051]      FIG. 6  illustrates a composite landlord-tenant-property matching matrix, data structure or data store  60  comprising a multi-dimensional set of information representing tenant, rental property and landlord needs and preferences. System  260  and matching unit  266  can take such a matrix  60  and use it in determining the final allocation and best matches between available rental units, landlords and tenants in a multi unit, landlord and applicant tenant scenario. Those skilled in the art will understand that the present examples and discussion can be generalized quantitatively and qualitatively. Other factors can be added along the lines discussed above. Geographic location indexing, walkability indexing, crime rates by zip code, address, and many other factors can be added to the tables and matrices given herein by way of illustration. Also, weighting factors can be introduced and biased in favor of an economically desired overall outcome. For example, one landlord may be mostly interested in the price he or she can obtain for a property, while another landlord may have a strong interest in the background of his or her tenant, and these factors may be custom weighted in a matching unit  266  accordingly (to give but one example). 
         [0052]      FIG. 7  illustrates an exemplary architecture  70  for optimized landlord-tenant-property matching, information processing and automated contract generation. The architecture or system  70  comprises a user interface component  730 , a data processing component  700 , a matching component  710  and a contract generation component  720 . These components may be implemented as specialized hardware units within an overall processor-based machine, or they may be implemented as separate pieces of equipment including processing hardware, data storage hardware, communication hardware, and document delivery or printing hardware. Each of said pieces may further include electronic circuits for handling, receiving and sending, storing, and executing machine readable instructions or programming steps. 
         [0053]    Use interface  730  can be used by a landlord  71  and/or tenants  74  to exchange information with the rest of the system  70 . For example, landlord  72  can input information regarding one or more properties and tenants  74  can enter information about themselves and what they are looking for. Then, tenant  74  can see processed and sorted listings  732  and other membership or subscription information. The landlord and tenant members of the system can also receive a lease  734  when it is generated. 
         [0054]    Data processing component  700  processes, sorts and formats information. For example, it receives and processes property listing information from landlord  72 , putting this information into a form suitable for uniform listing to tenants and agents using user interface  730 . Data processing component  700  can prepare sorted listings for matching component  710  that matches the best pairs of tenants and available rental properties as described earlier with respect to matching unit  266 . 
         [0055]    The matching component  710  of system  70  automatically, in a processor executing machine readable instructions, determines if multiple tenants are seeking to rent a same property at step  712 . If each prospective tenant is interested in a different rental unit then the tenant—property match is easily completed at step  714  by assigning or pairing the tenants and desired properties to one another. But if multiple prospective tenants rank a same property as their desired rental, and in essence are competing for the same property, then a match is made based (at least in part) on the tenant rental price bids for the property at step  716 . A successful bidder (tenant)  74  may be the tenant offering the highest rent amount for the desired property. Other factors including tenant profile information may also be used to weigh in favor of the winning tenant for the property. 
         [0056]    The unsuccessful tenants who also wanted the same property will be processed at step  718  with regard to their next most highly rated or ranked properties (e.g., their second favorites, third favorites, and so on) recursively until all tenants have been matched to a rental property. In an aspect, by bidding on and indicating an interest in a property, a tenant is agreeing to rent the property, even if it is not his or her favorite choice. The system can accordingly attempt to assign tenants their preferred rental properties, but a recursive automatic matching routine such as that illustrated may lead to various outcomes that are globally beneficial to the group of tenants and landlords participating in the process. 
         [0057]    The system generates a lease  734  in contract generation step  722  in a document generation engine or component  720 . Template and modular clauses may be used to automatically populate a legal document such as a lease using the landlord, property and tenant information and other information that is merged into the final document. The lease  734  is presented, e.g., electronically or by email or hard copy to the parties  72 ,  74  needing to execute the lease document. In the end, if more qualified bids are presented by more registered tenants than available units, the most competitive bidders will be assigned to their indicated available properties according to their bids and other factors considered by the matching unit  266 . If more available properties exist than registered tenants bidding for the same, and the bidding tenants indicate an interest in a plurality of such properties, the matching process will be able to pair each qualified bidder with an available property of interest. In a preferred embodiment, the final contracts (leases) are generated only after all tenants and rental properties are paired by the matching unit  266  and no property is still available and still has multiple tenants seeking to rent it. However, one of skill in the art would understand to implement the invention as needed for a given application and the present preferred steps or order of steps could be manipulated to suit other examples as well. 
         [0058]      FIG. 8  illustrates exemplary ranked or prioritized ordering  80  of rental properties (A, B, C, D) that are under consideration by four prospective tenants (Tx, Ty, Tz, Tw), along with the lease price bids (e.g., monthly rent) each is willing to pay for the respective property. 
         [0059]      FIG. 9  highlights at  90  the top-ranked property of each tenant. We can see that Tx, Ty and Tz all rate Unit A as their preferred property to rent. Therefore, matching engine  710  must carry out the process for determining which renter will be leasing which Unit. In the present example, rental properties are awarded to tenants based on a recursive consideration of the tenant bids on the rental price for the properties. Therefore, the system resolves competition among multiple tenants for a same unit. We see that Tz will be tentatively awarded the lease on Unit A because Tz bid the highest price for the unit among the three tenants bidding for Unit A who all consider Unit A to be their most desired choice. 
         [0060]      FIG. 10  illustrates at  1000  how Tx and Ty are out of consideration for Unit A because their bids for it were unsuccessful. Tx and Ty both indicated Unit B as their second choice however, and will compete for Unit B in matching engine  710 . Ty being the higher bidder for Unit B with no other competitors at this stage bidding for Unit B, Ty is awarded the lease for Unit B. 
         [0061]      FIG. 11  illustrates at  1100  that Tx has been unsuccessful in obtaining a lease on Unit A or Unit B will place Tx in competition for Unit C, his third choice. Here, Tx and Tw will compete for Tx&#39;s third choice and Tw&#39;s first choice, Unit C, which will go to Tx as he bid $1,550 compared to Tw&#39;s losing $1,500 bid for Unit C. Tw must therefore be put into a match on her next most desired units in  FIG. 12 . Tw and Tz compete for Unit A at 1200.  FIG. 13  illustrates that Tw beat out Tz for Unit A by outbidding him. Tz is therefore not eligible for his first choice Unit A. 
         [0062]      FIG. 14  illustrates the final outcome of the matching process above. Since there are no remaining competitions among the tenants for the available units, and each unit has been optimally matched to the renter offering the best price for it, the contracts for the rental leases may be finalized. Here Tx will rent Unit C for $1,550, Ty will take Unit B for $1,400, Tz takes Unit D for $2,000 and Tw rents Unit A for $1,150. This is one method for matching the renters and the available units that maximizes the economic outcome in an economically stable and efficient sense. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other methods for matching the tenants and the properties are also possible. For example, the bid prices may be but one factor in a multi-factor equation deciding among tenant bids. Specifically, in an instance, the bid price is taken into consideration along with credit score, or other tenant profile information. Therefore, if two persons ranked and bid a given property equally the system can take into account a secondary factor to decide among the bidding tenants. 
         [0063]      FIG. 15  illustrates another embodiment of a process  1500  automatically carried out in the present system, which can be compared to  FIG. 7  above. 
         [0064]      FIG. 15  addresses the situation where multiple available properties have a same given highest bidder. As stated, the present matching unit and method would not allocate more than one available property to a same candidate tenant because a tenant only needs one property to rent. Here, the matching system determines at  1512  whether the situation has arisen where a same tenant was the highest bidder on more than one available property. If so, the tenant having made highest bids on two or more properties is paired to a property based on his/her stated preference ranking in said properties. At  1518  any unmatched properties are passed on to the next highest bidders for the properties. The exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 15  will resolve and optimize the pool of tenants and rental properties, leading to the unique best pairing according to a given implementation, and leading to the generation of legal documents (leases) after all of the tenants and properties have been allocated. 
         [0065]    As can be seen, the system can optimize the allocation and pairing of tenants and available properties. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that a relative or local or subjective optimization is possible, and that other implementations or algorithms for matching can result in other self-defined most optimum outcomes. In any case, the system operates as programmed and configured using the hardware and software employed. In an aspect, a stable set of pairings associating available rental properties and interested applicant tenants is generated. 
         [0066]    It should be noted that the present recursive methods can involve multiple steps in the recursion, or in some embodiments the process needs to only pass once through the recursive process. The recursion therefore signifies one or more passes through the depicted process. 
         [0067]    So a method according to the present disclosure may involve multi-stage processing of data including in a processing and formatting engine; a matching stage performed in a matching engine and an automated document generation engine that in the end creates contracts or leases for landlords and tenants according to the results of a matching process, which in turn acts on processed and refined tenant and property information in a processing stage. 
         [0068]    The present discussion and illustrative examples show several features of the present inventions. In some aspects, the present process and system allow for one-to-one matching or pairing of available rental properties and prospective bidding tenants applying to lease the properties. The present system and process ensure an orderly assignment of tenants to desired properties, taking into account the tenants&#39; stated preference rankings for the properties, the tenants&#39; monetary bids for the properties and other factors. Here, a prospective tenant seeking a rental property can submit multiple legally-binding bids for multiple properties, but unlike in a conventional auction, the tenant will not be legally bound to take all of the properties he or she submitted bids on. The tenant&#39;s bids will be input to and automatically processed as described so that the tenant may be entitled to and obligated to lease only one of the properties desired (if any). 
         [0069]    Consider a tenant who is interested in several available properties. It is possible hereunder that this tenant is the highest bidder on multiple such properties. In a traditional auction process, the tenant would be required to take all of the properties that he or she was the highest bidder on. For this reason, under traditional auction arrangements, bidders must be careful to only bid on their most desired property, then wait to discover the results of that auction, before making bids on another property to avoid being held to two or more leases simultaneously. In doing so, bidders in conventional systems may miss out on their alternative desired properties because they had to wait for the results of their first bid before daring to bid on another property. Conventional systems and processes are therefore serial in nature. Here, however, the tenant bidding for one or more desired properties may be assigned to lease only one of said desired properties, and will not be forced to take all of the properties indicated in his or her bids. This is to say that the present system and method, through its automated processing and data handling as described, can handle batch processing of multiple bids, multiple bidders and multiple properties being bid on, without causing undesired outcomes. Any property that a bidder has bid on, given to the bidder, would be acceptable to (and binding on) the bidder. 
         [0070]      FIG. 16  illustrates an exemplary process and architecture  1600 , which may be implemented in an automated machine such as a computer processing system as described above. The various steps and modules described below are implemented in a system interconnecting them where they appear in the following figures as separate drawings for convenience. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the following drawings are able of being carried out all together in a system and process, which is evident through the common naming and numbering of the enumerated steps and modules below. 
         [0071]    A Home state  1610  or Home reference module of software and/or hardware is coupled to or leads to several main steps or architectural modules or states. These include Primary Navigation  1612 , Secondary Navigation  1614 , “How It Works?”  1618 , and Management Tools  1619 , which are explained in more detail below. 
         [0072]      FIG. 17  illustrates an exemplary set of methods or groups of steps and modules of the present system that can be carried out under the Primary Navigation  1612  step in an embodiment hereof. The Primary Navigation  1612  step can include a variety of user interface and interactivity modules and methods thereunder such as Sign Up/Sign In  16122 , Searching  16124 , User Dashboard  16126  and Property Listing  16128 . 
         [0073]      FIG. 18  illustrates an exemplary set of methods or groups of steps and modules of the present system that can be carried out under the Secondary Navigation  1614  step in an embodiment hereof. The Secondary Navigation  1614  can include various About  16142 , Contact  16144 , Privacy  16146  and other instructional or informative steps thereunder. 
         [0074]      FIG. 19  illustrates exemplary account and system management tools  1619 , which permit review of applications from the tenant side  16192  or the landlord side  16194 . Each party is allowed to approve or reject an application as shown. 
         [0075]      FIG. 20  illustrates the Sign up/ Sign In process  16122  in an exemplary aspect. Passwords are managed under this step or group of steps. 
         [0076]      FIG. 21  illustrates an exemplary searching scheme according to an aspect of the illustrated embodiment. Search results  16124  may present users with a plurality of listings at  16124   a.  Map view  16124   b  and list view  16124   c  are available in an example. A listing  16124   d  may be generated and added to a bid list at  16124   e.    
         [0077]      FIGS. 22 and 23  illustrate exemplary arrangements of modules or steps in a process under the Dashboard  16126  described above. The tenant dashboard  16126   a  and landlord dashboard  16126   b  can be presented to registered tenants and landlords, respectively. Applications are processed (e.g., tenant applications at  16126   b ) and bids are handled according to the bid/rank process  16126   e  described earlier. 
         [0078]      FIG. 24  illustrates the process for handling property listings  16128  according to an exemplary embodiment. The process includes procedures for entry and review of property information  16128   a,  tenant qualification information  16128   b,  review of proposed lease  16128   c,  and other indications of success or failure of the process. A detailed page  16126   o  is generated for review at the end of the process. 
         [0079]    Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other implementations of a process map may be carried out according to this invention similar to or equivalent to the examples provided above. The flowcharts of  FIGS. 16-24  in particular lend themselves to other equivalent and similar implementations in that the order of the steps and the combination or splitting of steps into further sub-steps can be achieved without loss of generality. The ordering of the steps can also be accomplished according to the desired implementer&#39;s needs without departing from the present invention as a whole. 
         [0080]      FIG. 25  illustrates another feature of some exemplary embodiments of the invention. Here, the primary navigation step  1612  can include an optional exploration step  2500 , which permits viewing of a map. For example, a user interface equipped with a graphical display unit will display an image of a selected geographic region (by area, address, etc.) at step  2502 . The user can then navigate, zoom or manipulate the map at step  2504  to view a neighborhood of interest within the map (e.g., a neighborhood including the address of a rental property). The user interface can also provide detailed information about the neighborhood of interest to the user at step  2506 . 
         [0081]      FIG. 26  illustrates another exemplary feature of embodiments of the invention whereby a renter can seek or collaborate with potential roommates interested in a property (i.e., to cohabitate in the property with the bidding tenant). From the Dashboard  16126  a user can invite and/or remove roommate candidates at step  2600 . The system can enter a maximum roommates bid at step  2602 , which indicates the maximum bid put in by a group of tenants who plan to rent a unit together and who will jointly agree to a bid price (rent amount). Potential roommates are notified at step  2604 , which can be by electronic mail (email) or by another suitable communication means (e.g., telephone, fax, push message, SMS message, or others). The potential roommates who receive the invitation may then accept/confirm their interest at  2604   a  or decline the invitation at  2604   b.    
         [0082]    The present invention is not intended to limit the abilities of the participants in the rental unit marketplace. Therefore, the disclosure should not limit those skilled in the art from other implementations or enhancements consistent with the present exemplary embodiments. For example, in an embodiment, the system may permit a first-come-first-served procedure for awarding an available apartment to a meritorious tenant interested in the apartment prior to the foregoing matching process taking place. 
         [0083]    Again, the inventors do not presume to enumerate each and every possible configuration for carrying out the claimed invention. But the examples described in the present disclosure and accompanying drawings will clearly convey to those skilled in the art the nature of the invention and numerous preferred methods and configurations for its execution. 
         [0084]    As would now be appreciated, the above process removes the chaos and anxiety of first-come-first-served searches for rental properties because all qualified applicant renters are given a fair opportunity to see the available properties available to them. Also, the applicant tenants can then decide the fair market price for a lease for a given unit, which may be governed by a minimum price set by the owner of the unit. Also, the present method and system allows for a uniform high quality vetted and refined application process so that all landlords and tenants submit and see a unified application and property listing set of documents. The applicants may be personally anonymized as well to avoid intentional or unintentional filtering of tenant applicants by improper criteria such as race, orientation, physical appearance and such subjective (and usually unlawful) factors. 
         [0085]    The present invention should not be considered limited to the particular embodiments described above, but rather should be understood to cover all aspects of the invention as fairly set out in the present claims. Various modifications, equivalent processes, as well as numerous structures to which the present invention may be applicable, will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention is directed upon review of the present disclosure. The claims are intended to cover such modifications.