How Essential Property Management Streamlines Deposits with Obligo
Embedded Obligo + Yardi solution helps reduce move-in friction and accelerate leasing
Essential Property Management is an owner-operator with a third-party management footprint. The company focuses on delivering strong operations across a Detroit metro portfolio of 1,800 multifamily units, with rents ranging from $1,200–$1,500. Like many operators in this segment, they’re highly sensitive to bad debt and operational drag: “Every little dollar of bad debt hurts,” said Aaron Lewis, COO at Essential.
The Challenge: Move-in Costs were Blocking Qualified Renters
Before Obligo, Essential faced a persistent leasing obstacle: upfront move-in costs.
For many qualified renters, coming up with first month’s rent + a full security deposit meant producing a large sum immediately. This resulted in a difficult choice for Aaron:
Lower the security deposit to get renters in the door (and risk losing the protection they needed), or lose leases from otherwise qualified renters who couldn’t cover the upfront financial burden.Historically, lowering deposits created real exposure. Essential saw many cases where renters moving in with $500 deposits instead of one month’s rent contributed to move-out shortfalls, making it harder to cover damages and outstanding balances.
The Solution: An Embedded Deposit Experience
After evaluating all deposit solutions available, Aaron and his team at Essential chose Obligo in 2025 because the experience was operationally effortless and renter-friendly, providing them with:
- A Deposit Solution Truly Embedded in Yardi
Essential’s team prioritizes solutions that actually work over “integrations” that look good in a demo but create workflow issues in production. - Easy renter sign-up through RentCafe
From the renter’s point of view, the process is simple: click, enroll, and move forward—without back-and-forth with the onsite team. “It’s super renter friendly and takes all deposit work out of our team’s hands,” said Aaron. - “Flawless” implementation
Aaron praised the joint effort from Obligo and Yardi, noting that the implementation process was seamless. “Some implementations can be painful, but this rollout was flawless.
The Impact: Faster Leasing & Smoother Operations
Early into the rollout, Essential began seeing meaningful benefits immediately:
🚀 Faster Leasing, Fewer Move-In Hurdles
Leases that may have otherwise been lost are won and leasing teams can close more deals with less friction.
⚙️ Less Work for Onsite Teams
Deposit admin reduced to virtually zero, plus renter sign up and qualification through RentCafe means no manual effort for leasing staff.
🛡️ Stronger Protection, Less Bad Debt
Increased deposit protection to cover damages and outstanding balances.
Why Essential says Obligo is a “No-Brainer”
Essential views Obligo as a rare win-win: a better renter experience without sacrificing deposit protection - and without adding cost or workload to operations.
Aaron and his team are using Obligo as part of a broader strategy to stand out competitively with resident-friendly options that cost the operator nothing, alongside tools like rent reporting and flexible rent payment solutions.
And with increasing regulatory pressure around deposits and payment plans, Essential stays ahead of the curve, rather than reacting.
