Residential Financial Specialist

Working for Equity Residential means being part of a community – employees and residents – striving to provide the best in apartment living, speaking boldly about new ideas for innovation, and inspiring creativity in the ways we live and work together. That’s what our Be.Think.Play.Live. culture is all about.

Under the general supervision of the Residential Financial Supervisor, the Residential Financial Specialist (RFS) is responsible for ensuring the accurate bookkeeping/posting of all resident transactions for the properties/portfolio in accordance with set policies and practices; thereby ensuring income optimization. The RFS partners with on-site and regional property management and is charged with maximizing all income opportunities by analyzing trends and recommending process improvements.  The RFS is knowledgeable regarding state laws relating to collections from residents as well as internal policies and practices relating to property bookkeeping and systems.

• A Functional / Technical Expert. You demonstrate a high degree of knowledge of job functions and systems and routinely apply your knowledge and skills to produce high quality outcomes.
• Analytical and Organized. You consistently gather pertinent information needed to assess and understand problems. You can establish links between multiple programs and then suggest and select best actions for resolution and future improvements. You also utilize your organizational skills effectively.
• A Strong Communicator. You gets to the point quickly and succinctly, can make complicated concepts and data clear to others, are an exceptional listener — even under stressful situations, and demonstrate a keen judgment of what to say in complicated situations.
• Customer-Oriented. You are always responsive to customers’ needs, ask great questions, and are able to anticipates customers’ needs, completing most tasks for your customers ahead of deadlines.
• Dependable and Reliable. You consistently present work that is timely, thorough, and accurate, and goes beyond the scope of what is generally expected.
• A Problem-Solver. You love to proactively identify potential problems and take appropriate actions for resolution, consistently selecting courses of action that demonstrate excellent judgment and creative problem solving.
• Discerning with Strong Judgment. You are thorough in your quest to gather all necessary data and arrive at high-quality decisions and recommendations with an eye on impact. You appropriately alert others to pending actions and decisions, and use keen observation and analytical thinking to make decisions, even under difficult situations.

• Monitor residents’ accounts in the property management system (MRI) and perform detailed account research to ensure timely and accurate posting of rent and utility payments/collection related to move-ins, move-outs, renewals, transfers, evictions, etc.
• Generate Statement of Deposit and Accounts (SODA) for all move outs and cancelled applicants, which details refunds and charges for damages against security deposit.
• Handle return payments, run delinquency reports and generate notices for distribution.
• Validate that evictions tie out with third party filings and are processed accurately in accordance with company policies and state laws. Manually post legal fees associated with eviction.
• Monitor and process resident account adjustments to ensure all revenue is captured.
• Generate necessary reports to monitor resident status of outstanding transactions and ongoing activity.
• Post resident adjustments including, but not limited to, security deposits, late charges, resident utility billing (RUBs), charges or credits on cancelled applicants, and accurate application of concessions, etc.
• Perform closing steps in accounting cycle utilizing the monthly close out checklist and various accounting / billing reports detailing out of balance accounts.
• Perform reconciliation of residents’ accounts for each property in conjunction with property management prior to MRI monthly closeout.
• Support on-site property management teams by responding to inquiries in a timely, respectful and thorough manner. Partner with regional management to identify trends, issues or areas of concern related to processes and procedures. Act as a liaison and influencer of behaviors between corporate and field within the realm of managing the books.
• Review and process property ledger requests including fees charged to residents, e.g., utility billing credits, corrections for double fees, etc. Responds to Resident Notes submitted by property management.
• Work closely with properties to provide support and recommendations for continuous improvement.
• Communicate closely with Regional Managers (RMs) on an on-going basis; provide RMs with constructive assessment of properties performance and identifies training opportunities as well as potential income opportunities.
• Maintain general working knowledge of state laws with respect to collection of delinquent accounts.
• Keep up-to-date on policies, procedures/principles and MRI system application.

• A high school diploma or equivalent is required.
• Four or more years of professional work experience required, along with knowledge of bookkeeping principles and practices.
• Excellent computer skills required including proficiency in keyboarding and navigating in a windows environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and excellent follow through.

• A college degree or some college coursework is preferred.

We recognize everyone has different needs outside of work. That’s why, in addition to a competitive benefits package (medical, dental, vision and paid time off), we offer many unique options to employees, like adoption benefits and paid time off for community service projects. To learn more, view our Total Wellbeing page here.