Getting Started

CRP Gen gives property managers and landlords an easy way to generate Certificates of Rent Paid for their tenants.

Here are the steps required to successfully use CRP Gen:

1. Gather your data
2. Download and install CRP Gen
3. Start CRP Gen and enter your data
4. Generate completed Certificates of Rent Paid
5. Print the completed forms for your tenants (note that before you can print the completed CRPs, you must acquire a CRP Gen license – instructions for acquiring a license can be found when you start the CRP Gen software)

The following instructions provide an overview of the steps involved in using CRP Gen.
 

Gathering Data

Use of the CRP Gen software can be greatly simplified if you take the time to gather and organize your data beforehand.

The information that is placed on a Certificate of Rent Paid can be divided into three types:

1. Managing agent/landlord information
2. Property information
3. Renter information

a. - Managing Agent/Landlord Info - This data identifies the managing agent or landlord for the property.  If you manage multiple properties, it is usually the same for all of your properties.  This information includes:

• Business, owner or landlord name
• Business address (street/PO Box), city, state, zip code)
• Telephone number
• Representative’s name (for the signature field)
• Signature Date (the date you are planning to print or issue the CRPs)

b. - Property Info - This is information that identifies each property and includes:

• Property type (rental, nursing home or adult foster care)
• Property address (street, city, state, zip code, and the Minnesota county where the property is located)
• Property ID number or parcel number
• Number of rental units on the property

c. - Renter/Tenant Info - Information that is required for this category includes:

• Renter’s name (and spouse’s name if they lived together in the same unit)
• Apartment/unit number
• Starting and ending dates of the rental period
• Number of roommates
• Rent paid

If you received government payments for any tenant, the Minnesota Department of Revenue wants these payment amounts listed on the CRP as well.  See the section titled "Renter Information Fields" later on this page for additional information on required renter data.

Special Note
While experience has shown that gathering renter/tenant data can take a significant amount of your time, CRP Gen has several features that can help reduce the time required including automated rent-paid calculations and the ability to import renter data via a specially-formatted text file.

Once you have gathered your data, you can start using CRP Gen to generate the completed CRPs.
 

Downloading and Installing CRP Gen

For step-by-step instructions on how to download and install CRP Gen, click here.
 

Using CRP Gen

Start CRP Gen and click the “New” button to start a new session or “Open” to load a previously saved session.

Follow the four-steps on the “CRP Gen Instructions” page to …

1. Enter managing agent/landlord information
2. Enter property information
3. Import or enter renter information
4. Generate the completed CRPs

 
CRP Gen Tips

1. After you generate your CRPs but before your print them, click the button to scan the forms for common errors.

2. If you manage multiple properties, you can either save all of your data in a single file or save the data for each property in a separate CRP Gen data file.  If you use the second option, be sure to give the file a name that identifies the property like “Property ABC”.  Detailed information is available via CRP Gen's button under the subject "Instructions for Multiple Properties".

3. Let CRP Gen do the calculations for you.  “How” you do it depends on what type of property you are managing:

• Rental properties – Use the CRP Gen Rental Tables to define up to 6 different rental rates for each property.  Then, specify the appropriate rate code (A, B, C, D, E or F) for each renter.  CRP Gen will use the correct monthly rate when it computes the “rent paid” amount.
• Nursing homes, intermediate care facilities an adult foster care facilities – Check the appropriate box on the main CRP Gen instructions page or on the CRP itself.  CRP Gen will use the monthly rate defined by the Minnesota Department of Revenue for these facilities.

    Note that when you generate the completed forms, CRP Gen will use the appropriate monthly rental rate along with the rental dates and the number of roommates that you specify to calculate the correct amount for the rent paid.

4. If you need to generate CRPs for several tenants, use a program like Microsoft Excel to create a text file with all of the required data for your renters.  Refer to Importing Data for more information.

5. If you only need to generate a handful of CRPs, you can generate “blank” CRPs that are pre-filled with any Managing Agent and/or Property info that you specified on the main CRP Gen instructions page.

6. You can change any CRP that you generate by clicking on the appropriate CRP in the list in the left-hand window, then clicking the field or fields that require changing.

7. If you are starting a new session and have successfully licensed the software, you can use the "Same as Licensee" checkbox to pre-fill the Managing agent/landlord information fields with the identifying information that you provided when you acquired your license.

8. Click the button in CRP Gen for additional tips and helpful “how-to” information.

 
Importing Data

If you have a large number of Certificates of Rent Paid that you need to generate and you don't want to type the information into CRP Gen, you can create and import a text file with the necessary renter information.

Additional information on the file, including the file layout, can be accessed via the program's button under the subject: "Importing Data".