What is Lumen?

Lumen is a customizable recommendation tool designed to minimize the need for manually reviewing applications for leasing requirements. It analyzes applicant-provided information and calculates a recommendation based on whether the applicant(s) meet your property's unique approval requirements, giving leasing teams confidence in their decisions.

Lumen can calculate a recommendation using the following applicant data:

• Income

• Identity Verification

• Credit Record

• Collections Records

• Criminal Records

• Housing Court Records

What are Lumen Recommendations?

Lumen recommendations are generated based on your company's rental criteria and provide a quick visual indicator of whether an applicant meets those requirements.

Lumen does not make decisions on applications. It serves as a recommendation tool to simplify the review process based on available information in the system.

Before we jump into the details, you'll find some frequently asked questions about what Lumen is and how it's used below.

FAQs about Lumen:

Reviewing Lumen Recommendations

Viewing Lumen Results

On the Applications tab in the VERO Manager Portal, you can find the Lumen Result column on the right side of the screen for all applications awaiting a decision. If applications have not yet been submitted, the Lumen Result will display IN PROGRESS.

When you click into a deal, VERO will display the Recommendation Bar at the top of the overview page, along with key data "highlights" or "lowlights" related to the result.

• Left side of the Recommendation Bar: Displays the Lumen Recommendation (e.g., Approve, Conditional, Decline) based on your company's configuration.

• Right side of the Recommendation Bar: Contains Action Buttons for approving, declining, or requesting additional information. Additional actions are available under the More Actions button.
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Here is a few examples of what these results might look like:

In the top example, you can see the "Lumen Recommends APPROVE" on the left hand side where the recommendation is, and then Action Button set to Approve to the right, with the More Action button on the far right of the Recommendation bar.

Why is Lumen making this recommendation?

Understanding why an application receives a specific Lumen result is crucial for decision-making. Lumen calculations occur at both the Applicant Level and Deal Level:

• Applicant Level: Each applicant is assessed against the rental criteria.

• Deal Level: The overall deal recommendation is determined by aggregating applicant-level results.

To review recommendation details, navigate to:

• Deal Summary: Hover over "Highlights" or "Lowlights" under the Recommendation Bar.

• Lumen Tab: Provides detailed checks that Lumen ran on the deal, with green checkmarks for passed criteria and red Xs for failed checks.

• Show Details Toggle: Expands the formula used and the reasons for passing or failing.

These articles provide more information about the Lumen Results on the Deal Summary and Lumen Results on a Specific Application.

Lumen Results on the Deal Summary

While you can see a snapshot of the contributing factors that lead to the Lumen result on the Recommendation Bar, you may want further insight to better understand what is causing this result.
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Hover you mouse over the "Highlights" or "Lowlights", which are the little cards for the criteria reviewed, directly under the Recommendation Bar to get a quick snapshot about why this data point contributed to the Lumen Result, shown below:

To see the detailed Lumen Result Reasons on a deal, select the 'Lumen' tab on the Deal Summary as shown below:

This will display all of the different checks that Lumen ran on the deal. The green check marks indicate that the check has passed, while the red X's indicate that they failed the check.
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In the example below, we can see that several checks related to income verification failed to pass based on the approval requirements set up by the company, resulting in the deal receiving a Negative Lumen Recommendation.
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For even more granular detail, you can toggle the 'Show Details' button on the right hand side to expand the details related to each check.
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Here you will be able to see exactly which formula is being applied, as well as why the check is passing or failing.

In the example below, we can see that the acceptable income-to-rent ratio threshold has been set to 2.5 to 3 or greater, but the total verified income on this deal is 0.356x the monthly rent, causing the failure.
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Lumen Results on an Application

If Lumen uses applicant-specific calculations, you may need to review individual applicants rather than the deal-level result. Under each applicant’s name, summary cards indicate whether they passed or failed Lumen checks.

​Example of an applicant that has passed Lumen from the Deal Overview screen.

Example of an applicant that has failed Lumen from the Deal Overview screen.

To review more details:

• Click on the application.

• Select the Lumen tab on the right side of the screen.

Similar to the Lumen details on the Deal Overview, shows all the checks the applicant is passing or failing.

Once you confirm which area of the application the failure is related to, you can select the corresponding tab on the navigation bar at the top of the application to look into this section.
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​Example of the Application Lumen tab showing a failed check.

How do Lumen calculations work?

Before Lumen can calculate a recommendation, these requirements must be met:

1. All applications in the deal must be submitted.
   • Ex: a deal has 3 applications and only one is submitted, Lumen will not calculate until the other 2 have been submitted.

2. A unit with an active listing must be assigned to the deal.
   • In order to calculate income to rent, the rent amount must be known. A unit assigned to the deal with an active listing with a rent amount therefore is required.

3. Lumen calculations must be configured before the deal is created.

4. County Criminal searches (if applicable) must be completed.

   •For companies using County Criminal searches, these records must be received before Lumen will calculate even if the applications are submitted. Learn more about County Criminal checks here.

   Once all of the above conditions are met, Lumen will use the criteria set in your company's Lumen Formulas to classify applicants into the appropriate recommendation categories.

Lumen formulas then use what are called Filters to determine how to use certain information based on nuanced criteria based on the check.

Unique Lumen Filters

Crucial Filter

• Always results in a negative recommendation when a match is found.

Ignore Filter

• Excludes certain data from affecting recommendations.

Safety Net Filter:

• If Safety Net is toggled ON - and there IS NO IGNORED filter - any returned result will lead to a "Review Safety Net" recommendation.

• If Safety Net is toggled ON - and there IS an IGNORED filter - any returned result will STILL lead to a Safety Net recommendation as long as it does not match the IGNORED filter.

• If Safety Net is toggled ON - and there IS an IGNORED filter - and the returned result matches the IGNORED filter - then Lumen will result in a positive recommendation.

  • HOWEVER, if there are any other Safety Net results that are not IGNORED this will lead to a "Review Safety Net" recommendation.

Frequently Asked Questions about Lumen Calculations and Formulas

Troubleshooting Lumen Issues

Use the steps below to troubleshoot issues that you may be seeing with Lumen.
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Incorrect or No Lumen Result

To troubleshoot a situation where an incorrect Lumen Result is appearing on a deal, check the following:

1. Confirm that all applications have been fully submitted.

Lumen will not calculate a Recommendation Result until all applications have been submitted.

Tip: You can check the Deal Activity Notes to see if an applicant has recently withdrawn their application, added an additional applicant or other activities that may be preventing submission.

2. Confirm that the Background and Credit Check is not Expired

Once a background and credit report has been generated, it is only valid for 30 days.

If the deal was not decisioned prior to the 30 day expiration, the results will nullify and Lumen will not be able to calculate on any of the report details. A new application will need to be created for the applicant to submit.

3. Confirm that a Unit is Assigned to the Deal and is an Active Listing.

Lumen generally cannot calculate if there is no Unit assigned or the Unit assigned does not have an active an available listing with a rent amount specified.

Tip: Click on the Unit Number on the top left of the deal to be automatically routed to the Property's page in VERO where you can review the Units. You'll be able to see the Listing status on this page under the Unit Status column, shown below:

4. Confirm if they are receiving this result accurately based on the Lumen Formula
​Review the Deal to confirm if it is a Deal level Lumen Result or Applicant Level Lumen result that is causing the unexpected Lumen recommendation.

Tip: Use the steps to review the Lumen Results on the Deal Summary and Lumen Results on a Specific Application linked above. You may need to review details on an applicant's specific income or Background and Credit Check.

Tip: Check in with your manager or compliance and VERO administrator to ensure that your Lumen formulas match up with your company's rental criteria. If your Lumen formula needs updating, have your admin reach out to their Customer Success Manager at VERO.

​5. (Optional) Check if County Criminal results are pending

If your company uses County Criminal in addition to the standard Background and Credit Checks offered by either TransUnion or Experian, Lumen will not calculate until the results have been received. When county criminal results are pending, this can be seen on the applicant's Background and Credit Check page and in the recommendation bar.

Tip: For more information about county criminal checks, click here.

6. Recalculate Lumen

If everything seems to be in order and the Lumen Recommendation is still not what you'd expect, you can recalculate Lumen manually.

To recalculate Lumen:

• Click More Actions on the Recommendation Bar.

• Select Recalculate Lumen from the dropdown menu. The page will then refresh

  

If you have tried all of these steps and have confirmed that the data on the deal should be returning a different Lumen result based on the formulas that are applied, please reach out to the VERO Support team.

I can't make a decision on a deal

The ability to make a decision on a deal is controlled by user permissions set by your company's configuration.

You may have the ability to approve deals only if the Lumen result is Approve or Excellent, and your manager or regional may be the only person who can perform an "override", which is when a deal is approved when Lumen recommends a decline action. If you cannot make a decision on a deal, check the following:

1. Verify your permissions with your manager

   Confirm that you have access to be able to decision deals with your manager or VERO Admin.

2. Hover over the Decision button

   Use you mouse to hover over the grayed out decision button to see the reason why the button is not active. A message will often appear with a reason.

3. Check for application submissions and withdrawals

   1. Make sure all applicants have submitted their applications

   2. Check the Activity tab on the deal overview to see if an applicant has recently withdrawn their application and has not yet resubmitted it.

4. Confirm that there is an available unit assigned to the deal.

   1. If the unit assigned does not have an active listing, or the lease start date is set for before the unit is available, the Approve button may not be available. ​

If you are still not able to decision the deal after you have confirmed that all applications have been submitted, and the unit is assigned and available, and you have the correct permissions, please reach out to the VERO Support team for assistance.

404 Error on Lumen Recommendation

This may occur if an applicant was removed, merged, or duplicated.

To confirm if this is the case, review the following:

1. Check the Activity Notes on the deal to confirm if any merges, deletions, or movements of applicants occurred on the deal.

2. Check to see if the Primary Applicant appears twice. If the Primary Applicant appears twice, with the Lumen card under their profile showing No Result, this has likely occurred.

3. If you see a second copy of the applicant with the Primary Applicant tag, but no icons for Delete, Move, Info, or Unblock.

If your deal is showing a 404, you can take the following actions:

1. Manually review and make a decision or create a new deal if necessary

   Decision the deal after a manual review as you would according to your company's policies.

2. Create a new deal if necessary

   Cancel the deal and create a new one with the correct applicants and information. They will need to redo their application.

If unresolved, contact VERO Support.