System and method for acquiring, comparing and evaluating property conditions

Abstract

A system and method is provided for acquiring, collecting, comparing and evaluating the condition of rental property at several time periods during a lease or rental agreement. A deposit amount that is returned to a rentee or owed by the rentee is determined by a computer or individual based on a comparison of the documentation provided by the rentee and/or renter at the start of the rental period to the documentation that is provided the end of the rental period. The documentation provided by the rentee and renter is time-stamped and imprinted with geo-location information if it is available.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of settling insurance claims, the method comprising:
 communicating an insurer about a damage occurred to a property of an insured;   capturing details of damage made to the property along with geotag and time and date information, wherein the details of damage are captured in at least one form of image, video, and audio;   sending the details of damage to the insurer; and   determining, by the insurer, an amount of damage based on analysis of the details of damage.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the insurer is communicated about the damage through a text message. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the insurer is communicated about the damage through a mobile application. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the details of damage are sent to the insurer in real-time. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the amount of damage is determined based on analysis of the geotag and the time and date information along with the details of damage. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the amount of damage is determined by the insurer in real-time. 
     
     
         7 . A method implemented by a server connected to the Internet for determining an amount of damage occurred to a rental property by a rentee during a rental period, the method comprising:
 guiding, through a computing device comprising camera, a rentee to capture a first documentation during commencement of a rental period, wherein the first documentation comprise images of the rental property, captured in pre-determined directions and orientations, and wherein each image of the first documentation includes time and date information and direction and orientation information related to the rental property;   receiving, by the server, the first documentation showing a condition of the rental property during commencement of the rental period;   guiding, through the computing device comprising camera, the rentee to capture a second documentation during termination of the rental period, wherein the second documentation comprise images of the rental property, captured in pre-determined directions and orientations, and wherein each image of the second documentation includes time and date information and direction and orientation information related to the rental property;   receiving, by the server, the second documentation showing a condition of the rental property during termination of the rental period;   the server finding a match between corresponding images of the first documentation and the second documentation, based on the time and date information and the direction and orientation information embedded in the images of the first documentation and the images of the second documentation; and   the server comparing the matching corresponding images, from the first documentation and the second documentation for identifying one or more damages occurred to the rental property during the rental period, wherein the matching corresponding images of the first documentation and the second documentation relates to same direction and orientation.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the first documentation includes a first video of the rental property and the second documentation includes a second video of the rental property. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising comparing the first video to the second video to determine if there is any damage to the condition of the rental property. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the first documentation includes a first checklist including questions about the condition of the rental property and answers received from the rentee, and the second documentation includes a second checklist about the condition of the rental property. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising comparing the first checklist to the second checklist to determine if there is any damage to the condition of the rental property. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 receiving the first documentation from a renter at or before the start of the rental period;   receiving the first documentation from the rentee at or on the start of the rental period;   receiving the second documentation from the renter on or after termination of the rental period;   receiving the second documentation from the rentee on or after termination of the rental period; and   comparing the first documentation from the renter and from the rentee to the second documentation from the renter and the rentee to determine if there is any damage to the condition of the rental property at the termination of the rental period.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising receiving, by the server, a third documentation from the rentee about the condition of the rental property at some time after the start of the rental period and before the termination of the rental period. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising comparing the first documentation, the second documentation and the third documentation to determine if there is any damage to the condition of the rental property. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the comparing step is performed by a person using the server. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the first documentation includes at least one electronic document and at least one image, and the second documentation includes at least one electronic document and at least one image. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the server is connected to one or more communication networks. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the first documentation and the second documentation are time-stamped with a date and a time of when the first documentation and the second documentation are received by the server. 
     
     
         19 . A method implemented by a server connected to the Internet for determining an amount of damage made to a rental property by a rentee during a rental period, the method comprising:
 guiding, through a computing device comprising camera a rentee to capture a first documentation during commencement of a rental period, wherein the first documentation comprise images of the rental property and each image of the first documentation includes geotag and time and date information, and wherein the images of the first documentation are captured in pre-determined directions and orientations at multiple geographical locations of the rental property, and wherein the multiple geographical locations are shown to the rentee by a Global Positioning System (GPS) of the computing device comprising camera;   receiving, by the server, the first documentation showing a condition of the rental property during commencement of a rental period;   guiding, through the computing device comprising camera, the rentee to capture a second documentation during termination of the rental period, wherein the second documentation comprise images of the rental property and each image of the second documentation includes geotag and time and date information, and wherein the images of the second documentation are captured in pre-determined directions and orientations at multiple geographical locations of the rental property, and wherein the multiple geographical locations are shown to the rentee by the GPS of the computing device comprising camera;   receiving, by the server, the second documentation showing a condition of the rental property during termination of the rental period;   the server finding a match between corresponding images of the first documentation and the second documentation, based on the geotag and the time and date information embedded in the images of the first documentation and the images of the second documentation; and   the server comparing the matching corresponding images, from the first documentation and the second documentation for identifying one or more damages occurred to the rental property during the rental period, wherein the matching corresponding images of the first documentation and the second documentation relates to same directions and orientations.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the comparing step is performed by a person using the server.