> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.latchel.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# September 21, 2026

The following are the Latchel updates for the week of September 21, 2026.

<Callout icon="megaphone" iconType="duotone" color="#ff9b8a">
  **Next Week: Autopilot AI Launch Webinar**

  Autopilot AI is our upgraded Autopilot product for customers who want the strongest AI in maintenance — and it's launching Tuesday, September 30 at 10:00 am PT / 1:00 pm ET.

  **What's included:**

  * AI support across every resident and vendor message
  * Warranty management
  * Smart Estimates — better numbers, faster
  * Preventative maintenance suggestions
  * Outbound voice AI

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      <Card title="Register to join us for the launch!" color="#Ff9b8a" icon="pen-field" iconType="duotone" horizontal href="https://latchel.com/latchel-autopilot-ai-product-launch/" />
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  **There's a prize drawing, too!** Four winners will each score a free month of Autopilot AI.

  Registering earns you one entry — every step after that adds another, so the best odds go to whoever registers, shows up, and brings people along.

  **Did you know?** You can offer residents added services — filters, drain packs, pest control kits, lockout reimbursement — through Resident Benefits, and control exactly how they're presented. See what's possible below!

  <Card title="Resident Benefits Guides" color="#Ff9b8a" icon="house-chimney-heart" iconType="duotone" href="/s/topic/0TO5e000000h9wqGAA/Resident-Benefits-Guides">
    Explore the benefits Latchel provides to residents and how they support residents satisfaction and retention.
  </Card>
</Callout>

### **New Features**

1. **A Paper Trail for Your Payment & Service Provider Settings**

If someone opts a property in or out of a payment setting, flips a toggle, or changes a threshold, you can now see exactly who made the change and when — right in your company, portfolio, or property activity log. No more guessing who touched a setting or when it happened.

* **What's covered:** Preferred Service Provider Payments, Latchel Service Provider Dispatch & Payments, the Vendor Network (LVN) toggle, and the invoice auto-approval threshold
* **Card removals, too:** if a card gets removed in Stripe, that now shows up in the log for every company, portfolio, and property that used it — previously it just disappeared with no record

While you're checking your settings, here are some of the help guides to help you manage your service providers.

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    <Card title="How to Add & Manage Service Providers" color="#Ff9b8a" icon="address-card" iconType="duotone" href="/s/topic/0TO5e000000h9wqGAA/How-to-Add-Manage-Service-Providers">
      Step-by-step guide for onboarding and maintaning service provider profiles.
    </Card>

    <Card title="How to Opt-Out of Latchel Contractor Network" color="#Ff9b8a" icon="arrow-up-from-square" iconType="duotone" href="/s/topic/0TO5e000000h9wqGAA/How-to-Opt-Out-of-Latchel-Contractor-Network">
      Remove your company from Latchel's network dispatching.
    </Card>
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    <Card title="How to Opt-In to the Latchel Contractor Network" color="#Ff9b8a" icon="arrow-down-to-square" iconType="duotone" href="/s/topic/0TO5e000000h9wqGAA/How-to-Opt-Into-the-Latchel-Contractor-Network">
      Join Latchel's vendor network for broader coverage.
    </Card>
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2. **Get Bids From New Service Providers with Thumbtack**

Running short on service providers in an area? Our new partnership with **Thumbtack** puts a wider bench of local pros right inside your workflow — no jumping to another app to go find help.

* **Where to find it:** if your auto-queue comes up empty, we'll automatically suggest looking for a pro on Thumbtack. You can also start a search any time from the Other Actions menu on a work order that doesn't have a service provider assigned yet
* **Get real quotes, not just names:** answer a few quick questions about the job — we'll pre-fill what we can — then message one or more nearby pros for quotes, right from a new Thumbtack tab on the work order
* **Grow your network as you go:** liked how a pro handled the job? Add them as a preferred service provider once it's done, so they're easy to bring back next time

<Note>
  We're rolling this out midweek this week — reach out to [success@latchel.com](mailto:success@latchel.com) with any questions in the meantime.
</Note>

### **Resolved Bugs**

**Vendors Can Add Notes to Work Orders Again**

<Warning>
  **What was happening:**

  A handful of service providers stopped seeing the **Add Note** option under Provide Work Order Update on their assigned jobs — it just wasn't there, with no error message. That meant vendors couldn't leave notes on a job for PMs and owners to see, breaking a documented communication path.
</Warning>

<Check>
  **What's fixed:**

  Add Note is back for every affected vendor, so service providers can once again document updates directly on the work order.
</Check>

<Accordion title="Shoutout!" defaultOpen iconType="duotone">
  <Icon icon="party-horn" iconType="sharp-duotone-solid" color="#ff9b8a" size={35} /> Shoutout to **Metropolitan Real Estate** for flagging that their vendors were running into this!
</Accordion>

### **Special Announcements**

**Want Early Access to AI Messaging?**

Later this week, we're launching **AI Messaging** — and looking for a few PM companies to beta test it before the wider rollout.

With the upgraded messaging experience, any time a resident or service provider texts in, Latchel AI handles the response. Residents and service providers can schedule work orders, create invoices, leave a review, and more — directly from the conversation thread. Message history logs automatically to the work order, so you'll always have full visibility.

After a two-week beta, AI Messaging goes live for all Latchel customers.

<Tip>
  Want to be among the first to try it? **Reply to this email** and we'll get you set up.
</Tip>

### <br />**What Should Latchel Build Next? You Decide.**

Every year, our roadmap gets shaped by property managers who took 60 seconds to tell us what's missing. We're finalizing **2027 priorities** soon — and this is the last easy window to have a say.

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    <Card title="Submit your idea!" color="ff9b8a" icon="message-pen" iconType="duotone" horizontal href="https://forms.gle/AbUoieefga3azLmH7" />
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Feature requests, pet peeves, "why doesn't Latchel just—" moments — all of it goes straight to the team deciding what gets built next.

### **Interested in learning more about Latchel's products? Book a meeting with us.**

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  <Column>
    <Card title="Get a Demo" color="#ff9b8a" icon="comments-question-check" iconType="duotone" horizontal href="https://latchel.com/demo-request-releases/" />
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