Apartment hunting? Free-to-user Internet service is first online with updated information on rentals in all 50 states; Rent Net users get customized, interactive listings with deep details, color graphics; also free on request: e-mail notifications about newly-listed apartments.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 1996--Rent Net, the Internet's most-visited database of apartments for rent, today announced it now offers listings on apartments in all 50 U.S. states--a first in the burgeoning industry of electronic classifieds.

Rent Net is free to users at http://www.rent.net. The service, which logged in excess of 5 million "hits" in April, is designed to reduce the time, cost and hassle associated with finding an apartment. It is particularly valuable for apartment seekers who are moving to new cities.

Anyone with a personal computer, a modem and access to the Internet's World Wide Web can search for information on more than 420,000 apartments in 300 cities across the U.S.--from Honolulu, HI, to Portland, ME. Rent Net users can also receive a discount on truck rentals through Ryder Truck Rental.

Quick-glance facts, color photos, floorplans and location maps are available via Rent Net 24 hours a day. Users simply log on to the site, "point-and-click" on a city or region, then specify number of bedrooms and price range sought. Information and graphics about apartments and buildings are immediately presented.

"The Web has enabled us to reinvent the traditional apartment classified ad," says co-founder Jed Katz. "Given all that we offer, Rent Net is the next best thing to actually visiting an apartment."

Katz says that while information about apartments in all states is now available on Rent Net--an Internet first--not every U.S. city has extensive listings. The database is updated daily with new apartments ads from across the nation and, now, Canada.

Currently, a majority of the listings are in large metropolitan regions including the San Francisco Bay Area, Southern California, Seattle-Tacoma, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Chicago, Atlanta, central and south Florida and Washington, D.C.

Rent Net features are popular, free

In just two months, more than 10,000 people have asked to receive free updates on new apartment listings as they are added to Rent Net's database. Users specify location, amenities and price range sought. Through Rent Net Daily Update, users are immediately e-mailed new listings meeting their criteria.

What's more, a fast-growing number of ads feature direct e-mail links to apartment managers, a tool that enables would-be tenants to get questions answered quickly.

Other free features allow users to search by amenity or specific interest (i.e. buildings that allow pets) and to put several apartment buildings in a "shopping cart" so they can be easily compared in detail.

Among features now under development: on-line credit applications and "virtual apartment hunting"--an upcoming service that will provide 360-degree "fish-eye" views of apartment interiors.

Rent Net users comment

Rent Net regularly receives e-mail from users, nearly all of it positive. Your service is wonderful--a real help," wrote LaJuan Jeffries of Washington, D.C. Added Mike Hasemann of Honolulu: "This is exactly the kind of service that should be on the Internet."

"I used your listings, made some calls, visited some places, and in one weekend I had a new place to live," wrote Mike Hirsch of Los Angeles. "Thanks. I'll see you the next time I move."

Rent Net also recently won kudos from USA Today. "Developers of (Web) sites with search features should take a cue from Rent Net about how to exploit the usefulness of the Web...This one definitely beats searching through the yellow pages or the local paper."

Rent Net's national sponsors include Ryder Truck Rental and Oakwood Corporate Housing.

Rent Net is a unit of Stamford, Conn.-based CUC International, Inc., a technology-driven retail and membership services company that provides access to travel, shopping, auto, dining, home improvement, financial and other services to nearly 40 million consumers worldwide.

NOTE: The Internet address in this release contains a

double slash after "http:"

This symbol may not appear properly in some systems.

CONTACT: Rent Net, San Francisco 

Jed Katz, 800/566-5695