Paying rent is crucial in the landlord-tenant relationship. They are expected to pay a monthly fee to live on your property. In exchange you use that money to keep the property maintained and updated. However, this relationship works best if the way you receive rent is simple, easy, and direct for both parties.
Neither you or your tenant should have to worry about missing payments. Having a system in place that both of you can understand is the best way to keep your relationship positive.
Here are three options for ways your tenants can pay their rent.
Physical Check
Though physical checks aren’t used as often as rent payments in this day and age, they do still have some benefits. If you live in the same building you manage, it’s easy for tenants to simply hand you the rent. On top of that, you can deposit it in your bank account at your convenience, especially as most banking apps have mobile check deposit options. There is some accountability as when you cash a check, a physical image of it will show in your tenant’s bank statement.
However, checks are small and easy to misplace. If you don’t live in the same building as your tenants, they might have to mail you the check, which could easily be lost. Another problem is that with a personal check, you can’t verify if there is enough money in the tenant’s account to actually pay until you try to cash it. This can lead to bounced checks and overdraft fees.
Checks are frankly only really a viable option if your tenants are elderly and have a hard time with the current wave of technology. Even then, it requires a degree of trust.
Phone Apps
There are a lot of money-sending apps out there. Zelle, Venmo, and PayPal are some of the most popular. You can request money from your tenants and they can send it to you, using either a credit card or direct deposit from their bank accounts. The funds are withdrawn instantly and are usually transferred within a day or two. It’s easy and convenient for both parties.
You might have an issue if your tenant loses their phone. Yet most of these apps do have a website they can log in and pay from as well. The real downside is keeping track of all the payments. If you only have a few renters, it’s not hard, but if you manage an entire building, you’ll have to be extremely organized to ensure you receive payment from everyone every month.
Online Rent Portal
Online rental payment sites are one of the most convenient ways to accept rent. They have basically all the benefits of phone app payments, with the added bonus of tenants being able to schedule automatic payments. This gives you both the peace of mind of knowing reminders won’t need to be set and it’s all taken care of. This is especially useful when you have more than a handful of renters whose payments you would need to keep track of.
The downside to these is that many of these services charge processing fees. Most are a mere 3%, but that’s money that could be in your pocket. Automatic payments can also be a problem if the tenant doesn’t realize there isn’t enough money in their account.
No matter the payment method you use, be sure to have some kind of system in place to keep track of who is paying what and when. You may even want to take advantage of our financial management services.