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ContinueCash and checks are slow, insecure, and outdated ways to collect rent. In this article, we explore the best ways to collect rent from your tenants.
Knowing the best way to collect rent and having the right tools to do so effectively will help you minimize the risk of missed and late rent payments.
Traditional methods of rent collection like cash and checks are slow and insecure and make everyone’s lives harder. They increase the likelihood of late and missed payments for landlords and the risk of late fees and evictions for tenants.
And while some tenants are resistant to new technology, in today's modern age, there really are no good reasons for someone not to make their life (and yours) easier by using an online payment solution.
This means it's time to embrace online rent collection! Treat your rental like a business to make rent collection easier for everyone involved.
There are several ways that landlords can collect rent from tenants. However, not every method is created equal. Below we outline the three main methods used by landlords for rent collection.
1. By Mail: Receiving rent by mail involves physical checks. This is a simple and easy approach, however, it risks late payments or misplaced checks, causing potential cash flow issues or incorrect late fees.
2. In-Person Collection: This is an option if you live nearby, however, it's not always convenient for remote investors, and tenants may not always be available during collection times.
3. Online payments: This includes, ACH transfers, credit card payments and online payment platforms. This is often the fastest and most secure rent collection strategy with deposits made directly into your bank account.
So, what is the best way to collect rent? The most secure and most convenient way for your tenants to pay their rent is electronically. Payments can be made using a mobile device and will be delivered directly into your account.
In places like the UK, Europe, Australia, or New Zealand, the answer is simple. Bank to bank transfers. Preferably have your tenants set up a direct deposit using their online banking. This is free in the countries mentioned above.
In the US though, this can be expensive with a bank transfer costing up to $30 each time and a direct deposit costing upwards of $50 to set up, often with ongoing monthly fees.
How do you collect rent from tenants online? Ideally, you will use a purpose built software with low fees. You should look for a software that allows you to block partial payments, automate late fees, and integrates with accounting tools so you can easily track your income in real-time.
To help you start you search for the prefect online rent collection software, we have outlined 8 of the best ways to collect rent online below.
Use Landlord Studio to Collect Rent Online for free!
Landlord Studio is a powerful property management and accounting software with an award winning Online Rent Collection feature designed specifically for landlords. It allows you to automate the entire rent collection process and manage all your rental property income and expenses in one place.
Landlord Studio has advanced fraud detection that prevent illegal transactions.
Tenants can quickly and securely transfer the rent straight into their landlord’s bank account. It’s fast, secure, and easy, and paired with other Landlord Studio features makes late rent payments a thing of the past.
🔒 Landlord Studio complies with the USA Patriot Act and has strict security and identity verification processes designed to prevent fraud and protect our users when using Online Rent Collection.
With Zelle Pay, you can send and collect rent payments instantly through your banking app, or the Zelle app if your bank doesn’t support Zelle Pay yet. The transfers are free and only require you to know a US mobile number or email address (as long as the other person already has Zelle).
You can use Zelle with multiple accounts at multiple banks, but, and this is a big but, you must have a different email address or U.S. mobile number linked to each account to connect it with Zelle. If you try to use the same email address or mobile phone number to enrol with Zelle at multiple banks, you will receive an error message. If using Zelle for rent collection on multiple properties this can make it hard to track who has and hasn’t paid.
Most issues when collecting rent with Zelle arise when Zelle isn’t supported by both parties banks. If both parties banks aren’t supported we suggest using alternative service.
You can use Venmo can be used to collect rent. It allows you to send and receive money quickly and easily through their app to people on your contact list. You can quickly connect to people through social media, or, like Zelle, you can use their email or phone number if they already have a Venmo account. Although Venmo isn’t designed for collecting rent you certainly could use it that way.
Paypal has been around for a while now. They revolutionized online payments, and it’s taken a while for other companies to catch up. Many people have a Paypal account already. Paypal allows you to quickly, easily, and securely send money to someone else’s Paypal account through their app or online. If using Paypal to collect rent you will likely need a business account to avoid coming into conflict with their terms and conditions.
Apple is making some interesting moves in the payment sphere and now allows US customers to pay each other inside iMessage. You simply connect up your debit card and then you can pay your contact inside the Message app.
They have also released Apple Card – a credit card with zero fees which is well worth knowing about.
Property managers and landlords can use PayYourRent to collect online rent payments, as well as use it for some of their basic property management requirements such as screen prospective tenants, and process and manage maintenance requests.
The following methods have associated fees, but are also worth considering.
Related: How Facebook’s “Project Libra” is Going to Revolutionize the Rental Industry
Direct Debit payments are the most reliable and secure way to collect rent from your tenants, but it can be tricky to set-up a Direct Debit yourself. Any Direct Debit payment will require a mandate signed or approved by the tenant before it can be activated, and organising this yourself will be difficult.
Pros:
Cons:
A Standing Order, otherwise known as ‘The Standing Order Mandate’, is a set of instructions given to a bank or building a society that tells them to make payments for a fixed amount regularly to a specific bank account.
In the case of rent payments, a Standing Order will be set-up by the tenant to send the rent amount to the landlord’s bank account on the due date each month. Once a Standing Order is set-up, it can run indefinitely until it is canceled.
Pros:
Cons:
This is more of a last resort but for those times when your tenant is having a “tough month”, allowing credit card payments can help everyone stay on top of the rent payments. Using a credit card will incur processing fees (which will need to be charged to the tenant) as well as involve the tenant risking their credit score if they are unable to pay off that credit card debt for the next month.
You will need to use a 3rd party to enable this such as Plastiq which has a 2.5% fee, or Venmo which has a 3% fee.
There is another downside to allowing them to use a credit card to pay rent which is the time taken for the money to go through to your account which could be days, weeks, or even months.
Collecting rent online is the fastest and most efficient way in which to collect your rent payments. However, in the US it’s not been made simple by the glacially slow adoption of banks to enable efficient bank transfers which means you have to use a workaround.
Deciding on the best way to collect rent online for you and your tenants can be challenging. Once you have decided you need to make sure this rent collection policy is clearly outlined in the lease and in the welcome letter when the tenant moves in. If you’re uncertain, discuss your rent collection policy with your tenants in person.
On top of this, make sure you detail how you expect the rent to be paid with detailed instructions of how to get set up so that the tenant has no excuse to pay late.
The terms of your lease should include:
Recognize Ability of Tenants to Make Online Rent Payments
Make sure you recognize those individuals with certain disabilities that might hinder their ability to pay online. Elderly renters, for example, may need more assistance to be able to complete online rent payments.
Your policies should be firm, but be sure to make it easy for everyone to be able to pay – offering assistance if needed.
Find out more about Online Rent Collection with Landlord Studio →
The safest way for a tenant to make rent payments is through an online payment provider or using a certified payment method. This is because it gives them a record of the transaction, proof of payment, that can be used should a dispute arise. This record of payment is useful for landlords as well for analyzing their income and reporting for tax time.
Yes. Whilts, Zelle's main focus is on effortless money transfer among trusted circles like friends and family, it can also be used for rent collection. There are however, downsides to using Zelle see the section of Zelle above.
Using rent collection apps is the most secure method to transmit rent payments. As with direct deposit, tenants can arrange automatic payments, ensuring a consistent withdrawal of funds at a set time every month, transfers are easily traceable, and deposited directly into thelandlords bank account (no chance of them getting lost or stolen en route).
Venmo is easy to use for receiving rent as long as a tenant and landlord are using the Venmo mobile app. However, as it's not designed for this puropse, like Zelle, it does come with some downsides as a rent collection tool. See the section above.
Landlord Studio is an easy to use property management and accounting software designed for landlords.
Find and screen tenants, collect rent online, track income and expenses, run reports, and more - all for free.
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