Author Topic: Electronic payment of rent?  (Read 5738 times)

ATL

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Electronic payment of rent?
« on: August 03, 2013, 09:09:50 PM »
My tenant reliably pays rent every month but it's usually a few days late and I have to remind him. I told him that he needs to find a reliable method for paying on time since I don't want to have to remind him every month. He suggested setting up an auto payment from his bank account to mine and in order to do that, he'll need my account number. I'm wary of handing out my account number even though I know it's on every check that I write. He's a co-worker. We aren't friends but maintain a cordial relationship.  Any thoughts on why this may be a good or bad idea?

GrayGhost

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #1 on: August 03, 2013, 10:56:05 PM »
I've been looking up ways of setting up some sort of automated direct deposit system online to collect rent. I know plenty of bigger real estate firms have such systems up and running, but I haven't been able to get anything of my own online yet.

As for your situation, I too would be extremely hesitant to give out my bank account number to anyone. On the other hand, you can legitimately use someone's bank account number to send them cash automatically through most banks' online portals.

Dwolla could be a solution for you. I'm not sure if it lets you set up automated payments, but it's worth looking into.


gooki

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2013, 01:48:09 AM »
Some 1,000 people have access to my bank account number, never had an issue.

My 2 cents, get over your paranoia.

KMMK

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2013, 06:55:54 AM »
Why don't you set up a business account that you only use to collect rent money? Then he only knows the number for that one account, not your regular one.

Christiana

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #4 on: August 04, 2013, 07:00:09 AM »
Why can't he just set up an monthly electronic reminder for himself:  "PAY RENT"??   You're not his mother.

ATL

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #5 on: August 04, 2013, 10:14:39 AM »
Thanks for letting me know about Dwolla, GrayGhost.  I'm not familiar with them so it's good to know about their services.

He already has reminders set up on his calendar, Christiana, so I agree with you that he should remember but he doesn't. At this point, an automated way that withdraws from his account every month would be great. As Kestra mentioned, I've was thinking a separate account might be the way to go which is used just for this purpose. Thanks so much for your responses!

arebelspy

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #6 on: August 04, 2013, 10:25:29 AM »
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

ATL

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #7 on: August 04, 2013, 01:51:01 PM »
Yes, thanks. Saw it after I posted and am following it with great interest.

:)

Bill76

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #8 on: August 05, 2013, 05:42:41 AM »
My last tenant had an automatic payment set up with his bank that printed a check and mailed it to me at the beginning of each month.  That worked pretty well for both of us; he didn't have to remember, and I didn't have to give him my bank information.

arebelspy

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #9 on: August 05, 2013, 07:24:09 AM »
My last tenant had an automatic payment set up with his bank that printed a check and mailed it to me at the beginning of each month.  That worked pretty well for both of us; he didn't have to remember, and I didn't have to give him my bank information.

That's a bank's "Billpay" option to pay an individual using their address/name.

Sme may not want to give out their address (though you could use a PO box to solve that).
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

impaire

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #10 on: August 05, 2013, 08:13:25 AM »
Sme may not want to give out their address (though you could use a PO box to solve that).

Since he's a co-worker, you could also just give him your work address!

olivia

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #11 on: August 05, 2013, 08:42:19 AM »
Why doesn't he give you a few months worth of checks in advance dated for the date he wants you to cash them?  I mail my rent check to my landlords 7-10 days before it's due with the date I'd like them to cash it included in the envelope.  That way it's sure to get there on time, and because I know when my paychecks hit I just pick whatever day it hits for them to cash it.  (I get paid monthly but of course the date changes depending on the day of the week, holidays, etc.)

pom

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #12 on: August 05, 2013, 09:15:36 AM »
I have been transfering my rent to my landlord for 5 years now. It is pretty much standard practice in Europe.

Like you said, your bank account number is on every check that you write ... probably hundreds of people have your bank account number already.

ATL

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #13 on: August 05, 2013, 09:41:52 PM »
Such good feedback--thank you! I did suggest he set up an auto payment so that a check gets sent every month. For whatever reason, he doesn't prefer that option. That's a good idea about providing checks in advance and will hold onto that as a backup although I suspect he would be reluctant about that option.

We are in the same building at work so he usually gives me the check.  However, I work part-time so I'm not in the office every day.

While I know that my bank account number is available, I'm cautious about sharing it unnecessarily as I have a sizable stash in it. (That's a story for another time but suffice it to say, I'll be moving it into other accounts once I finalize my AA strategy.). 

Thanks again for all of your helpful tips!  I recently discovered MMM's blog and forum and am loving it!

salmp01

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #14 on: August 07, 2013, 08:53:53 PM »
Do you charge your tenant a late fee? If not, maybe it's time to start!  That way you'll be happy every month when he's a couple days late.

ATL

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #15 on: August 08, 2013, 06:47:40 AM »
Yes, that's a good point. I have not to date because of some sensitivities of our work relationship. In retrospect, there have been positive but also negative sides of renting to a co-worker.

AlmostIndependent

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #16 on: August 08, 2013, 11:57:21 AM »
I've been using Buildium (as I mentioned in the thread arebelspy linked) to collect rent for a while now. You can enter all the terms of the lease in (including late fees) and on the day they owe you a late fee it is automatically billed to their account. No chasing them or telling them they owe, Buildium does it all. They can pay by automatic withdrawl from their bank for $0.50 per transcation (you can choose who pays the fee) and there is also an option to accept credit/debit cards (I don't use it) for a percentage of the transaction. It works well for me. If you're looking to make things easier then I recommend it. If you only have the one property it might not be worth the $15/mo for the service.

ATL

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #17 on: August 10, 2013, 08:01:17 PM »
Thanks, AlmostIndependent!  I'll keep Buildium in mind as it will come in handy in the future. The fees are pretty reasonable. I only have one rental at this point in time but as I add more over time, the services will be valuable.

cats

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Re: Electronic payment of rent?
« Reply #18 on: August 10, 2013, 08:17:02 PM »
I am not a landlord, but my apartment complex offers the option of setting up automatic payments using paylease.com.  From the tenant perspective, I've been pretty happy with it, though I have no idea if they are set up to deal with folks who have just 1 or 2 tenants.  Just throwing it out there in case you are looking for other options.