Setting up for direct deposit of rent?

[SwordGuy]

Someone mentioned in another thread that they have people directly deposit their rent.

How does one go about setting that up?

Isn't it dangerous to give out one's acct# info?  Is there a 3rd party service that's affordable for this purpose?

[ibleedirish]

I personally use an online rent collection service. Its called rentpayment.com and I've found their service to be fantastic, but there certainly are others out there. Its a flat $9.95/month up to ten properties. My tenants love it, easy to use, free if they use their checking account, can set up repeating payments, and if they are short one month can use their debit/credit card for a fee. And I never set foot in a bank.

[waltworks]

Use Dwolla.com. It's a service that lets you transfer money between your checking account and anyone else's (that has a Dwolla account, that is). Flat 25 cent transaction fee though it might be higher for really huge ($10k+) amounts. I use it for customers for my business as well as my tenants and it's great. Heck, I even have used it to settle up with buddies for beers.

Easy to set up, reliable, cheap, and hassle free.

-W

[SwordGuy]

Thanks!

[electriceagle]

As suggestd by ibleedirish, rentpayment.com sounds great.

If you have fewer properties (too few to justify paying $10 monthly), erentpayment.com charges only $3 per monthly bill.

[clarkfan1979]

I thought most banks provide this service for free? I don't know exactly what happens but I tell my tenants to contact their bank and set up direct deposit. No one has complained about a fee.

[arebelspy]

Isn't it dangerous to give out one's acct# info?

Someone else posted they were worried about this in another thread.

My answer:

You realize your bank account number is on the bottom of every check you write?  And it has been this way for decades, since checks were invented?  How many stories do you hear of people getting money withdrawn from their account without authorization?  And were they liable?  (Hint: no.)

It's not something to worry about.  :)

[Primm]

I've been renting privately and paying my rent directly into the landlord's account for 10 years. Last payment last week because I bought a house. I set it up to automatically send the money every fortnight, so everyone was happy.

[SDREMNGR]

Easy free ways for direct deposit.

1. Give tenant your bank name and account number.  He goes to a branch of your bank with your account number and makes a deposit.

2. Use Chase Quickpay.  It's like PayPal but free.  You don't need to be a Chase account holder to use it although it's easier if you are.

[electriceagle]

I thought most banks provide this service for free? I don't know exactly what happens but I tell my tenants to contact their bank and set up direct deposit. No one has complained about a fee.

Most banks will allow your tenants to send you money for no fee.

I have not yet found a service that will automatically take the rent from a tenant's account (with the appropriate forms and authorizations, of course) on the 1st without charging a fee.

[GrayGhost]

Dwolla gets close, the fee is $0.25 (assuming that your rent is over $10). The disadvantage is that you and the tenant both need to sign up for the service, which means the tenant has to have a bank account and internet access. In some blue collar areas--like where we own--not all people have these things.

[waltworks]

No bank account and no internet access is "blue collar"? Wow, standards for blue collar have fallen a long way... I generally define (assuming we're talking about the US) areas where people don't have bank accounts or internet as, well, slums. You seriously have tenants without bank accounts?

Wow.

-W

Dwolla gets close, the fee is $0.25 (assuming that your rent is over $10). The disadvantage is that you and the tenant both need to sign up for the service, which means the tenant has to have a bank account and internet access. In some blue collar areas--like where we own--not all people have these things.

[arebelspy]

No bank account and no internet access is "blue collar"? Wow, standards for blue collar have fallen a long way... I generally define (assuming we're talking about the US) areas where people don't have bank accounts or internet as, well, slums. You seriously have tenants without bank accounts?

Wow.

-W

Dwolla gets close, the fee is $0.25 (assuming that your rent is over $10). The disadvantage is that you and the tenant both need to sign up for the service, which means the tenant has to have a bank account and internet access. In some blue collar areas--like where we own--not all people have these things.

How do you feel about undocumented residents?  They may have reliable income and pay taxes, but no bank accounts.

Opinions, of course, vary on them politically.  But there are examples of people without bank accounts.

The unbanked (and underbanked) is a large segment of the population, believe it or not; Google the terms.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unbanked

[GrayGhost]

No bank account and no internet access is "blue collar"? Wow, standards for blue collar have fallen a long way... I generally define (assuming we're talking about the US) areas where people don't have bank accounts or internet as, well, slums. You seriously have tenants without bank accounts?

Wow.

-W

To be honest, I have never asked a tenant, "Do you have a bank account?" I am pretty sure that several of them don't have internet access except through their phones, and an older tenant may not be online at all. I've just never had a reason to ask them, because it's frankly not my business.

[exceljunkie]

We use sparkrent.com with our tenant. We love it, and so do our tenants. We pay less than $10 per month for the service and we always get our rent on time.