Collecting Rents : ezLandlordForms

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David A

started a topic over 15 years ago

Hi All, I'm new to this thing renting thing and was hoping someone could give me a heads up. Does anyone out there have some sort of direct deposit set up where their tenants just pay their rents electronically into an account? If so, how'd you set it up? Would anyone recommend just sticking to cash/check as the preferred form of payment? Thank you.

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Jennifer B

said over 15 years ago

Thanks, Helen for the warning. For whatever its worth, I just got finished with an eviction in CO and was awarded judgement. The tenants had several partial pymts via PayPal and the issue never came up in court. The judge never even asked for documentation or receipts, but then again the tenants didn't show to court, so I guess she was going to rule in my favor regardless.

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Michael M

said over 11 years ago

Hi I use Wellsfargo bank so I can check my account at anytime I have been doing this for 4yr and I have 10 rentals my tenants depoiset then send me a tex,email.call when there funds are put in bank and they no if there not in on time it will show up in bank log. I do not except checks and I send out 3 day or quit on the 4 even if they do parcial rent that starts the clock ticking. still collect late fee but if I have to file I do it.

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Justin Y

said over 13 years ago

The automatic debits by ClearNow are not free to landlords - our pricing (which is explained in more detail at www.clearnow.com) for monthly debits is $14.95/mo for the first tenant and $2/mo for each additional tenant. These fees are subtracted from the rent collected and direct deposited into the landlord's bank account (so there is no separate billing cycle). For landlords who just have one tenant, we also have a program where we can charge $4/debit for semimonthly payments ($8/mo for their only tenant). In those instances where a debit is upcoming through ClearNow and the tenant knows they will not have funds in their bank account, a one-time "block" or stop of the debit can be initiated by the landlord or tenant. If you have a tenant who will go to an ATM and use the free ATM card to deposit funds into your bank account, that's great. Since not all solutions work for everyone, ClearNow might work better for other landlords whose tenants respond better to an automatic debit (where those tenants don't have to do anything) and who are concerned about never receiving partial rent payments (since ClearNow is an all-or-none transaction).

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Cheryl M

said over 13 years ago

Again how much does this cost the landlord to pay you to do this. The ATM card is free, it has the date posted and time the deposit was made. Remember, people who rent are not wealthy people. Generally, they work from week to week and live from week to week. If a person gets paid on Friday and it is the 1st, what happens? all-or-nothing can easily get in your way. Plus, if I was a renter, I would feel that yet again you have another hammer over my head. Remember, it is your job to make sure things are cared for, that the tenant wants to live in your house. ( This is the reason for a lease.) You are always trying to make your tenant feel good enough, that they want to stay forever. All of my rentals have long term people living in them. A couple of times per year I may get a call and they would say I am going to 2-3 days on the rent. Therefore, that is when the additional monies kick in and they pay a pentalty.

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Justin Y

said over 13 years ago

My name is Justin Yung and I am with ClearNow (www.ClearNow.com), the company that was mentioned by Ruthie earlier on this thread (a post from 2009). With ClearNow automatic debits, the tenant doesn't have to do anything (the debits just occur as an automatic withdrawal - no ATMs to drive to, no checks to write). Also, since this was another concern being discussed, with ClearNow debits are an all-or-nothing process, so partial payments can never occur (unlike when a tenant gets to select how much money to deposit).

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Cheryl M

said over 13 years ago

Every house that is rented is a business. I have set my houses up so that each has it's own LLC. Some people put a number of houses in one LLC. This is okay, however, if something drastic should occur, every house in that LLC is vulnerble to a lawsuit. Nontheless, with each house in it's own LLC and is a business. After setting up a business account at your bank for the business, request an ATM "deposit only" card for that business. I deal with CHASE and they were very happy to do so. I do not have just one home, I have 6 houses being rented, plus approximately, over 200 acres of farmgound that is rented. It makes your whole life a lot easier to say the least. Good luck if you go that direction. I made the move and love every minute of it.

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Julie A

said over 13 years ago

Hi Cheryl, Is the Deposit only ATM card given to your tenant by you? Do most bank have these cards? Julie

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Cheryl M

said almost 14 years ago

Hi David, what I use is a "deposit only" ATM Card. The Tenant uses the card to deposit their rent check. No one can say the "check is in the mail", or I sent it out 2 days ago. All of my agreements say that the rent must be paid no later than 3 day following the 1st of the month. Therefore, with the deposit, the bank maintains when the deposit was made down to the second if you should ever need that information. I believe that this will be the wave of the future not ACH.

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Mike T

said almost 15 years ago

Lets not assume all tenants have a bank account or a computer.It would be nice if they all did.I give them deposit slips to my bank,I can check my account online and it saves me a trip to the bank.

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Arnita B

said almost 15 years ago

Hi David, I had a tenant deposit her rent into my account. Sometimes she would put the full amount into my account and sometimes she would not. Some of her checks would not clear. I would suggest that you receive certified checks or money orders sent to you. Vivian

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Scott S

said almost 15 years ago

Setting up eft through my bank was a horrible experience. There are a lot of companies out there that do it better, and make it easy on tenants and landlords. plus, both can login and see past/future payments with an accounting ledger. i've tried a few, but now I'm using PayToRent.com - so far it's the best I've used, and they keep adding features which is a plus for me. It's actually free too, I pass the $1.50 fee onto tenants, who don't mind paying it. hope this helps.

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L. B

said about 15 years ago

My Mother has rentals in Florida and lives in Texas. She set up a deposit only account with her bank and sent the deposit slips to her tenants. They have a carbonless copy so the tenant has a copy of each deposit as well. I have a house in a small town and told my Bank that the tenants would be making rent payments to my account, since it's a small town, all they have to do is walk in and tell them my name and the Bank puts it in my account.

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Mike T

said about 15 years ago

I have tenants deposit rent in person into my checking account, I can check it online and my Bank has many locations and night deposit is always possible. And the bank always give a receipt and strangly NEVER asks them for ID. So i give the tenants my deposit tickets maked with the tenants address so I'll know where that money came from.

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Ruthie K

said over 15 years ago

I've seen ClearNow come up a lot on other landlord forums. From my research, they don't do partial payments - it's all or none for the amount collected, so that's good.

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David K

said over 15 years ago

I use automatedlandlord.com It works great.