Collecting Rents : ezLandlordForms

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David A

started a topic almost 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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Michelle B

said almost 15 years ago

Hi David, I'm new to this as well, I recently moved to CO. and my house just happens to be located in Vancouver, WA which has the highest number of foreclosures in WA state right now. Anyway, I called my credit union and asked about that. They said the the tenant would have to set up EFT on their part, and have it deposited into my account from their bank. Most institutions have Bill Pay, and she suggested I have my future tenants sign up for it asap. I'm considering including it in my lease, where you can add additional info.

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David A

said almost 15 years ago

Thanks Michelle. I don't know why I didn't think about just running down to my bank for that info. Good idea. It would be nice to just have the tenants electronically pay. It seems like it would make the rent collection process a whole lot easier.

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Michelle B

said almost 15 years ago

No problem, I guess the hard part is having your tenants agree to it. Collecting rent would be that much easier!

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Jennifer B

said almost 15 years ago

I have found that PayPal is also really helpful and easy to use.

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Kelly T

said almost 15 years ago

Try google checkout, they like paying by credit card. you can charge the tenant the 3% fee if they pay by card! www.google.com/checkout

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Ronald P

said almost 15 years ago

I know my renter si I gave them 12 deposit slips. The 1st they just drop the rent off at the bank.

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David A

said almost 15 years ago

Thank you all for the input. These are great suggestions, and hopefully this thread will be helpful to others as well. Kelly T., have you been using the google checkout for a while now? How dependable has it been for you? Ronald P., I love your idea, and I could probably set up a "dummy" account if I wanted to so that way there's no money in the account for them to withdraw from.

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David A

said almost 15 years ago

Kelly T., how did you set up through google checkout? More specifically, I was seeing that it looks like it works if you have a website. If I don't have a website, do you know if I could still be set up for this method?

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Michelle B

said almost 15 years ago

Does Google checkout charge the 3% like Pay Pal? That's exactley why I don't want to use Pay Pal.

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Joanne S

said almost 15 years ago

We always have our tenants arrange with their bank to automatically pay into ours on the 1st of every month. This works well, as live overseas and could not phsically deposit a amailed check into our account. Easy for teanat and easy for landlord.

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Donna

said almost 15 years ago

Landlords! Be careful with automatic deposits made by tenant. It can get VERY sticky when you want to evict or they start to make partial payments.

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Jennifer B

said almost 15 years ago

PayPal only charges 3% if you get a premier account that accepts credit cards. If you get a personal account it does not cost anything to send, receive, or withdraw funds. The funds go right from bank to bank with no risk. I have two accounts, one that I use when I know I need to accept a credit card pymt (ebay seller), and the other one is just for regular deposits such as from tenant rent pymt. The tenants that have used paypal also seem to really appreciate it, because they can avoid mailing, checks, or depositing into banks, etc. Its all e-pay. I imagine its very similar to Google check out, but have never tried that service.

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Donna

said almost 15 years ago

I once again WARN that automated deposits or payments can be a problem. In many states, the collection of a partial payment may void any started court action. With a tenant depositing or paying via paypal - you have little control as to whether you can accept or not. You may return the partial payment later but it can be a touchy situation in a courtroom. Check with your attorney but there are some states/locations where a judge stopped an eviction over the collection of a partial payment that was automatically deposited.

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Jennifer B

said almost 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.