Best Ways to Collect Rent – And Get Paid on Time

For rental property owners, having a robust rent collection plan is crucial. Apart from setting an appropriate rental fee, overseeing rent payments is essential for property owners.

With an effective rent collection strategy and prior preparation, you can prompt your tenants to submit their payments promptly. Let’s investigate the optimal approaches to collecting rent from tenants and pinpoint strategies to avoid.

Best Methods for Direct Rent Payment

• Online. Presently, several approaches are available for tenant rent collection. Nonetheless, due to the growing appeal of online payment systems, online rent payment is now the most popular method for rental payments. This approach grants tenants the simplicity and security of online transactions, ensuring landlords receive payments on schedule. The online rent payment option has established itself as a credible and convenient method for both tenants and property owners.
• Payment App. A fresh and modern method for paying rent involves the use of platforms like Venmo, Zelle, and PayPal. For their convenience and simple usability, these services have achieved great popularity among tenants and landlords. Tenants have the advantage of quickly requesting and sending money, which simplifies the process of paying rent, making it speedy and effortless.
• ACH Debit. Property managers have started to embrace innovative strategies for securing rent payments on time. One of these methods includes ACH debit. By using this method, tenants have the option to give their banking information for the automatic deduction of rent monthly. Nonetheless, this setup may not sit well with some tenants, making it crucial to provide a selection of two or three payment options. It’s also crucial to recognize that each payment method often comes with its set of fees, which can greatly vary. Therefore, it’s important to conduct careful research before opting for a payment method.

Payment Methods to Avoid

You ought to nudge your tenants towards designated payment methods for their rent. It’s advisable to steer clear of cash payments due to their record-keeping difficulties. In case of disputes, evidencing the timing and amount of rent paid by your tenant might be challenging. Thus, adhering to payment methods that provide a clear and easily accessible record.

Personal checks could be a poor choice as their clearance can be slow and they may bounce, causing bank fees for both the landlord and tenant. For these reasons, opting for money orders and cashier’s checks can be more suitable, especially in the context of security deposit collections. Specifying your preferred payment method clearly and ensuring a documentation process is in place for a solid paper trail is critical to preventing future disputes or misunderstandings.

While circumstances may arise necessitating the use of one or several less-than-ideal payment methods, avoiding them is recommended. Such methods are often complex to document and come with numerous problems. It could be advantageous to disallow these payment methods in your lease contracts to affirm that rent payments via these avenues are not accepted.

Collect Through a Property Management Company

Investing in rental properties can be financially rewarding, however, rent collection can become a tiresome and prolonged process even in optimal conditions. Nonetheless, if your objective is to simplify the operation, the employment of a rental property management company could be the ideal resolution. A reputable property management company, with its wealth of expertise and experience, can effectively oversee the rent collection process, thus liberating you to attend to other vital facets of owning property.

Renting is made easy with Real Property Management Momentum! Online rent payment is a feature of our technology-enhanced property management offerings. Contact us online or call 417-324-7601 today to learn more about our quality services in Springfield and nearby!