Some people will live out their life only paying their bills by check or cash, preferably in person. Many of those folks are part of what is often called America’s “Greatest Generation.” They should be respected, honored, and appreciated as tenants.
There are also millennials, who are accomplishing some great things themselves and working to ensure that future generations can reach their fullest potential. These folks embrace technology, and you should appreciate them as tenants, too. That requires you to accommodate their comfort level with using technology for things like rent payments.
Benefits of online rental payments
For you as the manager and bookkeeper, the benefits of accepting online payments are numerous. It simplifies rent collection, reduces the possibility of lost or misplaced payments, allows automatic recurring payments, and makes record-keeping much easier.
The tenant also benefits from the convenience of making payments day or night and getting instant verification of the rent payment. Some rent payment tools even furnish their payment history to Experian, allowing young tenants to easily build credit history.
Some best practices regarding online payments
With the many benefits of online rental payments, you may want to only accept the electronically processed payments. Do plan to accommodate everyone. Cash is legal tender for all debts, both public and private. However, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, unless there is a state law that says otherwise, businesses can set their own policy for acceptable payments.
You can refuse checks, cash, and money orders, but this is not a good course of action. A better approach is to incentivize online payments. Do be accessible to all quality tenants who appreciate the accommodations you provide and will pay their rent on time.
Many online payment tools are available specifically for rent collection. Do your research and select the service that is best for both you and your tenants. Some accept phone payments, checks, and have ways cash tenants can process their payments at a nearby merchant or grocery store.
Eliminate the hassle
Collecting rent can be a huge pain. It is also understandable that you do not want people to know that you always have a lot of cash on your person on the same day each month. Online rental payments automatically assess late fees and will only accept full payment; no option for “I have some now and will pay the rest next week.”
Being set up to collect rent online is one of the best ways you can manage your finances and eliminate much of the hassle associated with collecting rent.
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