UPDATE: Online Rent Payment

General Landlording & Rental Properties
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UPDATE: Online Rent Payment

Chris T.Pro Member
Rental Property Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2013 · 491 posts · 253 votes

It has now been about two months since both SparkRent and WiliamPaid both shutdown their online rent payment services.  There was a lot of discussion about the alternatives at the time and I was curious as to what decisions others made.

I personally decided to go with Venmo and have been extremely happy so far.  It has been completely free (for both myself and my tenants), very easy to use, and the money transfers have only been taking 1-2 days from when I am notified the tenants have made a payment.  The only drawback is it is not as automated as SparkRent (what I was using before), with auto billing or late fees, but it hasn't bothered me as their mobile app makes sending payment reminders (bills) and additional bills (late fees) take only seconds and I can do it from anywhere.  

That is what I ended up doing, what route did others end up going?

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Jason K.
Property Manager · Tacoma, WA · Member since 2014 · 24 posts · 20 votes
11y

Here's what I've found out from my research

Cozy: I've been using them for a few months, but I have one tenants that frequently has non sufficient funds. The problem with Cozy is that I don't find out until the 4th or 5th! By the time the tenant can get around to paying me in cash/check/money order/etc. I'm deep into the month. Cash flow isn't so much the issue, but knowledge - I want to know on the 1st if my tenants have enough to pay or not. So I'm looking for a new solution.

Giving tenants bank acct and routing: According to Bank of America it's not a big deal. They can deposit into your account, but there are enough security measures to not worry about them being able to take money out. 

Intuit: At 50 cents a transaction for ACH that's a pretty good deal. And according to the rep I spoke with, if the tenant doesn't have enough money in their account they can't process the payment - unlike Cozy. 

Venmo: I've been doing some transactions with them recently and have not had any complaints! I'd like to be able to set up recurring payments, which is not a feature they currently have.

Other solutions like Erentpayment, etc: Most other solutions I've found so far seem to be more spendy. For example if I switch all my residents to $2-$3 per transaction, that's about $800 per year out of my pocket. Could I pass the cost on to the tenant? Sure. But if I can find a free solution that's even better. 

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  • Josh Bakhshi
    Real Estate Agent · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2015 · 359 posts · 158 votes
    11y

    We use intuit. It cost 50 cents per transaction. The only issue we had is that for the first transaction it took a few days but now it's fine

    1Reply
  • Jane A.
    Investor · Shawnee Mission, KS · Member since 2015 · 423 posts · 114 votes
    11y
    Some of my tenants go to my bank and do a direct deposits to me account, some do automatic online payments from their online bank, I use ClearNow for some tenants - this is an automatic withdraw from their account and I received authorization in advance. Do me direct deposit works the best as I could see it processing immediately. I gave tenants my direct deposit coupons without my address and ably 4 numbers of bank account. But they do know my bank ;))) this is only one downside. But they will know it anyway if I send them a check with a reimbursement for something.
    1Reply
  • Justin C.
    Rental Property Investor · NW, PA · Member since 2014 · 174 posts · 39 votes
    11y
    I have in my ads and lease that we do not accept personal checks. I was hesitant to decide what to do for online payment and simply have my tenant send a bank check to my po box. Its all done through their banks bill pay service. Its free, no account numbers are revealed, and i can do mobile deposit with availability same day. Ultimately i like the free part : )
    1Reply
  • Nicole Jones
    Fresno, CA · Member since 2015 · 145 posts · 59 votes
    11y

    This is great. I also use old school deposits into my bank account. I do use venmo for personal transactions but never considered it for rent payment. I'll also look into Intuit. Great info.

    0Reply
  • Jeff Blanchard
    App Designer · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 124 posts · 31 votes
    11y

    Yes, I use Venmo for all my new tenants, although I do have some older tenants that brought their own (Capitol One P2P, Chase QuickPay, etc).

    I like Venmo though because it's the fastest, and I can use their API to post the transactions to my rent-tracking app (less data entry).

    0Reply
  • Mark Cohen
    Real Estate Professional · Monsey, NY · Member since 2014 · 51 posts · 9 votes
    11y

    I went over to cozy from sparkrent. No fee for ach (hopefully it won't shut down in a few months also) and i get the deposit 4-5 days later.  They verify the tenants account w/2 small deposits so set up doesn't takes a few days, otherwise pretty straightforward.

    1Reply
  • Jeff Blanchard
    App Designer · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 124 posts · 31 votes
    11y

    Wow, 4-5 days; that's a lot. Next business day w/ Venmo. No fees either (unless payer uses credit card, in which case they pay the fee).

    1Reply
  • Colleen F.Pro Member
    Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    11y

    I had the tenants make a choice.  Most  sent up ACH to my account, I raised their rent and gave a discount to make up for the fact that some of their banks charged (this is at lease turnover). The ACH actually puts their names in my account which is a nice thing so I can see who paid when.

    For those who are a bit more challenged I decided for them that i am invoicing through intuit.  I have only received one intuit payment from a tenant so far. I have one tenant who is a little more challenged who is doing intuit so we will see how it works. Since she has issues with having to pay the rent early to limit her bank balance I invoice on the 15th and will let her decide when to pay.   For intuit  I tried to do a test payment but I learned that you can't do one from and to the same computer regardless of the account being different that was a significant delay.  

    I signed up for rentmatic (oh so difficult) but have not used it. 

    0Reply
  • Will Koederitz
    Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2015 · 57 posts · 26 votes
    11y

    I don't have it set up fully yet, but I put the first months rent and security deposit in a savings account.  I plan to have the tenant direct deposit into the account from their bank.  I'm am less nervous about giving out the account number because it is not my personal account, it is only for this one property.  That way if anything were to happen, the account will not have much money in it at any time.  If this is not possible through the tenants bank, I will most likely use Chase QuickPay.

    0Reply
  • George P.
    Property Manager · Livonia, MI · Member since 2011 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    we likes williampaid a lot. hated to hear it closed down.

    wee were afraid of picking a free service again, so picked Intuit (close to free at 50 cents). i immediately get a notice when someone pays. money takes 1-2 business days, but i never NEED it RIGHT NOW anyway.

    no commplaints so far other than only 3-4 out of 17 use it. that's pissing me off that i have to still drive to the brick and mortar place.

    0Reply
  • Chris T.Pro Member
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2013 · 491 posts · 253 votes
    11y

    @George P.

    I was a little cautious with both SparkRent and Williampaid closing down one right after each other as well.  Venmo is actually owned by PayPal so I felt a little better that they had the ability to stick around for a while....so far so good.

    1Reply
  • Chris G.
    Investor · Seattle · Member since 2015 · 54 posts · 14 votes
    11y

    Erentpayment works good for me after I switched from sparkrent.  It adds late fees and sends reminders.  It cost $3 per transaction which I split with the tenant.  

    1Reply
  • George P.
    Property Manager · Livonia, MI · Member since 2011 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    one thing i wish i had with Intuit is an "actual bill reminder that i can send out". i want to be able to add the water bill too.

    i am shocked that it's 2015 and people still pay by check or money order.

    2Reply
  • Justin C.
    Rental Property Investor · NW, PA · Member since 2014 · 174 posts · 39 votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Colleen F.:

    I had the tenants make a choice.  Most  sent up ACH to my account, I raised their rent and gave a discount to make up for the fact that some of their banks charged (this is at lease turnover). The ACH actually puts their names in my account which is a nice thing so I can see who paid when.

    Hi Colleen, any issue with giving tenants your account number?  I can't get over that aspect of it... I just accept a business check sent to my po box from their online bill pay service.

    0Reply
  • Jamie Scharbrough
    Raleigh, NC · Member since 2015 · 28 posts · 6 votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @George P.:

    one thing i wish i had with Intuit is an "actual bill reminder that i can send out". i want to be able to add the water bill too.

    i am shocked that it's 2015 and people still pay by check or money order.

    To be fair, my landlord prefers check. I still have no idea how he can deposit it so fast (it's literally gone the next day) but hey, if that makes him happy, it's fine by me. He also prefers to come and get the check.

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Homeowner · Signal Hill, CA · Member since 2015 · 521 posts · 70 votes
    11y

    RENTSHARE.COM

    so far, so good. apparently they're based in NYC, 

    Aaron called me after setup to find out if i needed help with anything.

    0Reply
  • Jane A.
    Investor · Shawnee Mission, KS · Member since 2015 · 423 posts · 114 votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @George P.:

    one thing i wish i had with Intuit is an "actual bill reminder that i can send out". i want to be able to add the water bill too.

    i am shocked that it's 2015 and people still pay by check or money order.

     yes, I have few tenants with money orders :))) they go to the bank and do a direct deposit to my account, as I understand some people do not use bank accounts at all

    0Reply
  • Aly W.
    Investor · Middletown, NJ · Member since 2008 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    I've been using erentpayment.com for several years, great customer service, all the features I need/want, and only $3 per transaction per month.

    0Reply
  • Jane A.
    Investor · Shawnee Mission, KS · Member since 2015 · 423 posts · 114 votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Justin C.:
    Originally posted by @Colleen F.:

    I had the tenants make a choice.  Most  sent up ACH to my account, I raised their rent and gave a discount to make up for the fact that some of their banks charged (this is at lease turnover). The ACH actually puts their names in my account which is a nice thing so I can see who paid when.

    Hi Colleen, any issue with giving tenants your account number?  I can't get over that aspect of it... I just accept a business check sent to my po box from their online bill pay service.

     you do not need to give them your bank account, with BoA they may transfer or deposit only knowing your mobile phone number or email address or with deposit coupons with last few digits of your account

    0Reply
  • Colleen F.Pro Member
    Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    11y

    @Justin C.

    I gave them my account number. I have it set up to move immediately to another account so there is maybe  $50 in the account most of the time.  My account number is on my checks anyway, not that I am writing my tenants checks but lots of other people get it without issue. 

    @George P.

    For intuit there is a reminder. It sends the invoice to them monthly whenever you set it to go and they enter their information.  I guess you can set it up automatically but the people who need to use it  are normally the people  who need a reminder.  Why don't you just start invoicing them via email. I sent this tenant to invoice on the 15th of the month because she can only have so much in checking so she likes to pay as soon as she gets her child support. You might be able to train them to enter their info when they get an invoice or maybe not...

    0Reply
  • Vivianne Salazar
    Investor · Bradenton, FL · Member since 2015 · 44 posts · 22 votes
    11y

    We have one with automatic monthly bank transfers and the other deposits personally with deposit slips we provide.

    0Reply
  • Ericka Parrott
    Residential Real Estate Agent · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2009 · 381 posts · 134 votes
    11y

    If your properties are near Family Dollar or 7-eleven stores you can also sent of rental payments there as well. This allows tenants to pay cash if needed. 

    0Reply
  • Che Chiu Wong
    Jersey City, NJ · Member since 2015 · 280 posts · 98 votes
    11y

    @George P., yes no joke.  Quite a bit of my tenants pay by cash.....

    0Reply
  • Jason K.
    Property Manager · Tacoma, WA · Member since 2014 · 24 posts · 20 votes
    11y

    Here's what I've found out from my research

    Cozy: I've been using them for a few months, but I have one tenants that frequently has non sufficient funds. The problem with Cozy is that I don't find out until the 4th or 5th! By the time the tenant can get around to paying me in cash/check/money order/etc. I'm deep into the month. Cash flow isn't so much the issue, but knowledge - I want to know on the 1st if my tenants have enough to pay or not. So I'm looking for a new solution.

    Giving tenants bank acct and routing: According to Bank of America it's not a big deal. They can deposit into your account, but there are enough security measures to not worry about them being able to take money out. 

    Intuit: At 50 cents a transaction for ACH that's a pretty good deal. And according to the rep I spoke with, if the tenant doesn't have enough money in their account they can't process the payment - unlike Cozy. 

    Venmo: I've been doing some transactions with them recently and have not had any complaints! I'd like to be able to set up recurring payments, which is not a feature they currently have.

    Other solutions like Erentpayment, etc: Most other solutions I've found so far seem to be more spendy. For example if I switch all my residents to $2-$3 per transaction, that's about $800 per year out of my pocket. Could I pass the cost on to the tenant? Sure. But if I can find a free solution that's even better. 

    4Reply
  • Eddie T.
    Rental Property Investor · NY · Member since 2013 · 844 posts · 350 votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Vivianne Salazar:

    We have one with automatic monthly bank transfers and the other deposits personally with deposit slips we provide.

     How did you setup the automatic bank transfers?

    0Reply
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