Has Anyone Collected Deposit and First Month's Rent Through Cozy?

Question

I am meeting with two potential tenants tomorrow with the intent that they will sign a lease for our property (that they found using Cozy). I am not sure if I should go ahead and invite them to pay the deposit and first month's rent through Cozy tonight(seems presumptuous to me since they have only seen a video tour and they are flying in from out of town to view it in person tomorrow). I am a new landlord (managing my Dad's rental as his Rental POA), and have only ever accepted a check for first month's rent and deposit at the time of contract signing(signed my first tenant for this property last year). Cozy asks to put in the date that the rent and deposit are due, so I'm not even sure if I should put in tomorrow's date(when we are meeting with the intent to sign a lease) or October 1st ( the beginning of the lease)? I am happy to sign them a few days early as long as they are paid up-- but will this delay their payment if I make the due date October 1st or can they just pay early tomorrow? I would set up the account tomorrow after they agree to sign, but entering in all the of the check routing info in front of them through my smart phone after they agree to sign a lease seems unwise.

I guess I am wondering if anyone has used Cozy to collect deposit and first month's rent and how that coordinated with the lease signing/handing over of keys?

Thanks in advance for your help.

I guess I am wondering if anyone has used Cozy to collect deposit and first month's rent and how that coordinated with the lease signing/handing over of keys?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Stephanie C. · Answer

Thanks for all of the feedback-- the cashiers check is a good idea. Given that we are meeting in the middle of the day, that should be doable for them to obtain a cashier's check before close of business should they choose to sign. I will leave cozy as an option for later rent payments. Thanks also for all of your timely responses, this puts my mind a bit more at ease.

Megan Hirlehey · Answer

Given that you are so close to the lease start date, I would take John Warren's advice. I used Cozy in the past to collect deposits and first month's rent, but that was with 2+ weeks until move-in so I could be sure the money cleared in time to give them the keys. Going forward, I don't see any problem using Cozy to collect these things if you have enough lead time before move-in. I use the free version so the money doesn't clear for like 7 business days or whatever but I worked that into the plan from the beginning so it hasn't been an issue. So far, it has made collecting rent a breeze for me and I plan to continue using it for screening and rent collection.

Chris R. · Answer

We’ve used Cozy for a few years now and with the subscription model ($3-5/mo per property) the deposit hits in 3 days. I manage all our rents and deposits through this service. It’s made life easy in terms of managing who has paid what and exactly when. I use it sometimes if I have to reimburse tenants for things that they’re willing to replace themselves like blinds or similar items. I also like that it will automatically assess late fees and play it like Cozy is the bad guy when tenants aren’t on time with rents. To me, the service has served as a very effective and inexpensive bookkeeper! No complaints here.

John Warren · Answer

@Stephanie C. I would strongly discourage you from accepting the 1st month's rent and deposit electronically. I only allow tenants to pay with a cashier's check or a money order for these two items. I learned this from some of the older land lords in my area. Cozy is great once you have established the relationship, but there is a seven day lag time between when the tenant initiates the payment and when you get the payment. This means that you will not be 100% certain that the money has cleared for seven days. You want money in hand when you establish tenancy.

Has Anyone Collected Deposit and First Month's Rent Through Cozy?

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