Collecting Rent Remotely

[Ariel K.]

My tenants tend to be lower income and don't have as many banking resources.  I'm trying to get everyone on electronic payments and have only converted 2 out of 13 so far to cozy.co.  For those without e-mails (or refuse to give them to me), are there other payment systems I can use?  I looked at paynearme, but that only works through the big property management software.  I have boots on the ground, but now I'm trying to formalize everything.  Thanks!

[Drew Sygit]

What does your lease say?

Long ago, we put charges and incentives in our lease to encourage electronic payments and discourage paper payments. 

Also, somethings not right if your tenants won't share their email addresses. We manage a decent amount of Class C tenants. The only way they can apply is online, so right from day one we get their email address. Also, they can only pay their application fee online. 

Both these application practices weed out applicants/tenants that aren't online, which makes our management tasks easier.

If your tenants have expiring leases or are month-to-month, change their leases.