Stripe payments on TenantCloud started charging $1.5 per ACH
Property Manager · Central Virginia · Member since 2022 · 20 posts · 7 votes
Stripe payments on TenantCloud started charging $1.5 per ACH
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Developer · New York City, NY · Member since 2015 · 812 posts · 718 votes
3yQuote from @Bocondo Williams:
I have been using Tenantcloud to manage my 40+ units and so far I was satisfied from the features they provide for $144 per year. But recently they switched their payment provider from Dwalla to Stripe and Stripe started charging $1.50 for each ACH deposit for rent collection. This amount add up pretty quickly. Most of the units I owned have room partners so they pay rent by their own individual bank ACH. On top of that TenantCloud treats every lease add on (parking fee, pet fee, late fee etc.) as new ACH deposit. So now this month only we paid more than $200 in ACH fee only, which was $0 for last 2 years I have been using TenantCloud. So we paid $144 total for TenantCloud subscription in 2022 and now we are paying $144 plus $200+ per month in 2023, that's a significant jump. To make matter worse the ACH deposits are even slower than Dwalla, it can take anywhere from 4 days to 7 days now.
TenantCloud was good till now, with this $200+ ACH fee and delayed payment, I need some better software out there. Can anyone confirm if Buildium, AppFolio or other big one also charges per ACH? And what's their turnaround for ACH deposit?
Yea, the slowness of Stripe and the fees are adding up for us too. We were big fans of TenantCloud, but it might be time to switch. We've added Zelle as a payment option as tenants were very upset in regard to the new fees. I cannot see this ending well for TenantCloud. We have 75+ doors, so we're not going to absorb those fees. Buildium and Appfolio seem more expensive, but I have setup calls with account managers with both. I understand they need to increase fees, but their fees are now higher than others and their payment time is so much slower with stripe...
9 Replies
- Developer · New York City, NY · Member since 2015 · 812 posts · 718 votes3y
Quote from @Bocondo Williams:
I have been using Tenantcloud to manage my 40+ units and so far I was satisfied from the features they provide for $144 per year. But recently they switched their payment provider from Dwalla to Stripe and Stripe started charging $1.50 for each ACH deposit for rent collection. This amount add up pretty quickly. Most of the units I owned have room partners so they pay rent by their own individual bank ACH. On top of that TenantCloud treats every lease add on (parking fee, pet fee, late fee etc.) as new ACH deposit. So now this month only we paid more than $200 in ACH fee only, which was $0 for last 2 years I have been using TenantCloud. So we paid $144 total for TenantCloud subscription in 2022 and now we are paying $144 plus $200+ per month in 2023, that's a significant jump. To make matter worse the ACH deposits are even slower than Dwalla, it can take anywhere from 4 days to 7 days now.
TenantCloud was good till now, with this $200+ ACH fee and delayed payment, I need some better software out there. Can anyone confirm if Buildium, AppFolio or other big one also charges per ACH? And what's their turnaround for ACH deposit?
Yea, the slowness of Stripe and the fees are adding up for us too. We were big fans of TenantCloud, but it might be time to switch. We've added Zelle as a payment option as tenants were very upset in regard to the new fees. I cannot see this ending well for TenantCloud. We have 75+ doors, so we're not going to absorb those fees. Buildium and Appfolio seem more expensive, but I have setup calls with account managers with both. I understand they need to increase fees, but their fees are now higher than others and their payment time is so much slower with stripe... - Property Manager · Central Virginia · Member since 2022 · 20 posts · 7 votes3yI created support ticket with TC about 3 issues and their response...
Quote from @Calvin Thomas:
Quote from @Bocondo Williams:
I have been using Tenantcloud to manage my 40+ units and so far I was satisfied from the features they provide for $144 per year. But recently they switched their payment provider from Dwalla to Stripe and Stripe started charging $1.50 for each ACH deposit for rent collection. This amount add up pretty quickly. Most of the units I owned have room partners so they pay rent by their own individual bank ACH. On top of that TenantCloud treats every lease add on (parking fee, pet fee, late fee etc.) as new ACH deposit. So now this month only we paid more than $200 in ACH fee only, which was $0 for last 2 years I have been using TenantCloud. So we paid $144 total for TenantCloud subscription in 2022 and now we are paying $144 plus $200+ per month in 2023, that's a significant jump. To make matter worse the ACH deposits are even slower than Dwalla, it can take anywhere from 4 days to 7 days now.
TenantCloud was good till now, with this $200+ ACH fee and delayed payment, I need some better software out there. Can anyone confirm if Buildium, AppFolio or other big one also charges per ACH? And what's their turnaround for ACH deposit?
Yea, the slowness of Stripe and the fees are adding up for us too. We were big fans of TenantCloud, but it might be time to switch. We've added Zelle as a payment option as tenants were very upset in regard to the new fees. I cannot see this ending well for TenantCloud. We have 75+ doors, so we're not going to absorb those fees. Buildium and Appfolio seem more expensive, but I have setup calls with account managers with both. I understand they need to increase fees, but their fees are now higher than others and their payment time is so much slower with stripe...
1. These charges were a surprise to us. TC: An email was sent with these charges explanation back in Sept '22.
2. Multiple ACH charges for single tenants (Rent, Pet fee, Parking etc,). TC: No response.
3. ACH Deposit taking up to 5 business day. TC: They are working through an issue and next day deposit should be available next month.
4. We had issue where some tenant were not able to pay with error "ACH Limit has reached". TC: Issue was resolved after 1 day.
With these payment, my confidence in TenantCloud has gone down significantly and looking for better solution. If they can make ACH next day deposit and also charge 1 single fee for 1 tenant payment, that can bring their fee to tolerable level else I will have to ditch them ASAP.
Please update me with your meeting outcome with Buildium and Appfolio. - Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes3y
Quote from @Bocondo Williams:
That's the problem with free software: they eventually have to generate revenue, then they want to produce profit, then they want bigger profit.
I think most software is going to charge $1 or more for every ACH payment. However, the good software will let you have as many charges as you want per month and the Tenant can make one payment to apply to each charge.
You have enough units that it may be worth looking at Buildium. Better software will give you the option of charging the Tenant for those ACH fees, but I personally eat the cost of them. I want to make it as simple as possible for my tenants to pay.
Software is a common question on BiggerPockets. Here are some things to consider:
- Most investors don't need software until they have 5-10 rentals. All you need is a single place to track tenant information, payment history, maintenance, and a few other things. You can easily do this on a spreadsheet and it will take less time to track than it would to find and learn a new software. If the software is not simplifying your life or making you more accurate, you shouldn't use it.
- Software does have extremely helpful features like online payments, marketing syndication (click a button and your property is advertised on multiple sites), electronic document review/signing, maintenance tracking, and owner reports. But do you really need that for your one rental?
- There's no perfect software out there. Every system you try will have flaws or you'll salivate over a feature that shows up in other software.
Some common names you'll see thrown around a lot: Stessa, Apartments.com, RentRedi, TenantCloud, Innago, RentManager, Avail, Rentec Direct, Doorloop, etc.
I recommend you search for each of those apps online and see what they offer, how much they charge, etc. Make a simple spreadsheet or written list with the features of each and see which ones appeal to you most. Try to narrow it down to your top 3-4. Once you have a short list, get an account with each one and run them through the wringer to see how they really function. Do one task at a time in each app so you can compare apples to apples.
- Load a property with pictures and details.
- Market that property.
- See what your marketing looks like from the public's perspective.
- Submit a fake application to see how easy the process is.
- Run a credit/screening report on yourself.
- Enter a maintenance request, assign a vendor, attach a fake invoice.
- Enter charges to the tenant's ledger.
- Enter recurring charges and automatic late fees.
- Sign documents electronically.
- Run owner reports.
After testing a few apps, one of them should stand out for you. Choose that one and use it. No system is perfect, so don't waste your time chasing after the next shiny object. You should only have to change when your current software has a flaw or lacking feature that is causing you to spend too much work on a work-around. Then you can consider researching and finding something that meets your needs better.
The DIY Landlord Book4.7248 Reviews - Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2020 · 25 posts · 24 votes3y
Hey Bocondo.
I would suggest looking at a software that has the tenants pay the ACH or cc fees. We use Innago, and costs us nothing, and we typically wait 1 business day to get funds. I am sure there are others out there that may be a better fit. Cant hurt trying them out and find one that works for you. - Property Manager · Central Virginia · Member since 2022 · 20 posts · 7 votes3yJust to clarify, Tenantcloud also has ability to defer this fee to Tenants, but that's not the point. When we signed up it was free, now there is a fee and total fee paid to them is much higher than what they advertised.
Quote from @James Schulz:
Hey Bocondo.
I would suggest looking at a software that has the tenants pay the ACH or cc fees. We use Innago, and costs us nothing, and we typically wait 1 business day to get funds. I am sure there are others out there that may be a better fit. Cant hurt trying them out and find one that works for you. - New to Real Estate · Erie, PA · Member since 2019 · 1 post · 0 votes3y
I too am very upset with the use of Stripe as the ACH provider. My biggest complaints are similar to yours:
1. 5-7 days or more from the time the tenant pays the rent until the cash hits my account. Most of my monthly expenditures auto process around the tenth of the month so I have to keep twice the normal capital in there to ensure my expenditures don't process prior to the rent payments. TOO ME THIS IS THE POTENTIAL DEALBREAKER. I don't like tying up capital in a world where these transactions can and should clear overnight. My suspicion is the Millions of dollars sitting in TC accounts for 5-7 days are collecting interest and a new revenue stream for TC. At 5% apr or .0001 per day TC claims it manages 500,000 properties if average rent is $500 that equals ~$35,000 a day in interest. Or 171,000 a month. Plus a $1.50 per transaction, is another $750,000. So moving to stripe and keeping our money an extra week is making them $1MM a month.
2. Split rent payments or pet, parking fees, or deposit collection are all separate fees for $1.50 each. I can rework the invoices on myside to include the pet fees etc... in on invoice but I lose the granularity of information and have to make notes in the payments. There is nothing I can do about the split room mate payments.
3. Since I mandate in the lease all payments MUST be via tenantcloud I absorb the fee when paid by ACH. If paid by credit card they pay the fee.
On the whole TC makes my life INFINITELY easier than it used to be hand collecting rent or processing paper checks at the bank. However, with photo deposit of checks that method could soon be an option again. I will never go back to hand collecting rent. If I inherit a tenant who refuses to use digital means I will just have to find a new qualified tenant. With some older tenants I walked them through the set up at first and how to pay. Now they love the system. Many of them set to auto and forget about it!
- Rental Property Investor · Member since 2022 · 5 posts · 1 vote3y
I've been using TenantCloud for the past 2 years. Their policy changes including price increases, charging for every little thing as an "add-on", complicated GUI and the lack of fixes of known problems (posted by their "community" on a Facebook Group), and super slow ACH deposits (which take 10+ days!), I've decided to move on.
I've signed up with innago.com and it's been working great so far. It was easy to setup, and my tenants had no problem getting setup via the invite email that they receive once they are added to a property/lease. This next month (July 1st) is the first month collecting rent with them, but so far it's been very easy to use- and the monthly cost is right ($0!) (they do charge a flat $2 for ACH, but tenants will pay that).
- Rental Property Investor · Laurel, MD · Member since 2016 · 378 posts · 382 votes3y
I think we dodged a bullet, we tested TenantCloud and didn't like the fact that you had to signup for multiple accounts just to get online payments. TC doesn't want to integrate the payment process into their software directly, unlike majority of other software.
After testing a few other software, we settled on Innago. It met 80% of our must have needs and it's been working great. They charge a flat $2 per ACH but all the extra fees are on 1 invoice. As for roommates, we don't allow each one to pay their share. We totally discourage credit card payments, Innago charges 2.99% plus $0.30 tenant pays this.
As others have stated, I'd test out a few other software to see what's going to work best. Good Luck.
- Specialist · Austin, TX · Member since 2024 · 5 posts · 1 vote2y
Hi all, Chris here with TenantCloud. I realize this is a 1-year old thread, but I just wanted to help clear up any misunderstandings or confusion regarding the TenantCloud features that have been discussed on this thread.
- There is no need to create multiple TenantCloud accounts to get online payments. A single account is all you need, and you can set up virtually unlimited legal entities and assign virtually unlimited bank accounts to those entities from that single account.- Tenants do not get charged ACH fees for each invoice when they pay them all at once. They can pay all outstanding invoices with a single payment that will only be charged a single ACH fee.
- We still offer tenants the option of free ACH payments when they enable automatic Rent Reporting (to the credit bureaus).
- TenantCloud does not process any payments (Stripe does) and is not holding funds or using them to generate interest.
If you have any follow-up questions, please feel free to reach out to our support team. Our team is available via phone, chat, email, or support ticket and is always happy to help.
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