Need a service for tenants to pay rent electronically

[Bill Coleman]

I am looking for a reliable and inexpensive service that allows tenants to have rent automatically paid directly from their bank account monthly. Does anyone use a service like that? 

I've had Intuit recommended but it seems like you need Quickbooks as the interface. I have not fully investigated Paypal but not everyone has an account. I noticed that EvaProperty is supposed to have a payment module but I have not had a chance to test it.

Any additional recommendations are highly appreciated!

[Bill S.]

@Bill Coleman There are two options that I recommend. They are both ACH which means no action is required by the tenant and the funds are taken each month from the tenant's bank account and deposited in yours. Again it requires NO action except the initial sign up.

The systems are ClearNow and erentpayments. Be careful. ClearNow only offers ACH but erentpayments has a number of options but the one you want is the ACH (stands for Automated Clearing House). Erentpayments is more flexible in that they offer various debiting options which can vary the frequency and day of the week. Biweekly or Weekly options allow you match up to the tenants payday. These cost a bit of money but it is so worth it. I have been using ACH for about 6 years and never had a problem. I know I have collected rent with this system that I would not have by any other means. I had tenants go to jail and I still got rent and was able to get him out with minimal losses. The service I use costs $14.95 for one property but only $2 more for each additional property. The time it saves is way worth it.

There are a variety of other electronic means offered but they usually require some action on the part of the tenant. Don't be lured to these options to save a couple of bucks. In the long run it's not worth it in my opinion.

I have heard that some banks will do an ACH for their customers. I don't know if there are any around here.