For users of Intuit Payment Network . . .

[Anna Watkins]

I would like to use an electronic service to collect rent from my tenants, who are (so far) banked and fairly competent computer users.  Intuit's Payment Network is appealing and recommended in several BP posts, but I am not a registered business (I only own 2 rental units, both in my own name) and don't think I can legitimately apply for a receiver account. Or can I?

Those of you who use and recommend IPN, are you incorporated or LLC'd? Or are you a de facto business as a proprietorship and don't worry about it?

I was going to try Dwolla, but it requires the tenant to first put money into a Dwolla account and then transfer it to me, which takes many days and was more than I wanted to ask of my tenants. I just want some way for them to take money out of their bank account and put it into mine. Bam! What services do that without a lot of stops in the middle?? And can I use them without setting up an LLC (another post question entirely)?

Thanks!

[John A.]

@Anna Watkins -- I'm in the same situation as you; two SFH rentals in my name. I use IPN to collect rent payments. Just tell IPN you are a sole proprietor property management company.

I've been using IPN for about 2 years and am happy with what I get for the cost.  I've had a tenant attempt to pay through IPN without enough money in his bank to cover the payment.  Initially, IPN credited my account.  But when they discovered the tenant didn't have the funds, they sent me an email giving me a warning they would pull the money back out of my account if the tenant still did not have the funds when they tried to pull funds a second time.  I appreciated the warning.  When they attempted the second pull and the tenant still did not have the funds, they pulled the money back from my account.  No penalties or fees.

I also like that IPN send payment reminders every month and I can send the tenants a custom web link when the "lose" the email reminder from IPN.

John