direct deposit for monthly rent from tenants

[Virginia Jones]

i have a tenant that wants to pay me monthly rent through direct deposit. this would be going into the rental checking account for that specific unit. is it safe for me to give the tenant my routing and account number so they can set this up with their bank? or should i just have them mail me a check through the bank's bill pay instead?

[Bill Bockwoldt]

I had to deal with this for out-of-state properties. I set up savings account at Wells Fargo so the tenants can deposit in person in the locations of my rental homes. I then transfer those to a main account. However, after setting up Cozy they have all moved to that. No banking information is exchanged (I don't know theirs and they don't know mine). Cozy debits their accounts every month (they can choose a date from 1st-5th that works for them) and Cozy transfers it to my account. I no longer need the savings accounts but keep them just in case. I pay no fees at Wells Fargo, and the Cozy service is free so it is very cost-effective. I highly recommend Cozy with one caveat, you can pay extra and get the money quickly, otherwise it can take 7-10 days to get the funds. Not an issue for me, but if you have cashflow timing issues that is something to consider.