Landlord asking for direct payment

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I got an email from my landlord yesterday saying that he had just received my check and he would wave the $40 late fee because I had never been late before.  Thing is, I send my check in every month on the 24th using my bank's "Pay your Bill" function.   The only things which have changed are the Coronavirus and President Trump deliberately slowing down the Post Office to help his re-election campaign.  

I offered to drive over to my landlords office in person to drop off the check every month and was told that they no longer take personal checks (since when has this become a thing?) and they would rather I didn't stop by their place.  He then said that he would be happy to send me forms for them to take the money out of my account on the first of the month.

While I have no problem with this, and if having them take the money out of my account themselves is the best option then I'm happy to do it.  My only hesitation is that a month ago there were notices posted on all of our doors saying that he was trying to sell the building and handing over my banking info seems somewhat sketchy.  
 

I've lived in the building for 3 years.  No real complaints.  Just wondering about how legit this is.