Collecting rent from tenants

[Maureen Santibañez]

How do y’all collect rent from tenants?

Me and my family recently came across an ad that seem too good to be true. It was for a rental on Craigslist. 3bed 2.5 baths all bills paid except water with a security deposit of $700 and monthly payments of $800. It was a two story with a garage.

We thought it was good but there was red flags as we went through the process. He didn’t mention it was a self tour and so we were like okay. And just rolled with the flow. The ‘landlord’ said to leave the back door unlocked when we did a tour.

So everything looks good until we send the deposit. He told us to send it via. Cash app, Zelle, and PayPal. None of them went through I checked the bank and it was fine on their behalf. It seemed like a big scam first of all because his emails didn’t match his name or credentials. (I thought he was new so I just let it slide but didn’t move forward till I saw what my family thought).

We ended up not paying and decided to look elsewhere. I wanted to know what do you use to collect payments from y’all’s tenants via online? I also want to do rentals when I get enough capital to fund everything so any advice as well?

[Lynnette E.]

I generally get the first months rent and security deposit when the lease is signed in person.  After that I use an on-line app called cozy.co (not com).  

I do know people who use Zelle.  

I would not trust sending money as a potential tenant on line when you have not met the landlord or property manager.  They should have asked you for a credit check and a background check as well.  Not sure of your area, but if the rent is low, its a scam, just someone local broke into the house and unlocked it.  Maybe you could call the local police non-emergency number and ask them to check on the property, and the ad on Craig's list.

You probably could not deposit the money with them as their account had too much activity so they were closed for investigation.  Which was good for you.