Tenant payment issues with RentRedi - advice needed

[Ben Cohen]

Hi everyone,

We’ve been using RentRedi and it’s been great for management, but recently one of our tenants is causing us some issues related to payments. 

The tenant is paying rent on the 26th of the month (when it’s due) but the money is taking around 4 business days to get taken out of her account. By that point her account does not have enough money. The rent is not paid and she is charged an overdraft fee. Oftentimes the money is not in our account until the 2nd or 3rd of the month. 

I spoke with RentRedi and the issue is not on their side. They said the issue is with her bank. I told her to contact her bank and she’s saying it’s not an issue with her bank. 

She is getting very frustrated with us, and is asking for alternative payment methods. I’m really reluctant to do so because (1) we have other units coming up and I want them all to be on the same platform, and (2) I don’t want to give in. 

What do the more seasoned landlords here think?

Thanks!

[Scott M.]

Two lines in your post "(1) we have other units coming up and I want them all to be on the same platform, and (2) I don’t want to give in."

As for #1 the more units you bring online the more people will not like a single payment method, why, because of #2.  They, like you, will not want to give into your demands that they have to pay this singular way.  Imagine going to a store and finding out they only have 1 way to pay and for you that one way to pay is not convenient.  

In my opinion you should, and we do, offer many ways to pay.  The only way we shun payments is us picking it up (in any form).  But we are comfortable shunning this way of payment because we have X number of ways they can pay. 

As you bring on more units and you have a more diverse tenant base, not meaning race, but age, you will find that older people generally prefer to pay one way and the youngsters another and the large group in the middle will be pretty uniform.  While we offer many ways to pay a good 80-85% all pay the same way.

Get your ego out of it (#2).  This isn't you given in, this is you giving options so you can get what you want and that is rental income.  Just think of the time you have spent on this one tenant.  The research you did, the back and forth, posting online, now reading replies.  Silly drama that can be avoided.