Starting Out - Property Management Collection

[Francis Poblete]

Hello,

I am a 1st time landlord working with a local property management company in Maryland, USA for my 1st rental. I wanted to know if the practices of this management company for collecting rent is sound. I would like to hear about how others' experience with other property management companies are when it comes to collecting and sending the rent to the landlords.

I am about to sign a contract with this property management company. I opted for direct deposit for rent collection. The rent will go directly to me instead of the property management company/escrow. They have asked for my account # and routing number for direct deposit. They mentioned that in order to verify the bank account, 2 small amounts of $ will be deposited to the account and I would need to provide that back to them to confirm the account to deposit the rents to. It sounds like the same process when you add an external account within your bank. I'm wondering if this is okay and if there are any potential risks I should be aware of.

Thank you for all your help

[Nathan Fisher]

the small deposits are smart. I do the same everytime i pay a vendor with venmo/cashapp for the first time. 

I think the bigger concern is that they are depositing rent directly to you, and then charging you for the fees.

A licensed realtor would hold a trust fund in your name, would collect rent, deduct expenses, and then pay you out.