Baselane - Banking Solution for Landlords

[Jamie Banks]

For those who self manage, I wanted to share a great bank I've been using called Baselane. Baselane is a bank that also has property management software and book keeping capabilities. As a manager of over 20 units, it's important for me to have a software that fits the needs of the properties I own and manage for others. Here's a few of my favorite features:

- Virtual Accounts: For each bank account you set up there's the option to have up to 20 virtual accounts. I use the virtual accounts for security deposits, reserves, etc. I set up virtual accounts for each property that is linked to my main operating account. This allows me to easily manage the finances of each property for my clients and I can include automations for transactions going into each property's account. 

- Rent Collection: Tenants can pay their rent directly to Baselane. Baselane allows you to set up security deposit, rent, and other charges and will send tenants reminders of when the rent is due. I love being able to collect rent directly into my bank account. This is free for tenants using ACH.

[Bonnie Low]

This is really helpful - I'm taking over management of my LTRs from our current PM so I happened to be looking into this very thing. I've been using Avail to generate leases and collect payments from guests for my MTR but I don't think it has comprehensive enough features.  Just curious, do you have a regular bank - like a Chase or US Bank or a local bank in addition to Baselane or do you just use Baselane exclusively?

[Daniel Rivera]

I am a NJ PM owner and started using Baselane, as well, for its ease of setting up virtual accounts, transaction categorization, and overall organization. I am a fan, but I wish it would allow for the option to cash money orders for security deposits. Transfers between accounts are instantaneous, and the mobile check deposit works well. I haven't had any major issues, and customer support was quick to assist. We use a separate property management software for everything else, so I can't speak to the rent collection features.

[Chad Burkett]

Is baselane and hemlane the same company?    Or are these two completely separate things that do not coordinate together?   I'm seeing people talk about banking/managing financials with baselane and using hemlane or rentredi for management.  

[Daniel Rivera]

They are two different companies. Baselane is a banking, bookkeeping, and rent collection tool/service. Hemlane is a property management software. I use Baselane for banking, and a separate property management software.

[Chad Burkett]

perfect thanks!

[Jamie Banks]

@Bonnie Low I use Baselane exclusively for my business banking. I love that the features of Avail and other property management softwares are integrated into the platform

[Veronica Juliao-Guzman]

One of the creators of Baseline was featured on a podcast I recently listened to. I instantly researched them and have only read positive things. It seems very useful, practical and resourceful. I plan to open an account soon! 

[Colleen F.]

@Jamie Banks if you are using them for account too, I can see it but is there any advantage if you use your current bank? I wasn't really thrilled being forced to quickbooks online from desktop so I would like a different software for bookkeeping but need to retain my mortgage bank too. 

They show a good array of features given they are only 3 years old. Have you ever needed support and how responsive were they? 

Baselane actually isn't a bank. They are more of an interface with the bank.  The current partner is Thread Bank which apparently is in Eastern TN and was recapitilized? in 2021 but Looks like they existed since 1906 as CIVIS.

I know they partnered with transunion for screening. have you used this service and does it give a decent report?  What is the per person screening running? 

[Chad Burkett]

yes and @jamie 

@Jamie Banks is there a way to get funds out quickly such as via a casheir's check in some way from baselane if your capital is in their accts or do you still need to keep money in a local acct you can go to and get for purchasing a property or larger costs?

[Jamie Banks]

There's a few ways to quickly access your funds 

- ATM for cash

- ACH to another account

- Wire (for larger property purchases, etc.)

[Camille T.]

Tenants have to pay 2.99% fee for ACH or debit payment?  

[Colleen F.]

@Camille T.  my research shows 2.99% fee with Debit or Credit card to tenant if they pay use these forms of payment. *Tenant payments via ACH not deposited into a Baselane Banking account will incur a $2 fee. So looks like direct ACH payments to Baselane are not a charge unless you use a card.

[Jamie Banks]

Quote from @Camille T.:

Tenants have to pay 2.99% fee for ACH or debit payment?  

 The fee for tenants to pay through ACH to the landlords Baselane bank account is $0. The 2.99% fee is when tenants choose to pay through debit or credit cards. I've used other property management softwares before I switched over to Baselane and the debit/credit card fee is actually a little cheaper than other softwares. 

[Kelly Beck]

Quote from @Jamie Banks:

There's a few ways to quickly access your funds 

- ATM for cash

- ACH to another account

- Wire (for larger property purchases, etc.)

 Is the wiring instant and is there a charge? Right now we're using a local credit union and every time I need to do a wire transfer I have to go into the branch location. Thanks!

[Jamie Banks]

@Kelly Beck As of now, no. I've only wired funds from my account once (at about 8pm) and they were received the next day. Per the website, wires are free for a limited time and the funds will be received in 0-1 business days. 

[Kelly Beck]

Quote from @James Shannon:

One BIG concern that I have as I research Baselane (and other, similar options) is that they provide access to my money but they're not actually bank and don't have bank-level security. This scares me.

Baselane almost certainly doesn't take security and fraud as seriously as a bank would. They don't even have two-factor authentication (e.g., SMS code on login), or at least don't enforce it for me since I chose to signup using Google. The underlying bank (Thread) MAY do fraud detection on the debit card, but they probably don't do any fraud detection on outgoing wire requests. Ideally there'd be second factor requirements on any transfer, and especially "suspicious" ones (as defined by an entire team of people who monitor that sort of thing).

Cookie theft and other takeover scenarios are a thing. Is Baselane going to be liable for these types of issues, or are they going to tell me to contact Thread?

This is all made worse by the fact that there's no "collaborator" login (as other solutions have). As I evaluate this, I figured I'd share my account with my bookkeeper, but then realized that would also give them access to my accounts.

Don't get me wrong, I like Baselane so far, but this might be a fatal flaw for me. I could keep a limited amount of money in Baselane accounts, and constantly transfer in and out, but that sort of defeats the purpose. They do offer linked accounts, so maybe I'll go with a 3rd party bank that I can trust.

I appreciate this concern, as we’re also looking to move to a bank that allows for multiple account to use David Richter’s Profit First method. I like that baseline seems like a good replacement for Quickbooks, as well.

In regards to having multiple accounts, I’ve been told that Chase is a bank that allowed for this, but I also don’t trust that Chase wouldn’t be taken out with the other banks failing, so I don’t know about using their accounts, either.

If you happen to come by a bank you would trust, I appreciate if you’d share. 

Thanks.

[Kelly Beck]

Lots of good thought there, thanks!

[Michael Hence]

Thought I would share my experience with baselane as a warning to others.  Initially I thought it was a really good service.  As others have mentioned, the virtual accounts you can set up for each property was really intriguing to me.  I also liked the quickbooks like record keeping, that was my favorite feature.

All was going well for a few months but I ran into an issue.  The website is the only way to access baselane, there is not app to use.  And when logging into the website they force you to do a two step authentication where they send a text message to your cell phone.  The problem occurred when I had to change my cell phone number.  There is not other option to verify yourself other than receiving the text message.  So since I no longer had access my old cell phone number then I was locked out of baselane.

On June 25th I attempted to contact support to have my cell number changed in their system.  You would think this would be a quick and easy process.  Support didn't respond back to me until two business days later and then they asked to me provide some info to verify my identity (which I had already provided on the 25th) so I provided the info again.  Two business days after that I get an email saying they received my info and will pass it along to the "product team" to process the request.

Later that day I get another email asking me to verify my identity again.  I followed the instructions and did what was asked.  Next day I sent a follow-up email to support inquiring about the status of this change request because at this point I had not had access to my account or funds for a week.  They responded by asking me to be patient and informed me they are working "diligently" on the issue.  Really?  Working diligently means taking over a week to change a phone number?

So I waited patiently for SIX more days and still didn't hear anything from baselane and still didn't have access to my account.  So I emailed again on July 8th requesting a status update and didn't receive any response.  Now here we are on the 10th of July and baselane still hasn't updated the phone number, I still don't have access to my funds, and they don't even have the decency to respond to my reply.  I do like the application but obviously the customer support is lacking.  It's inexcusable to take over two weeks for such a minor update to my account. 

I went to the ATM to today to see if I could just start withdrawing my funds from the account that way but since I have several virtual accounts with funds in each one and baselane only issued one debit card for the "main" account, it won't let me pull the funds from the additional accounts. To say I'm very frustrated with this company is an understatement.  I'm about ready to file a complaint on them with the FDIC.

Moral of the story, it's a nifty application but I would be careful about how much money you keep in that account.  Luckily I still have my regular bank account and I don't keep all my funds in baselane or I would have been in a serious bind.  Proceed cautiously with this company.

[Bonnie Low]

Quote from @Michael Hence:

Thought I would share my experience with baselane as a warning to others.  Initially I thought it was a really good service.  As others have mentioned, the virtual accounts you can set up for each property was really intriguing to me.  I also liked the quickbooks like record keeping, that was my favorite feature.

All was going well for a few months but I ran into an issue.  The website is the only way to access baselane, there is not app to use.  And when logging into the website they force you to do a two step authentication where they send a text message to your cell phone.  The problem occurred when I had to change my cell phone number.  There is not other option to verify yourself other than receiving the text message.  So since I no longer had access my old cell phone number then I was locked out of baselane.

On June 25th I attempted to contact support to have my cell number changed in their system.  You would think this would be a quick and easy process.  Support didn't respond back to me until two business days later and then they asked to me provide some info to verify my identity (which I had already provided on the 25th) so I provided the info again.  Two business days after that I get an email saying they received my info and will pass it along to the "product team" to process the request.

Later that day I get another email asking me to verify my identity again.  I followed the instructions and did what was asked.  Next day I sent a follow-up email to support inquiring about the status of this change request because at this point I had not had access to my account or funds for a week.  They responded by asking me to be patient and informed me they are working "diligently" on the issue.  Really?  Working diligently means taking over a week to change a phone number?

So I waited patiently for SIX more days and still didn't hear anything from baselane and still didn't have access to my account.  So I emailed again on July 8th requesting a status update and didn't receive any response.  Now here we are on the 10th of July and baselane still hasn't updated the phone number, I still don't have access to my funds, and they don't even have the decency to respond to my reply.  I do like the application but obviously the customer support is lacking.  It's inexcusable to take over two weeks for such a minor update to my account. 

I went to the ATM to today to see if I could just start withdrawing my funds from the account that way but since I have several virtual accounts with funds in each one and baselane only issued one debit card for the "main" account, it won't let me pull the funds from the additional accounts. To say I'm very frustrated with this company is an understatement.  I'm about ready to file a complaint on them with the FDIC.

Moral of the story, it's a nifty application but I would be careful about how much money you keep in that account.  Luckily I still have my regular bank account and I don't keep all my funds in baselane or I would have been in a serious bind.  Proceed cautiously with this company.

 Hey, Michael - that really stinks and I can understand why you'd be frustrated. I know the 2-step authentication process is not a requirement because I've never had to do that so maybe you chose that when you set up your account? Not sure. Anyway, I think @Saad D. is here on the forums and probably can address these concerns for you right away. Good luck!

[Michael Hence]

*****UPDATE******
This is an update on my earlier post on Baselane.  Shortly after posting this message I did receive a call from someone from Baselane letting me know that my phone number has been updated.  His name was Rod and he could not have been nicer.  He was very apologetic about the issue I experienced and the the amount of time it took to resolve the issue.  He also informed me that after reviewing my issue with support that Baselane would be escalating the issue that I experienced to their management group to make procedural changes to ensure that this type of issue doesn't happen again to their customers in the future.

I was very appreciative of his call.  He genuinely seemed apologetic and wanted to fix this issue going forward.  I'm happy to say that I am now back on Baselane again and all is good.  I'm looking forward to using their services for many years going forward.   

[Trevor Davis]

Hi Jamie,

I'm glad to see another good review for Baselane, as I signed up for it this week.  It seems great, but I'm having some trouble getting started.

So far, my first tenant is having trouble getting payment set up.  She messaged me saying she is signed in, but needs me to change the "due date" to the 3rd because that is when she gets paid.  Is it true tenants can't pay beyond the due date?  I'm sure there's something not being understood between me and my tenant.  I'm a little frustrated because I can't see what the tenant sees on their end.

Any help would be appreciated!

[Bonnie Low]

Quote from @Trevor Davis:

Hi Jamie,

I'm glad to see another good review for Baselane, as I signed up for it this week.  It seems great, but I'm having some trouble getting started.

So far, my first tenant is having trouble getting payment set up.  She messaged me saying she is signed in, but needs me to change the "due date" to the 3rd because that is when she gets paid.  Is it true tenants can't pay beyond the due date?  I'm sure there's something not being understood between me and my tenant.  I'm a little frustrated because I can't see what the tenant sees on their end.

Any help would be appreciated!

 Trevor, you can adjust your due date in Baselane if you're inclined to let her pay on the 3rd, but make sure you have also adjusted the terms of your lease to reflect that. Baselane does have customer support and @Saad D., one of the creators, is active here and can probably assist you as well.

[Ned Marz]

Quote from @Daniel Rivera:

They are two different companies. Baselane is a banking, bookkeeping, and rent collection tool/service. Hemlane is a property management software. I use Baselane for banking, and a separate property management software.

 What separate PM software are you using to compliment Baselane?  I am using Baselane and looking for that missing piece

[Daniel Rivera]

Quote from @Ned Marz:

Quote from @Daniel Rivera:

They are two different companies. Baselane is a banking, bookkeeping, and rent collection tool/service. Hemlane is a property management software. I use Baselane for banking, and a separate property management software.

 What separate PM software are you using to compliment Baselane?  I am using Baselane and looking for that missing piece

Buildium

[Allen Berrebbi]

So I saw this and wondered about FDIC etc. If this was a safe bank

Baselane is a financial technology company, not a bank. While it uses partner banks to provide banking services, your FDIC-insurance protection may be limited. Read this article from the FDIC to understand the risks of using a non-bank company.