All Forum Posts by: Amanda Bahil

@JD Martin Nope, criticism ok. Soft pedaling isn't helpful - but neither were your remarks. I don't care if the suggestions are wrapped in harsh criticism, but at least offer some! And I'm here - and STILL here against all odds. You have no idea where I started, and what I've had to do to even get to where I am. And trust me, I'll be here as long as you. Why are you here even commenting at all on this post? You realize, you saw my post said to yourself, oh look at this idiot, and decided to take to your keyboard to in essence tell me just that, without offering much in return! You were not helpful, just wagging a finger. And if you go back and reread my OP, you'll see I'm already pretty much saying I know I f*cked up. This is a place for mentorship - even if that includes harsh criticism. But at least attempt to give some guidance along with your scolding. Again, thanks but no thanks. Feel free to comment AGAIN even though there was no need for you to do it before, as there isn't now. THANKS - Especially for the lesson that not everybody is for everybody! 

 JD, while I appreciate your input, I just think you and I aren't a good mix. You have no idea who I am or what I do, or how I run any of my businesses. Nor do I feel like I need to explain any of it or why it happened. I came here for advice, constructive criticisms even. I may not have asked specifically for electronic payment recommendations because I did that on a different post, dedicated to asking ONLY that question. But, I did make mention in the first paragraph that I haven't figured that out yet and explained why, so maybe taking it upon yourself to offer suggestions would have been courteous instead of telling me to google for 10 minutes. Don't need the personal commentary, and I'm open to criticism. But what you're offering doesn't feel like anything more than a scolding, and maybe questioning whether or not I'm mixed up in fraud?! So while I appreciate the advice, feel free to refrain from offering any more as it will fall on deaf ears. You might want to take a look at how you're offering advice, or just talking to people in general if you want to run a successful business. To quote you, sorry if that sounds harsh. Thanks again.

@Michelle Taylor @JD Martin Yes, I think it is bank specific because I've heard that before. TD, where we have the business accounts, doesn't let us use Zelle for the business accounts and it's annoying! But thank you for the feedback.

 Hi @John Underwood. I've been researching electronic payments for rent today and came across your reply regarding electronic payments from a few months ago. 

I loved Zelle, but since we switched to a business account, they will no longer let us use Zelle since that's only for personal accounts. I really don't like paypal, and Venmo is a last resort. 

I've also considered letting them directly deposit into my business account which you mentioned, but have been very wary of doing so since I'd have to divulge the account number and such. Am I worrying too much about that? And what other ways do people deposit into your business account? 

I've been researching apartments.com which a lot of people here seem to recommend. Do you have any experience with them or any other landlord pay system/software?

Any feedback is appreciated!

1. I appreciate that viewpoint, since this is what I'm wrestling with. I agree with the mortgage payment metaphor, although it's not exactly the same circumstances, so that's why I'm not 100% settled on course of action.

2. Appreciate this opinion as well. I've successfully self-managed 3 properties for many years. I've always figured below a certain number was manageable, and it has been. Over the years, only the last two tenants placed in two properties a few months ago have requested electronic payment, and that was when we were setting up business accounts and realized they want to charge for ACH, which I'm not doing. So that's one of the reasons I came back to BP: to see what fellow landlords are using nowadays. Instead of telling me I'm in over my head, why don't you offer some solutions for me rather than offering solid advice of it only takes 10 minutes? Thanks anyway.

Thank you @Tim Baldwin! An attorney's take is priceless. Yes, lease states they can pay by several methods which includes money order. It's interesting that even though it never made it to me, but by them sending it to me it is considered "in my possession", because I can't do much in terms of reporting anything stolen. In other words, the only people the post office will talk to and deal with is the sender, so I have no recourse there with them. 

They have started the process with the post office fraud division to hopefully recoup some if not all of their money. And after reading your post, especially since they're good tenants and nice people, I guess the only thing to do would be to wait and see if they are able to collect any of that lost money and if so, then expect them to pay. 

Wholeheartedly appreciate your reply!

Thanks for the reply. I agree that I am partly at fault, which is why I'm struggling. I don't feel right demanding they pay when I contributed to them missing a second month by not raising the red flag by noticing I hadn't received that month's rent. I could go back and forth regarding blame, but either way, I am partly responsible, which I totally accept. 

I also agree that the best course here is to probably eat half of it and hope they see that since we're both at fault, that it's a good compromise. I mean, I would never send a money order and not track it to make sure it wound up where it was supposed to. 

As for how it's gone missing... that's a whole mess. They still have the receipts/numbers from the money orders purchased at the post office so they were able to track them, as was the post office. After they were purchased, they were filled out, sealed into envelopes and mailed to me via certified mail. The money orders were altered and cashed by someone else. So if they weren't taken within the post office, TWICE, where were they hijacked? They never made it to me, and were not taken from my mailbox. Plus they're obviously working with someone at a check cashing place who is allowing them to cash them because there's no way they're altering those things and you can't tell.

Hi all. Any and all advice is appreciated! Quick backstory: Tenants have been in place for almost a year and have always paid reliably, and on time. They did so by sending money orders because I haven't figured out the best way to accept electronic payments to my LLC business account since services like Zelle are for personal accounts only and I'm not really a fan of Venmo or Cash apps. I manage the property myself, and the following info is one for the 'con' column of self property management. Things got a little chaotic in my personal life and I didn't realize I had missed two months of rent. When I spoke to them, they were horrified and had assured me they had sent payments, same way as in the past. With a little investigating on their end, the money orders were hijacked WITHIN the post office (!) and forged to payout to someone else. They of course are looking into recourse to recoup their stolen money. In the mean time, I'm unsure how to go about asking them to pay the 2 months of lost rent. They sent it - which they were able to prove. I didn't realize I hadn't received either payment for two months, so I feel somewhat liable as well. The question is, how do I go about asking for the lost rent? I know this may be a very simple answer to some: they owe rent, so just tell them they have to send it! But, honestly, there's no stipulation for anything like this in the lease, and they're nice people, so I'm just unsure how to go about having this conversation with them. I know on some level they must be thinking they're going to be on the hook for it, but who knows! And I need advice on how to approach this.

As I stated above, any and all advice is welcome!!