All Forum Posts by: Deanna Bennett

Hey @Larry Watson Thanks for the mention and positive review! @Account Closed yes, currently tenants need to have access to a computer and an email address to pay. We have implemented credit and debit cards so tenants can pay with ACH (bank accounts) and credit/debit cards.

As others have stated, if you are not using online rent payment software that would be a good place to start. Good software will have customizable late fees, let you choose if you want to accept partial payments, and allow you to turn off rent payments for a rental unit so you can deactivate the payment options for a tenant if you have to start the evictions process. Check out the link in my signature if you are looking for online rent payment options or have questions about how they work. 

Good luck. Our customers are often telling us that their inherited tenants are the worst!

@Michael Seeker Good point. It's an article from the Bigger Pockets staff so I wanted to include it here. Yes, there are many payment options out there. Of those you mentioned we're partial to our Iowa neighbors, Dwolla. :) These are good options, but they are not tailored to rent payments. That means that while they provide money movement options, there is a lot of functionality that they lack. Our service is geared toward landlords who want to automate their rent collection needs, but allow tenants some control over their rent money. It's a balancing act that our customers appreciate. By focusing on the property management market we are able to include services for tenant screening, tenant management, communications, auto late fees, recurring payments, limiting partial payments, etc. all in one place. 

The full ACH process does take 5-7 days if you wait for the payment to fully clear through the banks meaning that any reversals will clear out before the funds are transferred to the landlord. 

However, we see less than 1% of payments reverse so we are able to process payments to accounts in 2 business days. This is preferred by our landlord customers because almost all of them never have to deal with a reversal and they get their rents faster.

Hi @Mel Hayes,

Welcome to BP! There's so much great information on here. There is a list of online rent payment options here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/rei/pay-rent-online-payment-tools/

I am happy to answer any questions you might have about ACH, collecting by credit/debit cards and how online rent payments work. 

@Larry Watson Thanks for the mention. I wanted to point out that RentMonitor also lets landlords set a maximum late fee. So in NC, Minnesota (or any other state with limits), you could have a daily late fee and set a maximum. That way, once the max is met, the late fee will stop accruing. 

And for landlords that feel bad and are tempted to waive the late fee, we're happy to be the "bad guy".

Hi Cody,

Not sure if Bremer county has a landlord association, but we've had great interactions with the landlord association in Black Hawk county. If you are ever looking to network with other investors locally you should check them out. Let me know if you need contact information. 

@Monte Blackwell Yikes! I agree with you that customer service is very important. Our team focuses on our customers and we are happy to actually talk to you on the phone if you need help with anything. Give us a shout at RentMonitor if you want to learn more about how we work. 

 Fantastic additional points. Thanks for adding on!

Are you in a location that will attract another good renter easily or will you face a long vacancy if the current renters move out? A good location with a desirable rental means that you could raise the rates more aggressively and if the current tenant moves out you would be able to get to market immediately with new tenants. However, if you are concerned with the time it would take to fill a vacancy, you will want to move slower and raise rates more conservatively.