All Forum Posts by: Radley Estrada

If you are the manager of erentpayments.com, can you please tell the biggerpockets landlords that use your service when we should be expecting our tenant's rent payments.

For the bp members reading this, I'm having the same experience as the OP.

To start, I've been using erentpayment.com for about a year now without any issues - until recently.

I have a tenant that made a rent payment on 10/4/17, and was stated by erentpayment's website dashboard that my tenant's payment was deposited on 10/13/2017 into my account.

Here it is today on 10/16/2017, and no deposit was posted into my bank account.  Adding insult to injury, I was still charged a processing fee from erentpayment.

I called their customer service number, and was greeted with a message stating "due to high call volumes, we are not taking any phone calls at this time". I was instructed to email them with my concerns and that it will be responded to in one business day.

As I type this post, I received an email response from erentpayment.com stating:

"Hello,

Our processing bank has been delaying payments and holding deposits. Due to this, we are working to leave that bank, and have already established a new bank for payments going forward. We are working to get the funds released that have been delayed. Here is the update we are sending so that you know what to expect, and we will continue to update you:
We apologize for the mass reply, however we are trying to reply as quickly as possible on the current status of the issue:

They are still holding funds in a "reserve" account claiming they need to hold the funds in case of any future returns, however we have very few returns after the normal return period. We are no longer processing any new transactions through them since all new transactions will go through our new bank so here are the steps we are taking today:

1. Our lawyer is contacting them this morning to demand immediate release of the reserve funds. Our lawyer was not able to contact them this weekend since their office is closed on the weekends.

2. We have already talked to our bank to raise additional funds to put down to get the reserve account funds released.

3. We are also talking to past investment groups that have contacted us in case we need to raise any additional funds.

We know this isn't the answer you want to hear, however we will get this resolved. We understand the issues caused by the delayed deposits and that regardless of the situation we have encountered you need a quick resolution.

We will continue to update you as we receive updates this morning from all the parties involved.

Rick
Manager of eRentPayment

Please let us know if there is anything else we can assist with. Thank you.

Charli
eRentPayment "

Excellent advice everyone.  

I'm changing my stance of desiring to help pay for the loss medication, to having the tenant contact their renters insurance company.

I feel that medication does fall under 'personal property'.

I will update shortly.

Thank you everyone for your responses, as it has given me a lot to consider.

I require all my tenants to have renters insurance, and may be something I look into.

@Account Closed - Laws in my area require I correct the situation with-in 72 hours.  

I should clarify.  The chronology of events went like this: I was contacted about the fridge being down.  I had a repair person evaluate the fridge the next day.  The repair person said the soonest the part can be in and the fridge can be fixed would be 2-3 days.  The tenant said she wanted to be there when the repair was made, and her earliest day off from work would be in a week.  I mentioned that the repair can be made without her present.  She refused.  So, we scheduled the repair on her soonest day off. 

My desire and ability to have the repair done with-in 72 hours was changed to 1 week because of the tenant.  She stated she would be OK without a fridge for that time.  She said she wanted to be there when a "stranger" was in her apartment fixing the fridge.  And she wanted reimbursement for her loss the 3-4 days her fridge was acting sporadic.  Fair enough.

It boggles me why for 3-4 days, the tenant's medications went bad when she thought there might be a problem with the fridge.  But, she has a plan for her medications if she doesn't have a fridge for a week.  

Honestly, I'm not even worried about the $350 reimbursement for her meds.  I have a healthy emergency fund.  

I just want to know if anyone reading this has a clause or addendum in their lease regarding this type of situation.  

Hey BP members, I have an interesting situation.

I moved a new tenant into one of my properties 2 months ago.  She is a great tenant and have had no problems so far.

Recently, I was informed that the fridge was working sporadically - then had stopped working all together after 3-4 days from initially noticing the fridge was not getting cold.  I immediately contacted a repair person and scheduled everything to be looked at the next day.  The fridge is still under warranty, and was told the repair will be completed in a week due to a part that needed to be ordered.

My tenant asked if she could be reimbursed for food lost the 3-4 days the fridge was not working well.  

I said I would have to make a reimbursement request.  I asked her to message me a short itemized list of food lost, and I'll run it by the company for reimbursement.

I just received the itemized list, and she included $100 worth of food (which I am fine with) and an additional $350 for her insulin medication she said that was thrown out because it had to be in the fridge.

Now like I said, I have no problem with food loss.  But, the medications?

I've never had an issue like this arise before.

What would stop this tenant or future tenants to say - "Hey, I lost $2 million dollars in medication in your fridge that broke down....give me my money" 

Because she is a good tenant, I am considering going ahead and reimbursing the food and the medication.  On a condition moving forward, we add an addendum stating that refrigerator will only be used for food storage, and that I the landlord is not responsible for any special medication that requires refrigeration.  And that the tenant will provide a mini-fridge for their medication. 

I am considering adding an addendum like this to all my leases.

Before I contact the tenant, I would love to hear opinions on this.  

Thanks in advance to all who's read and respond to this post.  

I agree with others.  I don't think, at this point, you need a property manager.

It sounds like you're a caring landlord wanting to make repairs on a timely matter.  But, it appears you haven't done a lot of research on the landlord/tenant laws in your area.  Typically, you are allowed to give tenants legal notice to enter for repairs and maintenance - with or without the tenant being there.   In Washington State, where I'm from, we have 48 hours notice to enter for repairs.   

If I were in your shoes, I'd find all the information regarding tenant/landlord laws in your area.  Or better yet, join your local landlords association.  They will have a wealth of knowledge regarding tenant/landlord laws that apply to your location.  Its a good way to meet landlords in your area as well.  Also, their association fees are tax deductible - just make sure to check with your CPA.  

The units in my 4-plex have durable laminate in the main rooms, and carpet in the bedrooms.

I tell my tenants the % of their security deposit returned is directly related to how much damage and cleaning their unit needs upon move-out.  I show them the costs of steam cleaning carpets, replacements, etc.  

I mention that there isn't any law that forces them to take their shoes off in the bedroom, but as a courtesy and to maximize the amount of their deposit returned on move-out, I ask for no shoes in the bedroom carpets. 

All my tenants have no problem with this.  And upon inspection, the carpets in the bedrooms remain very clean.

Nope....not worth the risk as others stated.  If you want to stay the good guy, pass the buck and blame your insurance company for not allowing it.  

I never say yes to a tenant's on the spot request.  I always say I'll have to look into it first.  

@Mark Fedorov - You know, that lock change out fee and providing only one key is something I might seriously consider doing.  Both your points about never being blamed for missing mail and not having to replace lost keys are excellent.

I second joing the WLA.  I'm a member as well.  FYI, the president of the WLA passed away recently.  So, things have slowed down a bit in the transition.  Still, I would contact them to get information.

Also, check out the tenant's union website of Washington State:

http://www.tenantsunion.org/en/rights

Its more geared toward tenant's rights, but, is a great guide to make sure as a landlord, you are doing everything legally.  They also link the RWC's of Washington State in terms of the rental laws they discuss.