4 Ways Online Rent Collection Simplifies Rental Management

Are you still collecting rent via cash or paper checks? Online rent collection is a much easier, quicker, and safer way to collect rent from your tenants. Outlined below are the top four ways that online rent collection will ease your rental management process. 

#1: Increased Transparency 

It’s normal to have some stipulations about the ability to collect rent online. Some say it seems less secure than traditional ways to pay rent, like physically handing your check to your landlord. When you can see your payment make it to the right person, it’s easy to assume that paying rent online, where you don’t have that ability, is less guaranteed. However, that’s not the case.

Online rent payments are highly secure, and it’s actually thought to be more secure than in-person transactions. This sense of security comes from the transparency that online payments offer. Each computer has an IP address, or “internet protocol”, that dictates how that device’s data is formatted when sharing to the internet. Through this IP address, any piece of technology that can access the internet is easily traceable and identifiable. 

So, what does this mean for landlords seeking to move to online rent collection? When conducting online rent transactions, the devices sending and receiving funds are able to be tracked, so you can always tell who is behind the screen. Additionally, other precautions like encryption protect you and your tenants’ data. 

Comparatively, when paying rent with a paper check you have to worry about whether that check is fake or will bounce. You also then must tediously record each tenant’s payment with a paper and pencil or Excel sheet. With online payments, both of these worries are a thing of the past. 

#2: Automated Payments

Life is hard. Things can get in the way of our day-to-day responsibilities. Your tenants may suddenly be reminded of the date and realize their rent payment was due three days ago, then start the process of panicking, transferring the funds, and maybe even messaging you asking for a late fee waiver. All of this is just one big headache: wouldn’t it be nice if your tenant’s rent payment came out of their account without them having to remember to do so?

When you use property management software to conduct online rent collection, your renters will have the ability to sign up for automatic rent payments. After inputting their account/card info, the amount they would like to pay, and how often they would like to make that payment, they no longer have to take any direct action when paying rent. 

Of course, this is a bonus for you as much as it is for them. You have less late payments as well as less tenants begging for a reduced or waived late fee. However, you should caution your tenants to not simply “set it and forget it”. Make sure they are checking up on how much is being taken out of their account each month to ensure the amount is correct. 

#3: Easily Enforceable Fees

While automated payments should cut down on the amount of late rent you receive, it won’t completely eliminate it. That’s why automated fees are also extremely helpful.

One of the tougher parts of being a landlord is having to put your foot down and enforce the policies in your lease. It can be hard to tell your loyal and friendly tenants that, no, you can’t waive the late fee this time. With automated fees, you don’t have to be the bad guy. Blame it all on the computer. 

With most property management software, you can input how much you would like your late fee to be, as well as how long your grace period is. When a tenant exceeds that period, they are charged the fee you chose without any direct action from you. This goes for other fees as well- if the renter in Unit C has a new kitten and has signed off on the pet rent amount you set forth in your rental agreement, you can also tack that on to their rent each month via your property management software. 

#4: Multiple Ways to Pay

One of the other benefits of online rent collection is that tenants can pay how they choose. They may conduct an ach rent payment, which directly moves the funds from one bank account to the other or input their debit/credit card information and pay rent that way. 

When you extend the option for tenants to pay in the way they prefer, they are more likely to pay you on time and in the correct amount. Again, using property management software to collect rent online free is the easiest and most convenient way to coordinate this system. 

Conclusion

Although this tip has been mentioned above, it bears repeating: do your research and choose quality property management software to collect rent online. Many platforms are completely free, like Innago, and you can reap all the benefits listed above without any cost to you.