The Benefits of Online Rent Payments
The Internet changes every day and so do the uses we find for it. From transferring funds to purchasing goods online to keeping up with friends via the various social networks. Paying rent online is just one more convenience for both landlords and tenants that the Internet provides.
Collecting rent can often be difficult for landlords. Some tenants are late, some are forgetful, some just don’t have the necessary funds on rent day. One solution that can help eliminate some of these scenarios is to allow your tenants to pay rent online. Many are already paying such bills and utilities, cell phones, insurance premiums and many revolving credit accounts using the bill pay function provided by their banks. By allowing your tenants to add their rent payment to their regularly scheduled payments you have a better chance of receiving your rent on time.
In days gone by, the landlord was a dreaded site when he came to the door demanding his rent. Tenants were threatened with eviction the very next day and many counties considered this legal. Today we have much more sophisticated landlord/tenant laws allowing many chances for the tenant to bring his rent current without the fear of eviction. What’s more, it takes more than on day to evict a tenant; in some cases up to 30 days.
If you’re a tenant and you find yourself unable to pay your rent the first thing you should do is contact your landlord and explain your situation. You may be able to work out an arrangement such as paying the half the rent now and half later in the month. If you’re a landlord and you find your tenant is late or short you should get in touch with your tenant and find out what the problem is. Without knowing exactly what the difficulty is there is absolutely no chance of finding a solution.
The beauty of paying and receiving rent online is that those funds have already been accounted for having been deducted from your tenants budgets. The other benefit is that these funds are available in your account immediately. So while your tenants may have cash flow problems you never will. Your rent will be automatically transferred and instantly available.
Collecting rent has other benefits as well. Your bank serves as your bookkeeper letting you know exactly how much you have in your current account at any given time and by whom it was sent. What’s more, you can check your available balance and incoming payments 24/7; a great help when you have several properties keeping you busy during the day.
When all is said and done online banking isn’t going away. Why not jump on the bandwagon and be the first to offer your tenants online rent payments.
