Your tenant insists they put the check in the mail last week. You haven’t seen it, though.
The confusion lasts for days as you go back and forth trying to locate the missing check.
Unfortunately, situations like this are too common when it comes to rent payments.
The easiest solution? Adopt online rent payments. This feature of property management software platformsmakes your life easier and provides a surefire way to avoid situations like the one just described.
And this isn’t the only reason to adopt online payments. There are four other exceptional reasons we will discuss below as well.
Automated Records
Automated records are the backbone of online payments. No matter what approach you use to collect rent online, the application automatically records every transaction. This is a feature of every online payment application.
Automating records makes it easy to integrate transactions into your books without fretting about errors. It saves you time, money, and eliminates inevitable human error.
If you choose property management software as your method of online rent collection, this feature becomes even more advantageous. In addition to recording every transaction, most property management platforms also organize them into exportable documents that you can then share with partners, print out as backup records, or use in any way you need.
Fewer Late Payments
Late payments are the thorn in every landlord’s side. Tracking them down is difficult and burdensome. Not to mention the explanations you may have to sort through and the stress of trying to collect payment.
Online payments allow for automation, so if people use that feature, it makes late payments impossible. If they don’t use the automatic payment feature, most platforms can remind people when their rent is due. Automated late fees also make it impossible for tenants to debate the amount they owe.
What’s more, online rent collection allows tenants to make their payments from home. This means they don’t have to worry about getting their rent check in the mail on time or dropping it off to you at a time that you’re both available. Tenants can make payments when it’s convenient, and neither of you has to figure out how to coordinate schedules.
Automated Late Fees
We mentioned how automated late fees make it easy for tenants to know the amount they owe. But automated late fees do more than that.
No one likes to be the bad guy. With automated late fees, you don’t have to be. Most methods of online rent collection — with the exception of P2P platforms — enable landlords to set enforceable late fees.
No matter what software you use for rent collection, you should enable you to customize the late fee amount or rate, as well as the grace period. This allows you to automatically enforce late fees based on the terms outlined in your leases, minus unpleasant conversations with your tenants. It’s more efficient, and it fosters a stronger tenant-landlord relationship.
Safer Payment Processing
Sending rent directly to your bank account is much safer for your tenants than sending a check with their personal bank details printed on it, where there is always a risk of it falling in the wrong hands. Online payments ensure safe and secure transactions if the platform is well-built.
Collecting rent online also protects your personal banking information. Because your tenants make their rent payments via a mobile or desktop application, your account information is never exposed to them.
Recurring Payments
We touched on automated payments above, but it’s a beneficial feature that deserves a closer look.
With most property management software, tenants can set payments by interval and amount ahead of time, so they don’t have to remember to make their payments each month.
Automatically recurring payments are great for tenants because they never incur late fees for forgetting to pay their rent. And they’re great for you because you know your money will be delivered on time and in the correct amount.
Conclusion
As a landlord, these five reasons should convince you to adopt online payments. Who doesn’t want payment on time and in the correct amount?
You save time and valuable effort through technology. And you make your tenants’ lives easier in the process. It truly is a win-win.
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