6 Ways to Streamline Rent Collection
Rent collection is the backbone of any landlord’s business.
In the old days, landlords would have to collect rent in person or through the mail, and tenants would have to pay rent with cash or paper checks. These methods can be time-consuming and inconvenient.
Fortunately, the advent of online rent collection has made everything so much easier. While there are multiple ways to pay online, the best one for landlords is property management software. Designed specifically for landlords, property management software provides you with a number of tools that make rent collection a breeze.
Here are six ways you can streamline rent collection by using property management software:
- Collect Rent from Anywhere
Collecting cash payments requires you to meet with your tenant in person. Checks, though they are typically safer to drop off or mail, still require you to wait to physically receive the check and then deposit it into the bank.
With digital payments, your tenants can pay from anywhere, as long as they have access to a computer or mobile device. All you have to do is sit back and wait for the payment to come in. This eliminates any sort of inconvenience if you or your tenant is out of town when rent is due.
- Flexible Payment Options
Checks and even cash are quickly becoming outdated. With online rent collection, your tenants have the option to choose their method of payment, whether that be a credit card, debit card, or ACH payment, which pulls funds directly from their bank account.
Ultimately, your tenant can pay whichever way works best for them, and it has no effect on how you receive the payment on your end.
- Automated Late Fees
Enforcing late fees can be difficult and awkward. If your tenant misses a payment, you must track them down and have an uncomfortable conversation, asking them to pay the late fee (which they don’t always do). Because enforcing late fees yourself is tough, you may feel inclined to let them slide, but your business can’t afford tenants who don’t pay on time without penalization.
Automating late fees on property management software makes all these problems go away. If a tenant misses a payment, the software automatically charges them the late fee, which they must pay with their next rent payment. You can rest assured that you’ll always get your late fee payments without having to come across as the bad guy.
- Recurring Payments
With online rent collection, tenants have the option to set up recurring payments after putting in their payment information once. This makes things easier on your tenants since they don’t have to remember to pay every month; the software takes care of everything for them.
This is also great for you as a landlord because it reduces the likelihood that a tenant will miss a payment. With recurring payments, you can rest assured that you’ll consistently receive rent payments on time and in full.
- Automated Bookkeeping
One of the nice things about digital payments is that every transaction is recorded automatically. Therefore, with online rent collection, you don’t have to bother staying on top of your bookkeeping manually. This saves you time and energy, while simultaneously eliminating any risk of human error.
Plus, if you ever need to pull up your records for reference or to export documents to share with partners, lawyers, etc., you can easily do so when you receive payments on property management software.
- Customer Service
One of the best things about using property management software is that it’s made specifically for landlords. This means that the features are designed with you in mind.
That being said, if you ever run into an unexpected issue or need help understanding how a tool works, you can contact customer service to help walk you through whatever it is you need help with. You don’t want to cost your business time and money because of a technological issue, so an easy-to-reach customer service team who’s knowledgeable about the platform and all things property management is an invaluable resource.
Conclusion
Rent collection should be as straightforward as possible, and by using property management software to collect rent online, it can be. If you employ these six strategies and tools, you can save so much time and money on the rent collection process.
