I really can’t wait for the day when all my rent payments will be paid electronically. But who to choose? At first I was going to go with Chase’s QuickPay. Then I was reminded about Erentpayment.com, and I was gonna do that. As I was researching Erent, I found another site called Cozy which does what Erent does but for free! America, man. So many damned choices. So I’ll use this post to help me make my decision. Let’s start with the easy one.
Cozy offers to collect rent from one bank account to another, just like the others. To do a background/credit check per tenant is $25. Since I don’t need that particular service, I wondered if they would still collect money for me. They responded 3 hours later:
Thanks for getting in touch, we appreciate it! Cozy only charges for background and credit reports at the moment, and those fees go to the applicants. Our service is free for both landlords and tenants to use, and we don't charge extra for ACH payment processing.
This answer told me everything I need to know. Since they’re a newer company, their thing is to steal away as many customers from other rent collecting companies by not charging for their ACH payment services. Their background checks are their bread and butter for now, and they don’t mind taking the temporary loss as long as they build a big clientele. Notice the term “at the moment” in their response. They will charge for the ACH payments eventually, especially if more people like me sign up for their services. And the fact that they don’t have a customer service line really turned me off. So that leaves QuickPay and ERent.
The only big difference between the two is that ERent offers more options. They can setup recurring payments, charge the late fees, and give a detailed account of all the payments made from every tenant. They charge $3 per transaction, so I’ll be paying $36 a month for 12 apartments once I get Property 4. Right now it would cost around $30 with 10 apartments (eight + Property X’s two apartments). They take care of record keeping and make it easy to track who paid what and when. They even have lease applications and difference resources for landlords, and a customer support phone number with someone who sounds well-informed on the other line. For $30 a month? That’s a pretty good deal for all the stuff that they do. Chase’s QuickPay has none of these options, but it’s 100% free. I’d basically be doing all the record keeping and stuff that I’m doing right now, but will no longer have to go to the post office to pick up rent. The decision wasn’t clear to me until I wrote this paragraph. I have to go with ERent.
My only hangup was that I’ve gotten used to doing the record keeping myself. I like being assertive in that area and on top of the payments. I don’t want to become one of those landlords that let someone else do all the work… that’s how businesses fail. But something like collecting rent is tedious, and I’d still be dealing with repairs and turnovers. I’d still be on top of recording payments, only now I’ll have a third party to make it easier. I also don't like the idea of tenants having a third party to blame if a payment doesn't go through, but that would happen with either choice. I should be signed up by the end of October and I’ll do it tenant by tenant. Taking it slow is the best way to go when introducing something new to a group of simpletons.
P.S.: I can get Properties 1 and 2 on board with Erent easily, but Property 3 might be a pain in the ass. Chucky is an 85 year old man, and I doubt he wants to be introduced to a new system. Thomas always pays with money orders so I doubt he even has a bank account. Rory is a convicted pedophile and I try not to communicate with him at all. Eugene and Taniqua are consistently late, and they also pay with money orders. I’m trying not to rock the boat too much at Property 3 due to its special situation. I may just leave everything as it is until I get the money to start renovations.
Cozy offers to collect rent from one bank account to another, just like the others. To do a background/credit check per tenant is $25. Since I don’t need that particular service, I wondered if they would still collect money for me. They responded 3 hours later:
Thanks for getting in touch, we appreciate it! Cozy only charges for background and credit reports at the moment, and those fees go to the applicants. Our service is free for both landlords and tenants to use, and we don't charge extra for ACH payment processing.
This answer told me everything I need to know. Since they’re a newer company, their thing is to steal away as many customers from other rent collecting companies by not charging for their ACH payment services. Their background checks are their bread and butter for now, and they don’t mind taking the temporary loss as long as they build a big clientele. Notice the term “at the moment” in their response. They will charge for the ACH payments eventually, especially if more people like me sign up for their services. And the fact that they don’t have a customer service line really turned me off. So that leaves QuickPay and ERent.
The only big difference between the two is that ERent offers more options. They can setup recurring payments, charge the late fees, and give a detailed account of all the payments made from every tenant. They charge $3 per transaction, so I’ll be paying $36 a month for 12 apartments once I get Property 4. Right now it would cost around $30 with 10 apartments (eight + Property X’s two apartments). They take care of record keeping and make it easy to track who paid what and when. They even have lease applications and difference resources for landlords, and a customer support phone number with someone who sounds well-informed on the other line. For $30 a month? That’s a pretty good deal for all the stuff that they do. Chase’s QuickPay has none of these options, but it’s 100% free. I’d basically be doing all the record keeping and stuff that I’m doing right now, but will no longer have to go to the post office to pick up rent. The decision wasn’t clear to me until I wrote this paragraph. I have to go with ERent.
My only hangup was that I’ve gotten used to doing the record keeping myself. I like being assertive in that area and on top of the payments. I don’t want to become one of those landlords that let someone else do all the work… that’s how businesses fail. But something like collecting rent is tedious, and I’d still be dealing with repairs and turnovers. I’d still be on top of recording payments, only now I’ll have a third party to make it easier. I also don't like the idea of tenants having a third party to blame if a payment doesn't go through, but that would happen with either choice. I should be signed up by the end of October and I’ll do it tenant by tenant. Taking it slow is the best way to go when introducing something new to a group of simpletons.
P.S.: I can get Properties 1 and 2 on board with Erent easily, but Property 3 might be a pain in the ass. Chucky is an 85 year old man, and I doubt he wants to be introduced to a new system. Thomas always pays with money orders so I doubt he even has a bank account. Rory is a convicted pedophile and I try not to communicate with him at all. Eugene and Taniqua are consistently late, and they also pay with money orders. I’m trying not to rock the boat too much at Property 3 due to its special situation. I may just leave everything as it is until I get the money to start renovations.
ERentPayment really is a good service. And if you ever have problems, they are reachable by phone. I love them. I slip the $3 fee with my tenant, so each of us paid $1.50.
ReplyDeleteIt just occurred to me that my other rentals are not set up through them (property management), but I think I will have the property managers pay that way too so I'lI have more of a money trail.