Wednesday, 22 July 2009

Making Rent Payments Online Via Property Management Software

By Layla Vanderbilt

If you've ever managed a property or have known someone who has, then you know that property managers have their hands full when the first of the month rolls around. This is because they have to sort through tons of paperwork and figure out which tenants have paid their rent and which ones have yet to pay. Then they also have to compare the payments made to the numbers on the paperwork to make sure that the tenants are paying the correct amount. On top of this managers have to put up late notices and eviction notices if tenants haven't paid on time. This task can be very tedious for managers and there are several mistakes that can be made during it because of the amount of time required to do it. Luckily there is online software that managers can use to make the beginning of the month a lot less hectic.

One of the easiest methods for making payments is via an automated withdrawal system. This system is setup not using the internet but in the office between the manager and tenant. The tenant will give the manager the bank account number and routing info and then sign a paper consenting to the automated payments. If the bank account doesn't have the proper funds in it then the tenant will often be charged the fees that the landlord gets charged. However the problem is that managers are unable to edit the amount that gets charged to tenants. This means that any other charges, such as water, will have to be a separate payment.

Another easy payment method is by using a payment system that allows for credit card or debit card payments. This method can be slightly risky for management. This is because if a payment has insufficient funds the management might get stuck with a fee that is between 2 and 3 percent. The benefit of this system is that your tenants won't have to run around to try to get money orders and they can do it quickly and effectively from their home. As a property manager you can benefit from this because all of the payments will be organized and you will have an easy to read record as to who paid their rent and on what day they paid it.

The other type of online payment system that can be used is where tenants use their bank accounts rather than credit or debit cards to make a payment. Once again landlords can view all of the payments online. This system often works best as landlords don't have to worry about possible fees due to credit card issues.

Online property management software can be very handy for all types of managers as they can stay more organized with less effort. This also means that you won't have to spend hours upon hours at the beginning of the month trying to figure out who paid rent because you can simply log onto the software and look.

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