All businesses come with some risk attached. Without risk, there is no reward. The same can go for landlords and property managers. While your business cannot be entirely without risk, there are a few things that you can do to minimize the risks you are taking. Here at PayRent, we often taught our service as being “safe and simple” rent collection, but what exactly are you being kept safe from? This article examines the many ways that online rent collection through PayRent protects landlords.
Fraud Protection
When you use an online platform to collect rent from your tenants, your personal and financial information is kept secure. While it is true that you could give your banking information to your tenants and have them deposit rent funds directly into your account, you will be giving out some sensitive information about yourself or your business. PayRent allows your tenants to make payments deposited directly into your bank account without sacrificing your privacy.
PayRent uses bank-level encryption for all of our transaction information so both you and your tenants can feel safe using the service.
Eviction Protection
Have you ever tried evicting a tenant only to have them make a last-minute partial payment that allowed them to continue living in your property and forced you to start the eviction process all over again? Landlords who have experienced this know that they need to protect against accepting partial payments.
Unlike peer-to-peer money transferring applications, PayRent has built-in landlord specific features that protect you during eviction proceedings. The ability to refuse payment or only accept full payment on a property can protect your evection case, as tenants can not provide you with a small partial payment and stop the eviction process.
Late Fee Enforcement
While it is possible to continue to enforce your late rent policies without an online rent collection platform, it can be difficult to do when you accept checks, cash, or direct deposits to your bank account from your renters. With PayRent, you can add a late transaction to your renter account and adjust your account settings to only accept full payment, thereby forcing your tenant to pay the late fee according to the lease, to pay rent.
Physical Protection
Collecting rent in person can be a risky venture. There have been several instances where landlords have been attacked by their renters while trying to collect rent. This Salt Lake City landlord was murdered by a tenant or this New York City landlord who was pushed down a flight of stairs to his death while trying to collect rent. Keep yourself safe by offering online rent collection. You won’t have to physically confront your tenants for payment, and you will never have to give out sensitive information, like your mailing address to your tenants.
If you do find yourself needing to confront a disgruntled tenant. Please find a safe place to do so, like a video-monitored location near a police station or request a local law enforcement officer to come with you to talk to your tenant.