We ran across this problem too Chance. The fees for a portal site are per unit. I've seen the industry say that only 20% of the people on site will pay online. Credit card fees eat up 2-3% of your rental amount. I've seen some companies charge a convenience fee to the resident to overcome this percentage. These fees can be anywhere from $1.95 per ACH to $33 for a credit card. So add it up... per unit costs per quarter or month, ACH fees by your bank, credit card fees all eat into your bottom line. What do you do? We developed our own Portal site. No monthly fees, minimal ACH fees by the bank. We do not accept credit cards so we don't have that issue. We can have the convenience of paying online without the unnecessary costs. It's working well for us. Obviously you have to have the IT structure to program your own. I am uncertain what outsourcing this would be.

Are there any out there without the huge fees to either the resident or the property. I was astounded the other day when I found out how much our property was paying. The resident fees were out of this world as well. I heard every credit card provider now has to charge fees comparable to Visa is this true? Any feedback would be appreciated.

I would do it to make sure my rent is the first thing that comes out of my paycheck. Besides, I have had problems with ACH transactions in the past, what happens when I decide to change banks or if I have a case that requires me to change my accounts?

So you would pay your rent in advance of the due date? Our residents often park their payment in a savings acount and then their rent is sent ACH from there. This gets it out of their checking account for circumstances like you are describing. It takes some creativity sometimes on the part of the resident to manage their funds but I have never lost a lease over this policy.

Hi David,

Can I ask what state you operate in? Your comments about check scanners concerns me as we are about to roll these out to all our sites and our bank is encouraging us to do so.

April Zimmerman wrote:

It is bill due like any other. The day it is due does not change, for us its the 3rd of every month, so it is up to them to be certain that the money is in the bank no matter what day they get paid. I assume most landlords do not customize rent due dates based on which day every resident gets paid.

I understand that, but when I was married, my ex-wife was a school teacher who did not get paid until the 10th; so it would take a little extra planning to make sure payments do not get refused. But when you have a large chunk of a household income not come in on the first of the month (if not all); it can be a problem when something major comes up (car repair, medical bill). If I was in that situation again, I would NOT sign a recurring transaction authorization, and would pay you with a check WHEN I GOT paid for the following month (i.s.; I get paid on the 10th of June, on the 10th of June, I would write you a check for my JULY rent). This way, my rent is the first thing that comes out (after taxes and other withholdings).