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Again, if there a branch that you bank at near your tenant, then the tenant could just write a check and go to a branch of your bank and deposit it into your account. This would be free.
Not all banks allow this; it's best to call and ask first.
When someone writes a check to me, then dont I have to sign the check at the back to get it deposited? The how can he write a check directly to my bank account?
Also, again, I am trying to find out about travel free options...
He might not be able to. My bank, and several other banks in this area, don't allow this type of transaction. I have to be present, with ID, for every transaction that's done in person.
Not all banks allow this; it's best to call and ask first.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kim in FL
He might not be able to. My bank, and several other banks in this area, don't allow this type of transaction. I have to be present, with ID, for every transaction that's done in person.
Bill pay is free and easy to use.
Crazy.
I go to 12 different banks and credit unions every month. Over the years, I've probably been to 20 different banks and credit unions. I put money into about 70 different people's accounts. Never once encountered anything like that. Right now, I go to Wells Fargo, US Bank, Mountain America CU, Washington Federal, Zions, ICON CU, ICCU, Umpqua, Key Bank, Chase, Mountain West Bank, and DL Evans. Never had a problem at any of them, as long as I'm depositing a check, not cash (Chase doesn't allow cash to be deposited into other people's accounts anymore).
I believe you, but I think that banks that require the account holder to be present for any transactions at all are in the extremely small minority. Or maybe this is region specific.
OP, it sounds like your tenant was trying to wire you money instead of transferring it. If you bank at the same bank, they should be able to do a transfer for no fee at all. If they don't bank at the same bank, would it be possible for one of you to open an account at the other person's bank so free transfers could be done?
Location: St Thomas, USVI - Seattle, WA - Gulf Coast, TX
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Chase QuickPay is awesome. Totally free. I use it, exclusively, for tenant payments (and often with client payments). I send them a payment request via the website at the end of each month (or you can let them be responsible for signing in to take care of it themselves), they follow an email link, and money is deposited into my account, free of charge on both ends, within a few business days. I do all of my banking with Chase, and am really happy with them, but it would be worth setting up at least a basic, free account with them and maintaining a minimum balance, just to easily use that service (your tenants no NOT need to have an account with Chase at all). Chase's online banking services are really great, overall.
Paypal is free if you use the "friends and family" option when sending funds and if you do it as a direct bank account transfer or your tenant sends funds from an existing balance on their Paypal account. That's a good option too.
Venmo is what the kids are using these days. It's an offshoot of Paypal, and also free (save for credit card payments).
All good options. No checks or trips to the bank needed. No fees. I prefer it that way - easier/more stream-lined for everyone involved.
I've got 2 tenants who deposit money directly into my account. One of them has an account at the same bank and the bank simply moves the money from his account to my account. I'm not sure if he does it online or he has an automatic transfer set up. It is always the same date, so it might be automatic.
The second tenant used to walk up to the counter and put cash into my account. She heard about the fund transfers within the branch, so she opened an account at the same bank as I use. She must do the transfers on line, because funds come at a different date each month.
Several of the tenants have it set up with their bank to mail me a bank check every month. If you pick the right bank, I don't think they charge for that service. "Automatic bill pay", or some such name for the service. Those checks take about a week to reach me, so the tenant has to pay early in order for the rent to arrive on time.
No one so far has managed to set up an automatic direct transfer from their bank to my bank if they are different banks.
New landlord here.
The tenant initially wanted to pay the rent through direct bank transfer. But now he realized that his bank charges $30 for each transfer and does not allow more than $1000 transfer at one time. I dont want him to pay that much fees. Neither do I want to go and collect checks.
What are the best, reliable free or nearly free options of transferring rent money to landlord's bank account?
The first thing I always recommend is that a new landlord check to see if there are any laws that specifically govern the manner, place and method of rent payments.
Example, in the state of Connecticut, unless the lease states where and how the rent is to be paid, the landlord must accept payment at the rental dwelling on the date due if the tenant doesn't agree to any alternatives. So, in that state, regardless of what the landlord wants, if they did not place an alternative requirement for rent payment in the lease, they must hoof it over to the rental place to collect rent. Now, they can negotiate with the tenant for an alternative and write an addendum, but absent an addendum or it written into the lease, it's not up to the landlord to dictate anything but picking it up on the due date at the rental location.
So make sure you are checking your state laws (both landlord-tenant and contract law) to see if any restrictions have already been placed on collecting periodic payments.
I go to 12 different banks and credit unions every month. Over the years, I've probably been to 20 different banks and credit unions. I put money into about 70 different people's accounts. Never once encountered anything like that. Right now, I go to Wells Fargo, US Bank, Mountain America CU, Washington Federal, Zions, ICON CU, ICCU, Umpqua, Key Bank, Chase, Mountain West Bank, and DL Evans. Never had a problem at any of them, as long as I'm depositing a check, not cash (Chase doesn't allow cash to be deposited into other people's accounts anymore).
I believe you, but I think that banks that require the account holder to be present for any transactions at all are in the extremely small minority. Or maybe this is region specific.
OP, it sounds like your tenant was trying to wire you money instead of transferring it. If you bank at the same bank, they should be able to do a transfer for no fee at all. If they don't bank at the same bank, would it be possible for one of you to open an account at the other person's bank so free transfers could be done?
I agree it's crazy...it wasn't always like this. Where we are in S Florida there is a lot of issues with illegals and money laundering...they say it's for our protection.
When I managed my daughter's rental, we gave her tenants the option to use PayPal. I called PayPal and they said (as the poster mentioned above) that paying rent is free for both parties as long as they use their bank account to transfer and choose the option to send money to someone, rather than pay for merchandise or services. I wrote up an addendum that they signed that said if there were any PayPal fees, that they were to pay them.
It also gives them the option to pay with a credit card (with fees to them), which could be helpful to the tenants.
The only downside is having to wait for the transfer from PayPal to your bank to go through. Some banks are slower to credit the deposit than others.
I really like the Chase Bank option mentioned above.
I wanted to mention that as a manager, I had trouble with tenants' checks that came via their bank's billpay services. The checks would arrive late. The tenants had to set them up to be paid a week before the end of the month. Another weird thing that they would do, is put multiple tenant checks in the same envelope, whose banks used the same billpay service (and they were not necessarily banking at the same bank). This would mean that multiple checks would be late. And I thought it was not very secure, because if that envelope was to get lost or stolen, it would be a huge hassle for multiple people.
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