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In every apt. that I have rented within NYC, I have always had to pay the rent using a physical check as there was no online option available given by the management company or landlord. (I do know that it is possible use one's personal online banking to issue such a check as well.) A few years the building I live was sold to a new owner using a new managment company and still no online payment option. But now there is a new manager at the management company and finally they will be offering within the next month or two an online rental payment service. So I was wondering by what means do others pay their rent in NYC? Physical checks, cash, online payment using credit/debit cards/direct withdrawal from one's account or what?
In every apt. that I have rented within NYC, I have always had to pay the rent using a physical check as there was no online option available given by the management company or landlord. (I do know that it is possible use one's personal online banking to issue such a check as well.) A few years the building I live was sold to a new owner using a new managment company and still no online payment option. But now there is a new manager at the management company and finally they will be offering within the next month or two an online rental payment service. So I was wondering by what means do others pay their rent in NYC? Physical checks, cash, online payment using credit/debit cards/direct withdrawal from one's account or what?
Through Building Link, we pretty much use it for everything, schedule repairs, speak to management etc. I'm assuming this is what most new buildings use or something similar.
We have Clickpay. When I was living in my previous apartment the management company had their own online system but they charged a $2.00 convenience fee for each transaction which I paid. With Clickpay it's free even if you decide to make multiple payments. A couple of clicks and my rent is paid. I used to always go to the Post Office and send my checks via certified mail to ensure no BS about oh we didn't get your check. With Clickpay if you wanted to you can even pay with a debit or credit card. I have never done it because the fees are insane and paying from your checking account is free.
With the old system, I could also make multiple payments. For example when I needed to pay the new security deposit, I would do so online. The new management company insisted that I send a check for that so I did. Certified mail as always, but it makes life so much easier. You can also kind of figure out when the monies will be taken out of your account in case you are low on cash here and there. There are times when I am waiting for checks for work that I do or monied to hit my account so that is another added plus. I have a grace period until the 10th and we don't get rent statements sometimes until almost after the 1st so I don't rush and they don't bother me. If I send it out by the 10th they know they'll get it in a few days.
We have Clickpay. When I was living in my previous apartment the management company had their own online system and it's great. A couple of clicks and my rent is paid. I used to always go to the Post Office and send my checks via certified mail to ensure no BS about oh we didn't get your check. With Clickpay if you wanted to you can even pay with a debit or credit card. I have never done it because the fees are insane and paying from your checking account is free. You can make multiple payments. For example when I needed to pay the new security I have done so online. The new management company insisted that I send a check for that so I did. Certified mail as always, but it makes life so much easier. You can also kind of figure out when the monies will be taken out of your account in cash you are low on cash here and there. I have a grace period until the 10th and we don't get rent statements sometimes until almost after the 1st so I don't rush and they don't bother me. If I send it out by the 10th they know they'll get it in a few days.
We use Clickpay too but via Building Link. The fees are ridiculous. Wow, it was posted a couple days ago but I got the email today. They give us a penalty free 15 day grace period which I think is insanely generous...
We use Clickpay too but via Building Link. The fees are ridiculous. Wow, it was posted a couple days ago but I got the email today. They give us a penalty free 15 day grace period which I think is insanely generous...
I actually never pay a late fee. They will just send you a three day notice. lol I was lackadaisical about paying the new security deposit and they had the nerve to send me a three day notice. I e-mailed the person I deal with and was like what's going on here? I mean the previous management company didn't give a crap to be honest. I'm a good tenant and they knew I'd pay. They were like oh you didn't pay your security deposit yet and it's due, and they didn't want me paying it via Clickpay so I had to schlep to the Post Office and send it certified mail. I mean they know people work crazy hours. I'm in management so I have more important things to worry about than a security deposit. Since then they haven't bothered me since they know roughly when I send out my payments.
Most of the people in my building are young and I'm sure none of them pay promptly. That's the big reason companies are offering payment electronically. My girlfriend is the same way. She doesn't care. She just drops a check in the mail and they get it when they get it. Once they sent her a notice about her being late and she's like they can go shove it. lol She put a check in the mail and that was it. She's been there for years so she doesn't run to pay the rent.
Given how high rents are becoming you have all sorts of strange arrangements with roommates having to wait and get all of the rent together to pay and so on so nothing surprises me. Then there are the foreigners who are looking to avoid fees to pay their rent so electronic payment works well for many people. I know a Canadian family who I did some consulting for. They had to pay me in cash each month because the mother had no US checks and didn't want to do deal with crazy exchange fees.
No rent but Maintenance. We send a check to Maxwell-Cates (our management company) as soon as we are billed (also by mail.) They send a self addressed envelope but NOT a stamp.
We recently added Building Link but find it more or less useless.
I know it costs us a stamp every month but I would not trust our management company with too much access to any bank account.
No rent but Maintenance. We send a check to Maxwell-Cates (our management company) as soon as we are billed (also by mail.) They send a self addressed envelope but NOT a stamp.
We recently added Building Link but find it more or less useless.
I know it costs us a stamp every month but I would not trust our management company with too much access to any bank account.
My understanding is that the actual payment is usually processed by an outside company who then deposits your payment into the management company's account, so to fret over that seems absurd. I'd be more worried about those mail fishing scams if anything. That's another reason I have never sent rent just via regular mail. It has always been via certified mail this way I can track it and my check isn't sitting around floating for weeks at a time. No bueno. Often times what I do is have the monies taken out by my bank in advance, then I go to the post office this way I don't have to even worry about the check.
I've paid it all kinds of ways - cash, check, electronically....most often check for buildings though. I lived in an apartment with 2 other girls and the landlord lived in the apartment downstairs (small building). He was a saint and accepted separate checks from the 3 of us as long as we gave them to him together and they added up to the full rent.
My fave was my previous landlord (well, his son technically, who lived in FL and managed the property for his elderly dad who lived there). I paid him using Chase QuickPay....took a second and I had an electronic trail.
Current landlord (house was sold a little over a year ago) prefers cash....he and his family live downstairs, so I just text him, we meet up and I hand it over, but I'm a fiend about documenting, so I printed out receipts that he fills out for me, and I staple the withdrawal receipt to them. I'm not concerned about whether or not he's reporting the rental income, but I do want to have the trail in case I ever need to prove that I've paid my rent.
If all goes to plan, I'll be buying by the end of the year. Mortgage will obviously be paid electronically, and the buildings I'm looking at are large enough that I'm hoping there's an electronic option for maintenance as well.
We use Clickpay too but via Building Link. The fees are ridiculous. Wow, it was posted a couple days ago but I got the email today. They give us a penalty free 15 day grace period which I think is insanely generous...
I use ClickPay as well with 0% convenience fee on checking account. The good thing about it is that since my maintenance is always the exact same, after the first months bill I just rounded it up to the next even dollar amount and set it to autopay from my checking account. The management office also have a drop box where, if you like to physically write a check and walk over there, and drop it in the box. To be honest only the old people with walkers and canes do this and it seems they do it as a way to be social with each other and gossip.
So around the 20th of the month I would get the estatement from management letting me know the amount to pay, then ClickPay will send me a reminder the day before the 1st of the month letting me know that amount will be automatically deducted from my checking the following day. Then on the 1st, ClickPay sends the automatic payment confirmation of what was deducted. When I check my estatement, since im overpaying by 30 cents a month, they credit me the 30 cents for the following month.
Its great as its one more thing I don't have to worry about, I just set up a rule in my bank to transfer over $XXX to checking every month for maintenance and I forget about it. One less thing I have to remind myself to do every month. I love autopay!!!
Before this when I lived in NYCHA we had to go to the PayOMatic in the check cashing to pay the rent. And if that didn't work then it was a money order dropped in the management office mailbox. Then they implemented online paying but charged a 30 cents convenience fee for checking accounts and a 2.5% fee for credit cards .
I use ClickPay as well with 0% convenience fee on checking account. The good thing about it is that since my maintenance is always the exact same, after the first months bill I just rounded it up to the next even dollar amount and set it to autopay from my checking account. The management office also have a drop box where, if you like to physically write a check and walk over there, and drop it in the box. To be honest only the old people with walkers and canes do this and it seems they do it as a way to be social with each other and gossip.
So around the 20th of the month I would get the estatement from management letting me know the amount to pay, then ClickPay will send me a reminder the day before the 1st of the month letting me know that amount will be automatically deducted from my checking the following day. Then on the 1st, ClickPay sends the automatic payment confirmation of what was deducted. When I check my estatement, since im overpaying by 30 cents a month, they credit me the 30 cents for the following month.
Its great as its one more thing I don't have to worry about, I just set up a rule in my bank to transfer over $XXX to checking every month for maintenance and I forget about it. One less thing I have to remind myself to do every month. I love autopay!!!
Before this when I lived in NYCHA we had to go to the PayOMatic in the check cashing to pay the rent. And if that didn't work then it was a money order dropped in the management office mailbox. Then they implemented online paying but charged a 30 cents convenience fee for checking accounts and a 2.5% fee for credit cards .
Yeah, my statement seems to be there around the 20th but get the email from Gotham a day or two later but I refuse to use Auto-pay anything, that freaks me out
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I mean they know people work crazy hours. I'm in management so I have more important things to worry about than a security deposit. Since then they haven't bothered me since they know roughly when I send out my payments.
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