In today’s rental market, effective rent collection is important for you as a landlord or property manager so you can enjoy a steady stream of income while maintaining excellent relationships with your tenants.
Without the right tools, managing rent payments can feel overwhelming. But don’t worry—we’ve got you covered with solutions to make it easier! You’re in the right place to find solutions that make rent collection smooth and efficient so you can manage your owner resources.
In this article, we’ll explore the best rent collection apps and determine what makes them viable options for your business. Let’s first dive into the benefits of using rent collection software.
Why Rent Collection Software is a Game Changer for Tenant Payments
You know how important it is to have the right rent collection software. It can be a game changer when you have all the resources you need in one place. Let’s look at some of the benefits of using rent collection software.
Enhanced Efficiency and Automation
To improve efficiency and automate your business, rent collection software is essential. It sends automatic rent payment reminders, reducing late fees and missed payments. TenantCloud offers features like direct deposit, automatically landing funds in your account, saving you time and hassle.
Increased Transparency and Record-Keeping
Struggling with disorganized records? Rent collection software offers detailed reports and transaction history for full payment transparency. Generate various reports easily and monitor payment trends and tenant behaviors. Simplify tax season and aid long-term financial planning with easily accessible data.
Improved Convenience for Both Landlords and Tenants
Rent collection software offers multiple payment options, making it convenient for tenants and landlords. Tenants can use ACH payments, debit cards, or money orders through the portal, ensuring flexibility and a smoother rent collection experience for everyone.
Timely and Secure Payments
Rent collection software ensures stable cash flow, reduced late rent payments, and enhanced security for personal information. It improves tenant interactions and minimizes disputes. When choosing an app, consider various features to find the best fit for your property management needs.
The Top Features for Online Rent Payment Ease and Convenience
From user-friendly platforms to the ability to integrate seamlessly with your property management software, there are several features you might search for on your hunt for the best application. Here are some of the best features we recommend leveraging:
User-Friendly Online Rent Payment Portals
An online rental payment portal simplifies the rent collection process for both tenants and landlords. It enables tenants to pay rent efficiently and on time while providing landlords with centralized tracking of rental payments and transactions for easier management.
Flexible Tenant Payments
Choose a rent collection app with multiple payment options, including ACH and debit card payments. Flexibility in allowing or blocking partial payments can simplify rent obligations for tenants and offer greater ease and fewer complications for landlords.
Automatic Rent Reminders and Alerts
Select a rent collection app with automatic reminders via SMS or email to avoid chasing tenants for rent online. This feature helps reduce late fees and ensures on-time online payments, making management easier, especially with numerous tenants.
Secure Tenant Screening and Data Management
An efficient rent collection platform ensures online protection for both landlords and tenants. The best software includes security measures for tenant screening and safeguarding personal information, along with secure payment options, fostering trusting and long-lasting tenant-landlord relationships.
Related: Tenant Screening Made Simple: 6 Easy Steps to Find the Perfect Tenant
Integration with Property Management Software
Integrate your rent collection software with property management tools to save time. This seamless approach helps manage maintenance requests, access lease agreements, and provide a property owner login, keeping both you and your tenants organized efficiently and effectively.
The 3 Best Rent Collection Software for Rent Payment Online
If you’re on the hunt for the best rent collection apps, we’ve compiled a list of the top three landlord rent collection software based on what others have said about using these platforms. Let’s explore each platform, what it has to offer, and what features you’ll have if you use each one.
Avail: A Comprehensive Rent Collection Platform
One of the most popular choices people often turn to is Avail. This rent collection platform is best for streamlining rent collection and encouraging on-time payments from tenants. Some of the benefits of using this rent collection software are that you’ll provide your tenants with an easy place to pay rent, security deposit fees, move-in fees, and more. There are also numerous payment options for the rent collection service.
The payment options on this platform are exceptional and vast—but they are not without their fees! For credit and debit card payments, there is a 3.5% processing fee. If your tenants want to transfer money via bank transfer, that’s also a $2.50 transaction fee.
However, you could upgrade to their Unlimited Plus plan for $9 per unit per month to remove these fees. If you have multiple units, this might get expensive. With their base plan, after the fees, you might experience a wait time of up to three business days for your payments to process. There is FastPay, but you must be part of their Unlimited Plus plan to access no wait times for transactions!
However, regarding property management services, you’ll get automatic email reminders and the ability to block partial payments during evictions. Avail is well-known for its quick processing times and integration of CreditBoost to help with tenant credit score tracking. There’s also a handy rental property accounting tool to assist with tracking rental income and expenses!
Apartments.com: Simplified Online Rent Payments
If you want a simple way to track your rent and send rent reminders, Apartments.com offers a great platform to start with. This can help you automate rent collection and keep track of your rent payments online. Their online rent payment services offer debt, credit, or prepaid card payment for a fee or free payments with a checking account or direct deposit.
Yet, even with these diverse payment options, there are fees you’ll have to be aware of. For debit, credit, or prepaid card payments, there is a 2.75% fee per transaction for your tenant rent payments. If they choose to use a checking account, there is no fee, which can be a great benefit to offer to your tenants.
Payment processing time is longer and can take up to three to five business days if tenants pay with a checking account versus two to three days if they use debit, credit, or prepaid cards. This isn’t too long, but it is something to consider as you think about what rent collection app is best for you!
For landlords, you’ll enjoy online rent payments that are easily tracked and recorded. You can also receive email reminders for your tenants and view which payments have been collected and then sent via direct deposit to your account. Unfortunately, you can’t use tenant credit reporting, but it is a decent platform overall.
TenantCloud: A Platform That Benefits Landlords and Tenants Equally
For those seeking a platform that enhances the tenant experience, why not try TenantCloud? With a wide range of property management tools—including online leases, maintenance requests, and even tenant screening—you can seamlessly manage your business all in one location. This ensures that you and your tenants are happy, as they can use a straightforward platform to access everything they need while they live at your property.
As far as payment options for rent collection, TenantCloud offers online and mobile payments for your convenience and even payments directly to your bank account. You also can use Faster Payments to get your tenant payments as soon as the next business day. Your tenants can add multiple bank accounts, use direct deposit with ACH payments, and accept debit and credit cards.
Best of all—unlike other rent collection platforms—you can also offer autopay for recurring automatic rent payments monthly on scheduled dates. If tenants are late on rent, you can set up a grace period and late fees that you can apply per day, once, or use both, depending on your lease rules. Powered by Stripe, both tenants and landlords are protected and have access to numerous convenient features.
Tenants benefit as equally as landlords because you’ll allow them access to their own tenant portal and online rent collection service for their rent payment, and they can engage in rent reporting to the credit bureaus. Tenants can even make partial rent payments ahead of time if allowed. It’s a comprehensive site that caters to both tenants and landlords, ensuring you manage your real estate investments while your tenants have access to all the tools they need.
Related: 7 Best Online Rent Payment Platforms for Your Business
Try TenantCloud Today to Experience the Future of Rent Collection Software
We hope that this article helped you learn more about choosing the right rent collection software for your real estate business. Whether you’re a property manager or landlord, finding the right digital tools can enhance your portfolio and simplify your life.
Compared to other platforms, TenantCloud offers the best of both worlds—a seamless experience that benefits both renters and landlords. With affordable pricing and flexible plans, TenantCloud provides exceptional value to landlords managing various property types.
Discover how TenantCloud can transform your property management experience. Sign up today for a free trial and experience seamless monthly rent collection firsthand!
