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Making sure that rent is paid on time is important to you and your clients. Sometimes, tenants are simply not on-top of their payment dates and need a little help with reminders, other times they could be struggling with their finances.
To help ensure that rent is paid on time, here are some key strategies:
1. Screen tenants carefully.
It’s important to call a tenant’s references and previous property management company to double-check that the information they provided is accurate. Then, verify their employment status and income. Tenants who misrepresent themselves on an application are more likely to have issues paying rent.
2. Make it easy.
Paying rent should be easy. With today’s technology, there are several online payment options. Whether your property management software has an online invoicing system, or you enable payment by Zelle, Venmo, or Paypal, it’s important that tenants can pay rent through their phone.
3. Communicate the best ways to pay rent.
Your tenants might not know that there are other options besides paying rent with a check. Written and mailed checks are far more likely to be delivered late or encounter problems with delivery. Once they know there are better payment options, make it clear what day rent is due and who they should contact if they experience any problems.
Some property management software will send payment instructions and reminders to tenants, which further reduces late payments.
4. Charge late fees.
No one wants to have to pay a late fee. Enforcing late fees communicates to tenants who are late that there is a consequence to late payments. You’d be surprised how many landlords and property managers overlook late payments and allow tenants to be regularly late with their rental payments with no consequence.
Property managers and landlords need to stick to their lease agreements and charge late fees to incentivize tenants to pay rent on time.
5. Talk to tenants about why they are late.
Communication goes a long way. Talk to tenants who are late about why their payments are late. It could be a simple fix like an extra reminder email or adjusting their payment date to better correspond with their payday. Often, simple solutions can deliver great results for all parties.
Making sure tenants pay rent on time starts before a tenant has signed a lease. All prospective tenants should be properly screened and educated about the different ways they can pay rent. Use these tips to make sure your tenants pay on time!
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