How Do I Know If My Tenant Has Enrolled?

We will notify you via email when we receive your tenant’s enrollment materials, which consist of a completed Tenant Enrollment Agreement and the tenant’s bank documentation.  That message will tell you either the materials are incomplete and the reason why they are incomplete or the materials are complete and the next steps for you to finalize the tenant’s enrollment.  Quick and concise communication is very important to us, so you will receive email notifications just about every step of the way!  If enrollment materials are complete, you will be instructed to log in to your ClearNow account and set the tenant’s rent amount and lease end date.  When you have completed this final step, an enrollment confirmation will be sent to your tenant.

Can I Enroll in ClearNow Without My Landlord?

For you to enroll in ClearNow, your landlord has to first enroll and set up a ClearNow account.  Because ClearNow is an efficient way for tenants to pay rent electronically (and for landlords to collect rent electronically), both the landlord and tenant have to be enrolled.  If you have not talked to your landlord about ClearNow, please have him/her visit www.ClearNow.com or call us at (919) 680-4500 so we can answer questions.  Once your landlord has enrolled, then you can enroll in ClearNow.

Bloomberg Article – Yes, there are Lots of Small Landlords

Today, Bloomberg.com has an article on a recent landlording trend: New Retirement Plan Is Millennials Paying Rent

There are some really great statistics in this article describing the huge number of small landlords in the United States.  For example,

  • Two thirds of single family rentals are owned by landlords renting 3 or fewer units.
  • Over thirteen million rental units belong to landlords renting 10 or fewer units.

Of course, the size of this market is not a surprise to us.  Throughout our history, ClearNow has been a leader in online services for landlords.

Sixteen years ago, ClearNow launched its core service of easy-to-use, inexpensive online rent collection.  Today, thousands of landlords and property managers use ClearNow’s core service to put rent collection on auto-pilot.   Over the years, ClearNow has continuously innovated.  Our “owner proceeds” capability for property managers continues to be unmatched as the simplest way for property managers to directly deposit collected rents between themselves and their property owners.  In 2012, ClearNow became the first service that allowed landlords and tenants to furnish rent payment data to a “Big 3” credit bureau – a milestone in allowing renters to benefit from making on-time rent payments.

And, this year, ClearNow launched RentalIncomeExpense.com, a free service for landlords to track rental income and expenses and generate reports in a way that an Excel spreadsheet cannot easily match.

Going forward, ClearNow plans to continue to innovate to address the needs of the huge market of small landlords.

How Can My Property Management Company Collect Rent?

Similar to landlords, property managers can enroll in ClearNow to collect rent from their tenants.  The individual representing the property management company will need to complete and submit the Property Manager Enrollment Agreement along with bank documentation for the account they would like the funds deposited into. Once the property manager is enrolled in ClearNow, they can have their tenants enroll for auto-debits.  Additionally, the property manager can use ClearNow’s owner proceeds feature whereby the property owner enrolls in ClearNow and a portion of the rent collected from the tenant is directly deposited to the owner’s bank account while the property manager’s fee is directly deposited to the manager’s bank account.  Both deposits occur three banking days after the debit day.