Rent Check Lost in Mail?

Check Lost in Mail
Check Lost in Mail? Here’s what to do.

Were you waiting for a rent check in the mail from your tenant? You contact your tenant and they say that the rent check was sent. You are facing the dreaded ‘Rent Check Lost in the Mail’ issue. Never fear, we are here to walk you through what to do next.

How Long Has the Rent Check Been Lost in the Mail?

First, learn when the rent check was mailed. Unfortunately, the US Postal Service is not always prompt. Mail sometimes does take longer than usual to get to you. If the rent check is within a few days of when you normally would receive it, you might want to wait.

Cancel and Resend

When too much time has passed, the safest thing to do is to cancel the missing check. Have the tenant contact their bank and cancel the check. Be aware that banks often charge a small fee to do this.

Next, have the tenant resend a new check to you.

Consider Online Rent Payment

Why not remove the stress and time spent dealing with lost or delayed rent checks? With online rent payment services like ClearNow, once your tenants are setup, rent payment is made automatically. Whether you’re out of town, or the post office is unreliable, rent appears in your bank account – no more rent check lost in the mail.

Online Rent Payment and Roommates

Online rent payment and roommates
Online rent payment makes roommate situations easy when paying rent.

Landlords and tenants want a fast and easy way to collect and pay rent. Online rent payment is the answer for both parties. In roommate situations, landlords may require a single payment or permit each roommate to pay their pre-determined portion. Paying rent electronically makes roommate situations super easy.

One Roommate Pays for All

Some landlords require full payment of rent from a single person in a roommate situation. By collecting rent from one person, the landlord increases her chances of getting paid in full. She also saves time on hunting down the remaining rent payment from various roommates. Online rent collection is still the easiest method for collecting and paying rent even if just from one tenant. ClearNow and many other online rent payment services cater to landlords with roommate situations.

Each Roommate Pays Individually

Landlords who permit each roommate to pay their pre-determined portion of rent from their own bank account eliminates the “middle person”. That “middle person” is not only the roommate who makes the rent payment in full from her own bank account but also the roommate who has to make sure each roommate has paid her. When each roommate pays individually, they just need to make sure they have enough funds to make their payment successful every month. Each online rent payment service has different features on how they handle roommates and payments.

Whether you have each roommate pay individually or a designated roommate pays for everyone, collecting and paying rent online makes the entire process fast and easy!

The Convenience of Online Rent Payment

Convenience of online rent payment
Landlords and tenants benefit from the convenience of online rent payment.

Online rent payment (also known as online rent collection) is a method that uses technology to pay and receive rent electronically. There is no paper involved with online rent payment, whether it be in the form of cash, check, or money order. Instead, rent is paid and collected by paperless methods like credit cards or by electronic withdrawals from and deposits to a bank account. With today’s modern technology, landlords and tenants benefit from the convenience of online rent payment, which saves time and improves communication.

Saves Time

For landlords, online rent payment eliminates any trip to the bank to deposit rent as rent is directly deposited to the landlord’s bank account. Online rent payment can also streamline the bookkeeping process. Depending on how landlords track rental income and expenses, some online rent payment services, like ClearNow, have landlord accounting built in such that rent payments are automatically recorded in the books saving the landlord even more time.

For tenants, online rent payment eliminates the need to write a check and mail it or visit the leasing office to drop off rent. Additionally, tenants do not need to schedule payment, as some online rent payment services will automatically debit tenant bank accounts on a recurring basis for the lease term.

Improves Communication

Most online rent payment services provide a range of communication beneficial for landlords and tenants. Examples include rent reminders for tenants to prepare for upcoming withdrawals, emails for landlords of failed tenant payments, and payment histories for both. Such communication and transparency enhances the landlord/tenant relationship and off loads this task making online rent payment convenient.

According to Yahoo, the overall trend of online payments is increasing in popularity. In the past, setting up online rent collection was challenging. Today, there are a number of online rent payment services to support landlords and tenants creating convenience for both parties.

Getting Tenants to Pay Rent Online

Getting Tenants To Pay Rent Online
Tenants Often Find that They Love the Ability to Pay Rent Online

Landlords love getting paid rent automatically. Online rent payment is a no brainer; it saves you time and encourages tenants to pay rent on time. But, what can landlords do to get tenants to pay rent online?

In ClearNow’s experience, tenants are most open to signing up for online rent payment when they sign or renew a lease.

In some cases, you will need to convince your tenants to sign up for online rent payment. Fortunately, tenants who pay rent online can look forward to many benefits:

Paying Rent Online Is Secure

We all tend to be a little hesitant to making change. For tenants who are used to paying rent via check, an automatic debit to their bank account can be scary.

Thankfully, online rent payment services tend to be even more secure than paying by check. With ClearNow, for example, the landlord never sees your bank account number (in the check world, this number is on every check).

Moreover, with a service like ClearNow, a tenant can contact an independent third party and stop payments if there is ever a dispute.

Online Rent Payment is Convenient

We’ve all learned from online shopping with Amazon that saving time is super nice. For tenants, never having to write or drop off a check saves time and effort!

Even compared to something like PayPal, with ClearNow online rent payment, tenants receive an email notice each month eight days ahead of time that rent will be debited – there is nothing to log into and schedule.

Pay Rent Online To Build Credit History

Most tenants do not realize that they can build credit history by paying rent online! ClearNow has offered this feature since 2011 -at no charge to the tenant. A good credit history is so important in the modern world. For example, it can lead to lower loan costs and a healthier employment background profile.

Tenants Benefit from Paying Rent Online

Next time you are preparing a new lease or lease extension, let your tenants know that you would like them to pay rent online. With a service like ClearNow, tenants can enjoy the safety, convenience, and credit building of online rent payment.

Simple Ways to Increase Rental Income & Value of Rental Property

Increase Rental Income and Value of Rental Property
Landlords can increase rental income & value of rental property in a few simple ways.

Successful landlords want to increase rental income and the value of their rental property. There are some simple ways to achieve both goals. With any business, investing in your property so that you can offer more value can justify commanding a higher rent from tenants.

Boost Curb Appeal

One of the driving factors tenants consider when searching for a rental is location. If your property is located near parks, popular businesses like grocery stores, or main travel routes, stressing the benefits of the physical location of your rental property can boost interest and value. Following close behind geographic location is the curb appeal of your property. Is the exterior clean and in good shape? Is the landscaping neat and attractive? If the answers to these questions are “YES”, then you’re already one step ahead in providing value.

Take a Look Inside

You don’t have to do a major renovation to make the interior of your rental property feel fresh and clean. Instead, simple upgrades like a fresh coat of paint, new hardware, and brighter lightbulbs can create an attractive vibe. And something as simple as a good scrub – in the bathrooms and kitchen for example – make a clean unit go a long way. If the interior of your rental property looks and feels great, then it’s easier for you to find a tenant willing to pay your asking rent.

Sell Amenities

Who doesn’t like great amenities especially if they are included in the rent? You may be able to earn more if you charge a la carte for extras, but no one likes to be nickeled and dimed. If you offer great amenities just include them as part of your rent and thus get the asking rent that you want. Here are some amenities that can increase the value of your property and your rental income:

Online rent payment: Tenants want an easy way to pay rent. If rent payment is on auto pilot for tenants, it will make your life easier to get paid. Consider services like ClearNow or RentPayment for online rent payment.

Short term leases: Typically, rents tend to be higher for shorter term leases. So if you have a prospective tenant willing to pay more for a shorter than standard lease term, you can enhance your rental income.

Washer/Dryer/Garage/Storage: If you can provide tenants with an in unit washer/dryer, plenty of storage, and an easy place to park the car, you will set your rental property apart from the others. Tenants enjoy having these items, and these amenities will help you fill vacancies and an opportunity to raise the rent.

Boosting curb appeal, improving the look and feel of the inside, and offering great amenities will draw tenants to rent your property all the while enabling you to increase your rental income and value of your rental property. These steps are easy to take and can make a lasting difference.