Credit cards for rent payments

Is anyone here taking credit card payments to collect rent?

Do you take them online, over the phone or swiped - or all 3?

And how has that worked out for you?

I only take money orders from my tenants, unless it’s a government issued Section 8 check. LOL!!! So I NEVER have a bounced check.

However I am going to start taking electronic checks (they won’t bounce) soon — but maybe even credit cards too. However credit card payments can easily be disputed and/or charged back, and sometimes the merchant does not win the chargeback even though the service/product has been provided, as I have learned from owning multiple businesses. That to me has been kind of a turnoff to taking credit cards. However I do know a successful commercial real estate investor that credit card payments online w/ success, but on the flip side of that coin the laws are much more pro-landlord in Texas when it comes to commercial real estate vs residential real estate, so if a credit card payment was “disputed” with a commercial property…that landlord could change the tenant’s lock immediately (in some cases) and slap a landlord’s lien on everything inside the property. It would take me ~20 or so days to evict a residential tenant, assuming they have not already moved out. LOL.

However I see one big benefit to credit cards - if a person has temporary a lack of cash, but has credit available - they could still pay me for rent.

I don’t use credit cards for that same reason you stated. In a dispute the credit card company does not know Texas Real estate law and if the tenant says he disputes the payment because say the house has roaches or is not painted the payment comes out of your account until it is resolved and it is not resolved according to Texas law it is resolved according to the merchant agreement with Visa/Mastercard.

CEO,
We don’t take credit cards…I don’t think many of our tenants even have credit cards anyway. We’ll take checks, but not initially. Only cash or money orders to get in the door. If a check bounces, it’s money orders after that. I know there are some places that will run as a clearinghouse for this tho if you want to do that. If we had higher income tenants, I might consider it tho.

Can I suggest not taking credit cards (because it can be disputed), but accept debit cards. Here’s the difference. Debit cards are not subject to same banking laws as credit cards. A debit transaction is processed through clearing houses and therefore processed directly to the bank as a pass through at the credit card company. The tenant can’t stop payment. The debit card holder must dispute it directly with the company they made the transaction with (you or a store) but that would not delay you getting your money.

I would favor bank or postal money orders as well as debit cards. The debit card transaction I don’t think would cost any more than it would to process a credit card. And, it wouldn’t cost your tenant anything other than what their bank might charge which in most banks is 0. Money orders are getting a little expensive these days though. It might save your tenants some money if they could use a debit card if they have one.

I’ve never had a bounced check on places that rent for $750 and up. The closest I had was a lady that wrote the check for $725 one month. She sent out another right away when I called her.

I live in a small town and most people bank here. I actually started up an account at a specific bank (I needed a second bank anyway) so I could cash tenant checks there (against their account). I always cash the check at their bank or cash it and then deposit at my bank if they use my bank. I do have a few tanants that bank out of town and I chance it there. The tellers always give me wierd looks ehen I cash and then deposit a check. I can’t believe more people don’t do this.

I have a card swiper for my phone.
I only take debit cards for the reasons previously mentioned.
Most of my tenants don’t even have bank accounts. The ones that do are the type of people that would prefer to mail me a check every month that pay the extra 5% I charge to swipe a card on my phone.
I don’t use it very often.

All of my tenants are required to pay with money orders or cashiers checks (never actually got one of those though, LOL) and I have never had a bounced check thank goodness due to that policy. I think I will postpone doing any electronic payments for now.

It sound like a management company that is suggesting taking credit cards.

As convenient as it sounds it may cause problems later. Cash is good.