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0 pointsreaperducer4y ago0 comments

I'm in a renting situation where my landlord demands rent land in their account on the first of the month. Receiving rent on the 26th (i.e. 5 days early, not 26 days late) was deemed "too confusing" for them.

I ran into this at my last place. I'm the sort of person who likes to pay things ahead so I don't have to think or worry about them. I was used to paying my rent ahead and quarterly.

When I moved to the new place (in a western state), the apartment company insisted that rent be paid exactly on the 1st, and paid online.

Not only did it not want the rent early, it was not possible to pay early, as the company's online system would show a zero balance, and would not show a payment mechanism.

Even worse — I couldn't pay a bunch up front. It would only allow payments for the exact amount due for that month.

Payment was also accepted by check. But only in person, and with a $75 "processing" fee.

And this wasn't some rinky-dink neighborhood landlord. It was a national apartment company with over 20,000 units in a dozen states.

Interestingly, my new apartment has the same online system as the old one, but allows me to pay however much I want as often as I want. (As long as it's not late, duh.) So it wasn't a technical limitation, it was management's policy.

0 comments

nobody99994y ago

>Payment was also accepted by check. But only in person, and with a $75 "processing" fee.

That's illegal in New York[0].

[0] https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/235-G

jackson14424y ago

Ha! My current apartment wants me to pay $19.95 to do a one-time eCheck (direct debit, it's basically free on their end) but allows me to drop checks in the office for free. What a backwards system.

throaway465464y ago

My landlord demands cashier's checks or money orders. It is really annoying. I just want to automate it. With my previous landlord I had automatic bill pay set up.

ghaff4y ago

If I rented, that would be pretty much impossible for me. I travel a lot, couldn’t drop it off in person or guarantee having access to an online system, or otherwise deterministically get a payment to them on a specific date.

Nextgrid4y ago

A lot of landlords would absolutely prefer someone who pays long in advance. If I were you I would've given these guys the middle finger and found a better landlord.

kelnos4y ago

Unfortunately you often don't find out about this policy until you've signed the lease and set up your payment account.

mindslight4y ago

Any such policy would need to be specified within the lease to be enforceable. If there is nothing in your lease that mandates a bespoke payment method, call their bluff and just pay by check.

There are real issues with incomprehensible leases and terms of adhesion sprung late in the process, but it behooves us to keep focus on the specific contours of the problem so the people who are able to push back on such nonsense can better do so.

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