In the midst of a rapidly evolving technological landscape, methods of exchanging goods and services have been revolutionized. The rise of eCommerce has necessitated the advent of mobile wallets, and in turn, the dependence on traditional forms such as paper checks or physical cash has diminished.
Peer-to-peer money transfer applications like Venmo and PayPal have elevated the convenience and utility of mobile wallets. They offer a seamless medium to disburse funds to acquaintances or pay bills digitally. However, when it comes to collecting rent, these platforms may not be the most prudent choice. Although they appear ideal due to their instantaneous, hassle-free transactions, several drawbacks make them unfavorable for landlords.
This article offers an in-depth exploration of why landlords should eschew the use of Venmo and PayPal for rent collection.
The Venmo Vortex: A Deep-Dive into the Pros and Cons
Venmo is a popular digital wallet known for its instant money transfers. A tenant can effortlessly transfer rent to a landlord's account using a debit or credit card, or directly from their bank balance. But a close examination of the Venmo ecosystem reveals that it lacks vital features necessary for effective rent collection.
The Upside of Venmo for Rent Collection
- User-Friendly Interface: Venmo's design is intuitive and straightforward, allowing instant sending and receiving of payments.
- Fee-less Transactions: There are no charges levied on money transfers from the tenant's account to the landlord's.
- Facilitating Rent Division: Tenants can split the rent among roommates and dispatch an instant payment to the individual responsible for settling the landlord's dues.
- Credit and Debit Card Transactions: Venmo accepts credit and debit card payments, although credit card transactions may entail a 3% fee.
- Social Media Integration: Venmo integrates popular social media features like comments, likes, and messages on payments, thereby enhancing user experience and communication between parties.
The Downside of Venmo for Rent Collection
- Extraneous Charges: Although person-to-person transfers are free, rent payments are classified as business transactions, which attract a 1.9% processing fee and an additional $0.10. The "Cash a Check" feature, which enables direct deposit of a check into your Venmo account, carries a charge of 1% and a minimum fee of $5.
- No Recurring Payments: Venmo doesn't support automatic rental payments, making late payments more likely and disrupting a landlord's cash flow.
- Irreversible Payments: Venmo's policies prohibit refunding the renter or transferring to the landlord if an incorrect amount is paid due to inaccurate details. This makes it impossible to cancel a Venmo payment.
- Lack of Automatic Late Fee Calculations: Venmo lacks features to automatically apply late fees, adding to the administrative workload for landlords.
- Unfavorable Dispute Policies: Venmo generally refrains from intervening in payment disputes. However, if they do, they typically side with the buyer (tenant) rather than the seller (landlord).
- No Credit Bureau Reporting: Venmo doesn't offer the facility to report rent payments to credit bureaus, which impacts the tenant's credit score and removes the deterrent of penalizing late payments.
The disadvantages of using Venmo for rent collection clearly overshadow the advantages. While it may be ideal for transactions among friends and family, it fails to provide the necessary protection and incentives for landlords.
The PayPal Paradox: Analyzing the Pros and Cons
Much like Venmo, PayPal is renowned for its instant transfer facility. But is it an apt platform for landlords to collect rent?
The Benefits of Using PayPal for Rent Collection
- User-Friendly and Secure: The application is easy to navigate, and robust security measures help prevent fraud, ensuring the safety of your bank and credit card information.
- Multiple Payment Options: PayPal supports payment through debit and credit cards, bank accounts, or directly from a PayPal balance.
- Business Account Facilities: A PayPal business account provides convenient invoice tracking and payment protection plans. However, these plans do not cover real estate transactions.
The Drawbacks of Using PayPal for Rent Collection
- Insufficient Features for Landlords: PayPal does not provide the ability to enforce or apply late fees automatically, and payments can't be blocked. This makes eviction processes challenging to execute.
- Transaction Charges: PayPal levies business fees ranging from 1.9% to 3.5%, in addition to a fixed commission rate of up to $0.49. Rent payments fall under the category of "goods and services", qualifying them as commercial transactions. However, they do not provide payment protection for such transactions.
- Insufficient Landlord Protection: PayPal tends to side with the payer (tenant) during payment disputes, leaving the landlord with minimal protection.
- Lack of Credit Bureau Reporting: Just like Venmo, PayPal does not provide the option to report rent payments to credit bureaus.
Why Property Management Apps are the Superior Alternative
In contrast to the aforementioned platforms, property management applications offer landlords the ideal framework for rent collection. These apps offer several benefits:
- Rental Management Design: Property management apps facilitate the charging and tracking of security deposits, late rents, utility fees, and prorated rents. They also send automatic reminders to tenants.
- Efficiency: These apps integrate features such as leasing, applications, screening, and rent collection, and some even manage maintenance requests.
- Record-keeping: They maintain a record of rent payments, making them visible to both landlords and tenants. Some even interface with accounting software and allow landlords to input their revenues and expenses.
- Flexible Payments: Landlords can decline or block payments, enforce late rents, prorate rent fees, and set up recurring payments.
- Lower Collection Charges: Most property management apps do not levy fees for rent collection, and if they do, they're much lower than Venmo or PayPal.
- Credit Bureau Reporting: Some property management apps allow landlords to report their collections to credit bureaus.
Concluding Thoughts
The myriad benefits offered by property management applications make a strong case against using Venmo or PayPal for rent collection. These platforms are not designed to serve landlords' interests, and landlords should instead favor software that caters specifically to their needs.
Property management apps facilitate transactions that are not only instant and prompt but also adequately documented, thereby offering a superior alternative for rent collection.
If you’d like to talk more about property management, or you need help with Everest Property Management, please contact us at Everest Realty.
As a top producing Realtor and Property Manager; Terry specializes in sales, extensive construction homes, rentals, REO’s, short sales, and all aspects of Real Estate. After graduating the University of Michigan with a master in MBA, Terry continued his endeavor and now has over 15+ years of experience in the Real Estate world. If there is anything that has to do with Real Estate and sales, you can always be sure of Terry to provide important, specialized knowledge.
