Trying to make it as easy as possible for new tenants who are far away to pay the move-in funds. ie: Traveling professionals coming from other states.

I've been offering payment by Zelle, Google-pay, or Paypal.

On Nov 4th, an incoming tenant made the transfer through Zelle, lickity-split, no problem.

For the last few days, another incoming tenant & I have been struggling to get Zelle to send his $ to me. (the struggle is his, frustration for both of us)

I had my daughter in MN test it with me, to make sure it was set to go. She said it was NOT intuitive to set up the account (it was so long ago, I don't remember) but she got it done. $ came to me & went back instantly.

Has anybody had an issue with delays on Zelle? The sender says it was taken from his account & is labeled as pending (sent me a screenshot).

My credit union Zelle rep confirmed everything is set on my end. She said the sender should check with his bank to see if they have restrictions.

I'm thinking that if each banking institution has their own rules & restrictions (or don't even participate) that Zelle may not be the one to count on, after all.

Paypal has worked for some people, although the last one was held for several banking days before being available to transfer into my account. But, at least I could see it was there. Trouble with PayPal is if they don't use "family & friends" but instead choose "goods & services", which does sound more appropriate, there is a long delay and significant fee.

My MN daughter recommends using Venmo (owned by Paypal). I do have a Venmo account that I used some time ago. I don't "remember" any glitches.

My policy/system is: I send the Rental Agreement by docusign, they sign it & send funds, THEN I sign & thus ratify the contract. These delays & complications mean we still don't have a ratified R.A., and of course, I want that to happen asap after application approval.

Does anybody have an option for paying through your website? I'm not doing Buildium, etc - too small for that.

So, what electronic payment app(s) do you use & what has your experience been? Remember - this is a remote transaction.

Thanks!

I'm thinking that I'm really not interested in having every single $ transfer app that is out there, but...

Zelle is inconsistent.

Some people (claim) to have spending limits on their app. Like, they can't send more than $x/week, so if it's above $x, then some of it needs to be sent one week, and then the remainder needs to be sent the next week. Or have their account send the first part, and their wife's account sends the second part.

Others have no problems at all with their spending limits, so I don't know if it's a bank issue, or a person issue.

My small, local bank doesn't handle Zelle at all because it's used by scammers so much, they don't want to touch it.

You have some really good ideas, BUT, I would ever accept "Move in Funds" thru an App, Credit Card, Bank Transfer, PayPal, Zelle or Slide of Hand.

What I will accept is:

A cashier's check drawn on a local Bank that I can CASH before giving my new tenant Keys!

Cash handed over to me at my Bank's Location so I can have it counted, scanned, then deposited to My account.

I only use Zelle; due to out-of-state/country moveouts, inconsistent mail delivery and thefts, I am also returning security deposits via Zelle, sending the itemization via email. The banks expressed amount restrictions so I sent from different banks or more transactions, as did tenants with rent.

The only problem I had was one tenant used Zelle through an email address different from one we used to communicate. I changed the moveout instructions to be more specific.

My preferred method is Zelle, hands-down. It goes straight into my bank account and I can see who it's from.

For the unbanked, I offer CashApp and Venmo. I've had several residents blame CashApp woes for their inability to pay rent, but haven't been able to verify it. I like these apps less because there's a second step to transfer it to my bank, but it's the best option I've found for people who don't have bank accounts.

I have used PayPal in the past for rents. I made the tenant add the 3% fee so I was covered. I still have the account set up but have not used it in years,

I did have a new tenant from out of state (VA actually) Venmo me the remainder of the SD. It was quick and painless. Only other time I used it was to send a dollar to my daughter to make sure it was all set up right.

My credit union does not do Zelle and it seemed like a pain to get it set up. I think I would have to get a debit card or some such.

Since I am not using Venmo much at all I have it set as non-biz account. If I start getting more use I will switch and work out the fees.

Zelle is my preferred cash app for sure. It's also a test of tenant cooperativeness and problem solving abilities. :)

ACH service that is provided by my bank. Tenant must maintain a bank account , keep money in it or this won’t work. It is a screening criteria of sorts.

For money that needs to come to you from someone out of town, have you heard of Wal Mart money?

The Walmart idea is good but it kind of ruins the method of hands free.

I do not make trips to there on a regular basis. Add to that the fact that the Walmarts around here are not the greatest of places.