How to Accept Payments from Tenants With Rise in Digital Fraud
Accepting payments from tenants used to be easy – you got twelve post-dated cheques for the year and just deposited them with your bank. While you can still do this if the tenant agrees, the Residential Tenancies Act says that you can’t require automatic payments, such as post-dated cheques or automatic debits from a debit or credit card. Additionally, many tenants don’t even use cheques anymore. So what is the safest way to go about it for you in the era of digital fraud?
E-transfers with Autodeposit
A Brampton landlord recently found out that e-transfers can be a problem if Autodeposit isn’t turned on. Someone made a successful phishing attempt on his email and redirected transfers meant for him from tenants to themselves. Frankly, even the measure mentioned in the article of turning on Autodeposit isn’t that secure – if a successful phishing attempt is done on an email, a hacker may also gain access to your banking information and, among other things, can change your Autodeposit information.
To prevent all of the above, make sure you have a strong password for both your email and your bank, and make them both completely different. Then, make sure Autodeposit is on for Interac e-transfers. Here are Interac’s own tips on how to use their service to collect rent payments.
While phishing attempts are getting more sophisticated, it can’t hurt to review tips from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre to make sure you are up on the latest techniques.
If you’re wary of e-transfers after this news story, there are other ways to accept payments.
Payment Apps Designed for Landlords
There are several payment apps designed to make paying rent easier for tenants and easier to collect for landlords. You can set payment schedules, send out automatic reminders, and much more.
The drawback, as with any service, is you have to pay for it where you don’t have to pay for e-transfers or cheques. However, if you’re a small landlord with less than 3 tenants, you can use some of them for free, including SingleKey.
These apps will also make it easier for you to report both late and on-time payments to credit bureaus, which may be a requirement if the chatter around it in the federal government becomes policy.
Other payment apps available in Canada include:
Hiring Highgate for Property Management
Of course, if you hire us for property management, we take care of all of this for you and just deposit the money directly into your account. No chasing tenants for payments and no chance of missed payments due to fraud. Just easy rent collection.
Interested in taking the stress out of collecting rent from tenants? Contact us today to find out more.
