How Landlords Can Collect Rent Payments on Time, Every Time

Missed or delayed rent payments are often the biggest source of stress for landlords. When tenants pay late, or don't pay at all, landlords have to find other ways to make their monthly mortgage payment — if they can't, they'll pay late fees or even hurt their credit score.

There are a few factors that can cause friction between landlords and tenants when it’s time to make rent payments. In this article, we'll share the three most common challenges when it comes to rent collection and how landlords can overcome them to receive rent payments on time, every time.

3 common rent payment challenges and solutions

Challenge: Renters prefer different rent payment methods

As new renters enter the market and transactions continue to shift to the digital world, landlords must be aware of evolving payment method preferences. While some renters might prefer traditional rent payment methods such as checks, others may favor credit cards or mobile payments.

A recent survey revealed that 84% of consumers rated credit cards as a "nice to have" or "must have" bill payment option, with 79% reporting the same preferences for both debit cards and bank transfers, and 78% for automatic payment options. This highlights the importance of giving renters multiple rent payment methods to choose from.

Solution: Offer flexible rent payment options

A convenient rent payment process means tenants are more likely to pay on time. With increased flexibility and helpful features, online rent collection tools help both landlords and their tenants manage rent payments more efficiently.

Azibo's free platform allows tenants to pay their rent online at their convenience using a debit card, credit card, or bank transfer. When tenants are given the flexibility to pay how they want, landlords will increase the chances of receiving rent on time and hassle-free. With Azibo, tenants can even choose to schedule automatic rent payments, so they don't have to worry about remembering rent each month and can avoid late fees.

Challenge: Landlords lose track of tenants' payment status

When you own more than one rental property, you may be managing multiple tenants with different rent payment schedules and payment methods. This makes it difficult for landlords to keep track of who's paid and who hasn't every month. As a result, landlords can find it difficult to keep track of past and future rent payments, which can be an administrative nightmare if there is no system in place that ensures tenants never miss a payment.

Solution: Manage multiple properties in one rent collection platform

With Azibo, you can collect rent payments for multiple properties in one place. And with our rent dashboard, you can view tenant payment status payments so you can instantly see who's paid and who hasn’t.

And if you’re like most independent landlords, you have multiple banks and bank accounts for your rental business, thanks to years of buying properties and getting loans. Just keeping track of all of those logins and passwords — let alone managing your books — can be a nightmare! That's why Azibo lets you view and manage all of your bank accounts with just one login. You can also use Azibo to easily move money between accounts so you have cash in the right account when you need it.

Challenge: Following up with delinquent renters is time-consuming

Owning a rental property requires a lot of time and energy. From filling vacancies to fixing repairs to communicating with tenants, there's always something that requires a landlord's time and attention. Additionally, many landlords have full-time jobs in addition to their rental property business. That's why when a renter misses a payment — or has a regular pattern of late payments — it's difficult for landlords to spend time chasing down late rent payments every month on top of all of their other responsibilities.

Solution: Conduct thorough tenant screenings before signing a lease

A simple way to prevent payment delays and issues throughout the duration of a lease is to take a preventive approach. Tenant screening allows landlords to disqualify tenants who have a history of poor behavior as a renter, ensuring that their renters are trustworthy and have been responsible during past leases.

A recent survey revealed that approximately 14% of renters fail tenant screening, with non-payment of rent accounting for a quarter of these rejections. This means that tenant screening significantly reduces the risk of landlords inadvertently signing a long-term lease agreement with a problematic tenant. 

Ensure on-time rent payments each month

Every month, landlords expect to receive rent payments from each of their tenants, but this is not always how things pan out. With these tips, landlords can lay the foundation for receiving regular, timely rent payments. Azibo’s solution helps landlords stay on top of their rental property finances while providing tenants with an easy way to pay rent online. 

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