Posted by BR on January 17, 2003 at 09:14:48:
These are Tenant/Buyers with Lease Options. I have yet to have a problem. Keep in mind that these folks can’t buy in the traditional manner. It’s ‘cash only deposits’. I give them deposit slips with their name on it for tracking purposes, and it has CASH ONLY DEPOSITS stamped on it in big red letters. My banks policy is that ‘cash only’ means just that. No money orders will be accepted. I make this very clear to my tb’s.
Renters and Personal Checks - Posted by GCurtis(VA)
Posted by GCurtis(VA) on January 16, 2003 at 13:03:02:
My renter just gave me a bad check. This is the second time within 6 months this has happened. Can I for future tenants make the rental agreement state no personal checks accepted, only cash, money orders, or cashiers check?
I do what Ed Copp does/ditto (nt) - Posted by Dee-Texas
Posted by Dee-Texas on January 17, 2003 at 16:51:27:
Re: Renters and Personal Checks - Posted by BR
Posted by BR on January 16, 2003 at 17:24:28:
My policy is similar to Ed’s… one chance only for my renters. After one bounced check it’s Cashier’s Checks & MO’s only. You can have problems with MO’s too but they are usually okay as long as you deposit them and don’t try to cash them where they were issued. With my Tenant/Buyers it’s a little different as I have them scattered all over the state. I use a bank that has statewide branches. It’s ‘cash only deposits’ from day one, straight into my ‘dummy’ account. I check for the deposit online then transfer it electronically to my real account. Works like a charm, and I don’t have to wait ten days to see if a check clears… boy is that ever STINKIN THINKIN.
Re: My company policy - Posted by Ed Copp (OH)
Posted by Ed Copp (OH) on January 16, 2003 at 15:57:08:
is one chance only. One bad check and your check will not ever be accepted again. You will make good on all costs and expensed that have to do with the bad check, and then you will pay in cash, money order, or cashiers check in the future. End of story.
The alternative is that we discontunue any further business as of right now.
Re: Renters and Personal Checks - Posted by eric-fl
Posted by eric-fl on January 16, 2003 at 13:17:37:
Sure. You could even do it with this tenant, just make sure you follow the laws in your state about giving notices and stuff.
To avoid this in the future, check out Versacheck software. It’s so useful, I consider it to be one of the two most important aspects of good property management (the other is screening tenants properly). Forget about most it’s “dot-com” type features you only care about one, and it’s a big one - the ability to print off checks, from the tenant, to you, on your own printer. Once you set up an agreement with a tenant that allows you to do this, from then on, you never have to wait for a check again, you just print it off. For a one-time cost of about $50, it’s one of the best investments you’ll ever make.
Of course, they could not have the funds available, but then you just get an immediate, automatic extra $25 late fee for this, plus the way I structure the rental agreements is, it’s X$, with a $25 discount for participating in our “autodraft” program. Obviously, any month you go to make the draft and the funds aren’t available, is a month they didn’t participate, so they pay full rent that month, so it’s really a $50 cost to them, if they bounce your draft. So far, my experience has been, the funds are always there. There’s probably something psychological about KNOWING that their account is going to be drafted on the first business day of the month, rather than guessing when you’ll take in the check they wrote, and trying to “play the float”.
Question on Deposits - Posted by John_CT
Posted by John_CT on January 17, 2003 at 08:40:37:
BR…Just trying to get the logistics of this, you actually have the tenant go to the bank and deposit cash or certified funds into your account? Does a new tenant ever balk at this using the inconvenience excuse?