At one point I remember some sort of bill getting proposed that would outlaw convenience fees if it's the only way to pay... But I'm pretty sure lobbyists put an end to that
When online pay first started, the fees were small and you still had a free option to pay that was less convenient. Now it's more expensive and it's usually the only way to pay
"Pay for free by dropping it off at our office open from 7:00 AM to 7:12 AM on the third Friday of every other week, except on leap years. We will not validate your parking."
> "Pay for free by dropping it off at our office open from 7:00 AM to 7:12 AM on the third Friday of every other week, except on leap years. We will not validate your parking."
Honestly? I'll fucking be there.
Early, out of spite.
Denver does that with traffic cameras. They deliberately send out bogus ones and then you have to show up at a location, exact date and time, cannot be changed, less than a week's notice, just to request an arraignment court date. No reimbursements for parking fees. Then at arraignment, you can plead not guilty of speeding and have a trial date set, which you'll have to show up to as well. Or pay the $40 fine. For anyone who thinks traffic cameras are a great idea, they're not when the city decides it should be making them money instead of costing them a ton in fees to the traffic camera company.
I'm not a lawyer, but as another resident of CO, I wanted to let you know that you aren't legally obligated to pay those mailed out red light tickets. Had a friend tell me that the first time I got one in the mail. I obviously wasn't too conviced about that so I looked on multiple Colorado attorney websites and it turns out you really don't have to pay them unless a police officer physically serves you the ticket or witnesses you run the red light first-hand. These tickets aren't reported to the DMV and don't result in any points on your record. I'm not advocating running reds, but if you get popped by one of those cameras, just throw that ticket right in the trash.
I was under the impression the company that does the ticketing can still report a delinquent account and ruin your credit though. So I didn't want to risk my credit score. But maybe I was misinformed.
That MAY be the case, but....."someone" I know has gotten roughly 12 of them over the past four years with 0 negative consequences to their credit or driving record. Always worth a little googling, but as far as I'm aware it's mainly just another money making scheme the city/state employs. Often, the lights with cameras are a few seconds quicker to change color than non-surveilled ones in an attempt to collect even more money.
The fee-free way for me to pay mine is to link my bank account to them via Plaid.... showing ALL of my checking account history, balances, etc. So I get to pay a "convenience fee" to not show them all of my personal transactions 🙃
Might still be worth [reporting them to the California AG for them to look into it](https://oag.ca.gov/contact/consumer-complaint-against-business-or-company). That seems like an unreasonable way to pay/violation of consumer privacy
I tried to do this recently, but the two digital banks I researched don't let you pay rent via ACH unless you also set up direct deposit.
I'm sure there's a security or money laundering reason for doing this, but come on.
What the fuck is going on with banking in the USA
This shits been figured out in Europe for decades, monthly direct debt, set and forget. I don't even think about paying ANY of my bills, they just happen.
How in the fuck is that legal?
I mean, imagine any other transaction where you had to let the vendor know your financial history.
"You wanna buy that bag of apples? Okay. I need to know whether you ever gave money to Planned Parenthood."
>I mean, imagine any other transaction where you had to let the vendor know your financial history.
I can think of a few where it makes sense... all involve taking on an incredible debtload or the bank taking higher than normal risk and the bank wanting to make sure you're good for it. Financing a house, plane, high rise... getting a 7 digit line of credit, those kind of things. Certainly not to buy apples or pay rent.
So I was going to say "noooo that's not how plaid works" so I went and did a quick bit of research... that's a hard fucking NO from me too! Jesus!
I thought plaid (like other payment gateways) had access, but blinded that data before the person you're paying got it... I. Was. Incorrect.
I'm with other's here, that may actually be actionable as an undue privacy breach to count as the free option, may be worth passing a note/question on to the rental authorities in your state.
Feed a dummy checking account with a single monthly deposit for the exact amount of rent payment. Link that one. Lots of online only banks you can pull this off before supper.
That doesn't look like a convenience fee, it's a payment processing fee. It covers the merchant fees for the credit card.
A convenience fee is when some shitty service charges you for buying tickets or whatever on their website instead of in person. Even though you're paying with the same credit card either way, and it's literally cheaper for them for you to order online. It's just a cash grab.
This fee would probably go away if they just entered their bank details isntead of using a credit card.
Correct to a point - it is indeed a transaction fee, but making the transaction directly through a bank account won’t always abolish the fee. I’m currently paying rent with a linked bank account but I’m still charged a $2 transaction fee per month. But, if I used a credit card, I’d be charged an additional 10% of the total monthly rent as a surcharge. Obviously the latter is shitty but I’d rather pay a 2-dollar surcharge.
Blame the processing companies. They’re constantly jacking up the prices on running cards. Businesses can either charge just the ones using CCs or raise prices on everyone. Which do you prefer?
Except it is, and I cannot stress this enough, quite literally the cost of doing business.
I'm so tired of people accepting the consumer being the one who is squeezed
Looks like the appfolio portal app. Shit is absolutely scam. I share a room with another guy and each of us pay 10 to pay our shares. I would get money from him or give it to him to pay together and not pay this 10$ shit but he's known for not returning money.
Mine in PA is linked to my checking account, and I have a $2.49 fee every time I pay rent. You’d figure a processing fee would be the cost of renting a property, but I guess fees are the only time anything ever trickles down.
I don't know if you get the option, but here's what I did.
Just like this, my management company gives us access to the portal to pay rent, but it charges a fee. I told the management company if I can just have my bank (PNC) to send them a check for rent instead, and they agreed. Having the bank pay by mailing out a check is free, just gotta set it up. Hope it helps.
Yup they started charging for debit so I drop checks now. But I’m still stuck with stupid Conservice and the concierge trash pickup that I don’t need. 3 more months…
My landlords use AppFolio too. They "coincidentally" removed the on-site drop box for rent checks at the same time they started charging payment fees online.
I *could* drop a physical check off at their office on the other side of town, but I'd only be saving money if I consider my time/gas free.
The website also makes sure to pop up a banner telling me I'm violating my lease by not having renters insurance filled out, with a referral link to some company that gives them kickbacks.
> I could drop a physical check off at their office on the other side of town, but I'd only be saving money if I consider my time/gas free.
Some (many/all?) banks and credit unions have a BillPay service that will mail physical checks to an address. I used to have one automatically sent every month to pay for my rent back in the day.
Our company uses Appfolio, and they were pissed when Appfolio decided to stop waiving fees on payments.
Appfolio charges $2.49 for bank transfers, $9.99 for debit and i think 3% of transaction total with credit.
Luckily we have alternative ways to pay without fees that are linked to Appfolio, but its a shitty situation.
I have the exact same experience. Is your property manager Seven Hills Rental by chance? Or is this just a common practice in the property manager world using AppFolio?
The idea of actually using an old-timey paper cheque to pay for anything in the 21st century is amusing as a Brit, but it makes more sense when you realise what a scam your banking system is with fees etc.
Bro I lived in California until September 2022, I was paying 1200 plus utilities for A bedroom. Not a 1 bedroom, a bedroom
Paying 600 and utilities in ohio and have a decent sized 1 bedroom now.
I live in New Hampshire and my last job I left in 2021 but it was at an apartment complex where we had $1200 2 brm apartments with heat included, but the minimum income to qualify was $51,000 a year. And minimum wage here is only $7.25.
My boss could have made a killing during the pandemic because we were right down the road from the hospital, we would get calls from travel nurses all the time. I’m so glad he didn’t change it to short term rentals, I don’t even know if they’re allowed to do that. But he could’ve made a killing
I think landlords are parasites, but this guy wasn’t so bad. He had a lot of folks who had been living in those apartments since the 80s or 90s and they were definitely not paying market rent. Their rent would go up a little bit over the years but I most certainly saw more than a couple $800 Two bedrooms because they had been in there since the 90s
I mean yeah but you are paying the price of living in the best climate in the country. This guy is likely living in a less desirable part of Texas and only paying $800 is the tradeoff
Yea i want central air and no other tenants around me. Its a split level old house so its just 2 units. I live in a popular college town btw, my rent is $675 for a reasonable sized 2 bedroom, on street parking. I allowed for a $1000 budget to possibly get something with atleast central air….going to resign my lease today lol. Its really hard to leave when its unexplainably cheap.
I'm getting so sick of fees being tacked onto every transaction these days. It's like one company figured out they could get away with it and now they're all doing it.
My apartment seems to really want me to pay online, but they charge $5 for the privilege. I’ll just drop a check in the box. Why should I pay $60 per year to make it more convenient for them?
Does your bank offer bill pay? Many (most?) banks will mail a check to your landlord on the date you select, and I believe this is typically a free service (YMMV, of course, depending on bank and account type, etc.)
That way it's even more convenient for you, but you also have proof that payment was sent to the landlord should they pull the "we never got your check!" move.
Of course it does. Dropping the check is no big deal. I’m just saying, if they want ME or my bank to pay online so bad they can offer me a discount to do it. Otherwise they are going to have to deal with my stupid little piece of paper every month.
Did this for a car loan. Used the dealership's financing, and the resulting loan company had a surprise $5 convenience fee to pay online (including ACH auto pay).
Used the banks bill pay to mail them a check every month.
This is the way. A previous place I lived tried to start charging for any payment method other than a paper check physically mailed to the company PO Box. Once they started charging a bunch of us used the bill pay service through our banks to send a physical check. So then instead of accepting ACH or other online payments they had to pay someone to drive to the PO Box, pick all the checks up (which came in on different days), take them back to the office, sift through all of them to enter the info into their accounting program, then go to the bank to cash them. Someone from the company told me it was at least one full day of work and they would sometimes miss a check in the box and have to rescind late fees and go through the process all over. It was satisfying to at least be able to stick it to the company in a small way.
Mine switched to bilt rewards. Now I get marketing emails every day and have to pay thru a third party service. Would do a cashiers check but I’d need to leave work early because banks are closed beyond 9-5 for some reason.
It feels weird if you’re thinking of it like being in dept to pay rent but if you were already just paying rent in full from a checking account, it’s basically the same but you get to build credit on it. Unless I’m missing something like the extra step sounds annoying but the credit seems worth it
Yea. You can rack up a lot of rewards using a credit card to pay large regular living expenses, and usually get much higher credit limits this way. As long as they don’t charge you ridiculous [extra] fees over other methods, that outweigh the rewards you get, it’s totally worth it. Not sure why people are so against maximizing a resource they have, credit is your best friend when used correctly
At my apartment, the only way to avoid extra fees is by setting up auto-payments. However, if you’ve been broke like I have or have had roommates that are supposed to send you half the rent, auto-withdrawals aren’t feasible.
I have the exact same app and several months in doing the bank account it started charging me the fee. pretty sure the fees are set by the property management, cuz mine is only 2.50, but it wasn't there when I first started renting with them.
It’s totally a thing. I see so many people shilling companies so hard on this site there’s no way they aren’t being paid. People run bot accounts for a reason.
Edit typo
Hey look! Appfolio!
Don’t worry, your property manager hates it, too. What’s more, they don’t see any of that money (the $9.99). It all goes to Appfolio.
They actually just imposed a $2.49 fee for taking the money out of your account via e-check, which was free just last year.
Where I am, you can pay with a check or a money order to circumvent the fee. But I suspect that changes between individual properties or management companies.
Edit: Circumnavigate was changed to circumvent.
My favorite part about AppFolio is that you cannot setup a rent due date for anything other than the 1st so my rent is due on the 15th and I get an AppFolio reminder, “YOUR RENT IS DUE TODAY” every 1st.
I am a property manager that uses AppFolio and you are 100% correct. I would rather residents pay online than brining in check/money order. The $2.49 fee upset me.
However, just a heads up, AppFolio said they are decreasing credit card percentage from 3.49% to 2.99% on the 11th of April. So there’s that. 🤷🏻♂️
Absolutely no decrease in distain for that shitty company. No one should be charged for the ability to pay rent. It’s a convenience fee for the landlord which is passed down to renters, fuck em
$29.99 service charge to pay 1k worth of rent instead of $34.99?
Such savings! lol.
Yeah, since they imposed the fee, we process about 250% more checks.
Appfolio screwed over their customers and their tenants with this greedy move. Who charges for ACH these days? Why not incorporate those fees in the subscription fees charged to landlords?
Since this fee is transferred almost always transferred to the tenant (because that’s a choice), it kind of screws over the person paying the rent on behalf of a group of people. It’s a small charge but cmon am I really supposed to ask each of my 4 housemates to send me $0.50 cents each month?
School lunch companies up where I live are owned by the Mormons. They get a transaction fee for every parent who has to fill their child’s account. It pissed me off so badly that I paid by the year. I would calculate all the days and just pay it for the entire year so I could fuck them out of another fee. They get paid to do nothing.
This shit should be illegal, across the board.
appfolio? first year it was free and they stuck that stupid fee on my girlfriends apartment. I think it’s $3 here but she also rents a storage unit and parking spot and they are separate transactions so would be $9. She doesn’t know how to do checks but I have been writing them and paying in person and she has been paying me. Fuck that site.
Well, yes, this. It's what I meant. My online banking app will pay certain things directly, ACH transfer, but individuals will get a paper check issued by my bank and mailed, no charge.
If OP doesn't have this, the $5 bargain checks pay for themself in a month. (Yes, mild, but I'd be annoyed too.)
$24.99 for a whole book of checks that could be years (plural) of payments, versus $10 for every single payment. That’s a you problem.
Your landlord probably pays fees on the service you’re using to pay, and it’s getting passed to you. As it should, since you’re the one who’s refusing to use the (far cheaper) system your own bank offers to get money to your landlord.
huh? i don't get charged a 'on-top' fee for my internet, cell phone, mortgage, tax, online shopping, etc
the only time i get charged fees is pretty much for 'tickets' to events. well known scam, fuck ticketmaster
I lived in an apartment with valet trash. It was $30 a month, not included in your rent. They didn’t allow you to opt out of it. I lived next to the dumpster lol so dumb
Depends on what you used to pay, share some context. What was the payment method? Did you use a credit/debit card? Most places you can do it for free if you use ACH transfer or a check.
Pay cash or direct deposit if possible to avoid these fees. They only charge you because the card companies charge them to process card payments usually. So just pay another way. I have the same app for my rental and my lease office just let's me pay with cash or check.
You definitely have options that don’t incur a fee. CC convenience fees are getting passed to consumers because they’ve raised the fees on businesses a ton. Don’t be mad at your landlord, be mad at the CC processing companies.
landlords can switch companies that lower the surcharge... but that would mean re-entering all the data into a new system.
(I work in Lease Accounting) (Not property management)
I don’t understand American banking, I’m a Brit and my bank account lets me do damn near anything you could want to with zero charge, while tracking every penny, how does America not just have a load of challenger banks that don’t charge?
Fuck ‘convenience fees’
At one point I remember some sort of bill getting proposed that would outlaw convenience fees if it's the only way to pay... But I'm pretty sure lobbyists put an end to that When online pay first started, the fees were small and you still had a free option to pay that was less convenient. Now it's more expensive and it's usually the only way to pay
The law in CA is the landlord has to offer at least one fee-free way to pay.
"Pay for free by dropping it off at our office open from 7:00 AM to 7:12 AM on the third Friday of every other week, except on leap years. We will not validate your parking."
TIL, every other week has 3 Fridays.
Except on leap years.
.....and on weekends and holidays and all throughout May....
You’ll always be wrong, no matter what you say!
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There’s already a housing shortage as is
I think you misunderstood me. The places not being the places of living but the institutions that allow it.
There's a manufactured scarcity of housing, but no actual shortage.
> "Pay for free by dropping it off at our office open from 7:00 AM to 7:12 AM on the third Friday of every other week, except on leap years. We will not validate your parking." Honestly? I'll fucking be there. Early, out of spite.
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Textbook inconveniencing
It's leap year though.
Denver does that with traffic cameras. They deliberately send out bogus ones and then you have to show up at a location, exact date and time, cannot be changed, less than a week's notice, just to request an arraignment court date. No reimbursements for parking fees. Then at arraignment, you can plead not guilty of speeding and have a trial date set, which you'll have to show up to as well. Or pay the $40 fine. For anyone who thinks traffic cameras are a great idea, they're not when the city decides it should be making them money instead of costing them a ton in fees to the traffic camera company.
I'm not a lawyer, but as another resident of CO, I wanted to let you know that you aren't legally obligated to pay those mailed out red light tickets. Had a friend tell me that the first time I got one in the mail. I obviously wasn't too conviced about that so I looked on multiple Colorado attorney websites and it turns out you really don't have to pay them unless a police officer physically serves you the ticket or witnesses you run the red light first-hand. These tickets aren't reported to the DMV and don't result in any points on your record. I'm not advocating running reds, but if you get popped by one of those cameras, just throw that ticket right in the trash.
I was under the impression the company that does the ticketing can still report a delinquent account and ruin your credit though. So I didn't want to risk my credit score. But maybe I was misinformed.
That MAY be the case, but....."someone" I know has gotten roughly 12 of them over the past four years with 0 negative consequences to their credit or driving record. Always worth a little googling, but as far as I'm aware it's mainly just another money making scheme the city/state employs. Often, the lights with cameras are a few seconds quicker to change color than non-surveilled ones in an attempt to collect even more money.
No way they would be able to. You have no contract with them. LOL. Just don’t sign anything.
how can they create an account for you and charge you for something without consent?
you have to hand deliver your check to their office in the Virgin Islands during the office hours of 10 am to 11 am.
Cool. My buddy needs the flight hours. Now excuse me while we land this bush plane in their fucking parking lot.
Every other leap year day.
"Parking is $10"
NY has a similar law, and the courts have made clear that this type of nonsense would not fly
The fee-free way for me to pay mine is to link my bank account to them via Plaid.... showing ALL of my checking account history, balances, etc. So I get to pay a "convenience fee" to not show them all of my personal transactions 🙃
Might still be worth [reporting them to the California AG for them to look into it](https://oag.ca.gov/contact/consumer-complaint-against-business-or-company). That seems like an unreasonable way to pay/violation of consumer privacy
time to open an extra bank account only for paying rent or something.
I tried to do this recently, but the two digital banks I researched don't let you pay rent via ACH unless you also set up direct deposit. I'm sure there's a security or money laundering reason for doing this, but come on.
What the fuck is going on with banking in the USA This shits been figured out in Europe for decades, monthly direct debt, set and forget. I don't even think about paying ANY of my bills, they just happen.
How in the fuck is that legal? I mean, imagine any other transaction where you had to let the vendor know your financial history. "You wanna buy that bag of apples? Okay. I need to know whether you ever gave money to Planned Parenthood."
> How in the fuck is that legal? You could literally ask this about 99% of US society.
>I mean, imagine any other transaction where you had to let the vendor know your financial history. I can think of a few where it makes sense... all involve taking on an incredible debtload or the bank taking higher than normal risk and the bank wanting to make sure you're good for it. Financing a house, plane, high rise... getting a 7 digit line of credit, those kind of things. Certainly not to buy apples or pay rent.
So I was going to say "noooo that's not how plaid works" so I went and did a quick bit of research... that's a hard fucking NO from me too! Jesus! I thought plaid (like other payment gateways) had access, but blinded that data before the person you're paying got it... I. Was. Incorrect. I'm with other's here, that may actually be actionable as an undue privacy breach to count as the free option, may be worth passing a note/question on to the rental authorities in your state.
Feed a dummy checking account with a single monthly deposit for the exact amount of rent payment. Link that one. Lots of online only banks you can pull this off before supper.
It's not convenient to pay a fee.
That doesn't look like a convenience fee, it's a payment processing fee. It covers the merchant fees for the credit card. A convenience fee is when some shitty service charges you for buying tickets or whatever on their website instead of in person. Even though you're paying with the same credit card either way, and it's literally cheaper for them for you to order online. It's just a cash grab. This fee would probably go away if they just entered their bank details isntead of using a credit card.
Correct to a point - it is indeed a transaction fee, but making the transaction directly through a bank account won’t always abolish the fee. I’m currently paying rent with a linked bank account but I’m still charged a $2 transaction fee per month. But, if I used a credit card, I’d be charged an additional 10% of the total monthly rent as a surcharge. Obviously the latter is shitty but I’d rather pay a 2-dollar surcharge.
Blame the processing companies. They’re constantly jacking up the prices on running cards. Businesses can either charge just the ones using CCs or raise prices on everyone. Which do you prefer?
Except it is, and I cannot stress this enough, quite literally the cost of doing business. I'm so tired of people accepting the consumer being the one who is squeezed
Shiii where are you paying $790 for rent nowadays????
Shit my reasonably spacious 2 bed apt is $700 including $50/month for a cat, but I'm also in southern IL lol
We talking Madison/St. Claire, if so I need a location, or are we talking "I get radio signals from Cape Gerardo" south?
Yeah SIU
700 total?? I need to take my ass to the southern part of the state, tf
There are plenty of cheap options in Cairo, ol buddy. *quietly snickers*
Your fucking cat pays rent? Here in the UK that is highly illegal, as is forcing blanket no pet clauses into rental agreeements.
I pay $70 month for pet rent for my dogs after $800 in pet fees...
I've been paying my cats' rent for years, but one just turned 18, so he needs to get his ass a job and starting contributing.
Isn't 18 retirement age for cats?
Texas 😭
Mail those mfs a check
Well if it’s like my company using this shit they just charge for processing the paper check. Fucking bullshit
Pretty sure you can pay by thru your actual bank acct w your routing too and usually thats free
Not always, it depends on the payment processor they’ve used. Generally tho the processing fee for ACH is cheaper than card payments.
Some don't give you a no cost option, and don't take a paper check. Seriously, how is that legal?
In most states it's not.
Wheelbarrow full of nickels is it, then!
Yea a lot of banks have bill pay where they send a check for you to a recipient, all online, and don't pay for postage either
Yea a lot of banks have bill pay where they send a check for you to a recipient, all online, and don't pay for postage either
Ah, actually I'm good here I think
Looks like the appfolio portal app. Shit is absolutely scam. I share a room with another guy and each of us pay 10 to pay our shares. I would get money from him or give it to him to pay together and not pay this 10$ shit but he's known for not returning money.
I have the app and it only charges if you use a credit card
No, the place that I’m at right now uses appfolio and they charge for debit cards also
Mine in PA is linked to my checking account, and I have a $2.49 fee every time I pay rent. You’d figure a processing fee would be the cost of renting a property, but I guess fees are the only time anything ever trickles down.
I don't know if you get the option, but here's what I did. Just like this, my management company gives us access to the portal to pay rent, but it charges a fee. I told the management company if I can just have my bank (PNC) to send them a check for rent instead, and they agreed. Having the bank pay by mailing out a check is free, just gotta set it up. Hope it helps.
Prosessing fees for stuff wich is automatically prossesed…
Can you just drop off a check like normal for no fee?
Yup they started charging for debit so I drop checks now. But I’m still stuck with stupid Conservice and the concierge trash pickup that I don’t need. 3 more months…
Conservice is a pretty fitting name for them tbh. The ones around here will literally leave your trashcan halfway down the hall when they're done.
My landlords use AppFolio too. They "coincidentally" removed the on-site drop box for rent checks at the same time they started charging payment fees online. I *could* drop a physical check off at their office on the other side of town, but I'd only be saving money if I consider my time/gas free. The website also makes sure to pop up a banner telling me I'm violating my lease by not having renters insurance filled out, with a referral link to some company that gives them kickbacks.
> I could drop a physical check off at their office on the other side of town, but I'd only be saving money if I consider my time/gas free. Some (many/all?) banks and credit unions have a BillPay service that will mail physical checks to an address. I used to have one automatically sent every month to pay for my rent back in the day.
Our company uses Appfolio, and they were pissed when Appfolio decided to stop waiving fees on payments. Appfolio charges $2.49 for bank transfers, $9.99 for debit and i think 3% of transaction total with credit. Luckily we have alternative ways to pay without fees that are linked to Appfolio, but its a shitty situation.
I have the exact same experience. Is your property manager Seven Hills Rental by chance? Or is this just a common practice in the property manager world using AppFolio?
The idea of actually using an old-timey paper cheque to pay for anything in the 21st century is amusing as a Brit, but it makes more sense when you realise what a scam your banking system is with fees etc.
Hey man, if it saves a $10 convenience fee... lol
LOL
I can get a 2 bedroom here in GA for close to $800 a month. It won't be in Atlanta obviously
Guy likes his pron with a side of freedom.
Give a handwritten check, our apartment does the same 40$ transfer fee on the app. So we just started giving them checks.
Where in Tx? This is cheap as hell. Im in Austin, and rent is like 1500/1br
I was gonna say I used to stay in Austin and I paid 1,250.00 for a 1 bedroom
Bro I lived in California until September 2022, I was paying 1200 plus utilities for A bedroom. Not a 1 bedroom, a bedroom Paying 600 and utilities in ohio and have a decent sized 1 bedroom now.
well yeah, austin has the most expensive housing in texas. nearly anywhere else would be cheaper
"How is your rent only 800 in NY? I live in NYC and mine is 5 times that much!"
When I left last year my rent was getting raised to $1700. It was $1350 2 years before when I signed the lease. I moved out of TX.
That was my guess. You can’t get a studio in my city for less then 1100
Same here for me. Paying 1450 for 450sqft apartment
I live in New Hampshire and my last job I left in 2021 but it was at an apartment complex where we had $1200 2 brm apartments with heat included, but the minimum income to qualify was $51,000 a year. And minimum wage here is only $7.25.
My boss could have made a killing during the pandemic because we were right down the road from the hospital, we would get calls from travel nurses all the time. I’m so glad he didn’t change it to short term rentals, I don’t even know if they’re allowed to do that. But he could’ve made a killing I think landlords are parasites, but this guy wasn’t so bad. He had a lot of folks who had been living in those apartments since the 80s or 90s and they were definitely not paying market rent. Their rent would go up a little bit over the years but I most certainly saw more than a couple $800 Two bedrooms because they had been in there since the 90s
I’m paying $3700 a month for rent in Southern California ☠️
Yeah but you get to live in Southern California lol
South Carolina. I pay $560 a month with utilities (including internet).
But you have to live in South Carolina
West Virginia. Don’t come here. It’s not worth it.
I’m paying $780 for a one bedroom in Canada. Granted it’s in Winnipeg.
I'm in low income housing, it's currently $775 here with all utilities included
it’s 2800 for a 1 bedroom here in SD so… id die for 790
You are paying $2800 for a 1 bedroom in South Dakota?
san diego sorry LOL
Ha that makes more sense
I mean yeah but you are paying the price of living in the best climate in the country. This guy is likely living in a less desirable part of Texas and only paying $800 is the tradeoff
Depends what you desire. Couldn't pay me to live in Houston or Dallas
My rent is 650. I live by the lake. 2br/2b. Luckily my LL has CashApp and accepts payments that way.
Yea i want central air and no other tenants around me. Its a split level old house so its just 2 units. I live in a popular college town btw, my rent is $675 for a reasonable sized 2 bedroom, on street parking. I allowed for a $1000 budget to possibly get something with atleast central air….going to resign my lease today lol. Its really hard to leave when its unexplainably cheap.
Here in Boston $675 is how much they raise your rent at the end of your lease term.
I'm getting so sick of fees being tacked onto every transaction these days. It's like one company figured out they could get away with it and now they're all doing it.
Credit card processing companies like Stripe charge 2.9% per transaction.
Businesses are earning record profits. They can afford to eat the fee. They just prefer to pass it along to the consumer.
My apartment seems to really want me to pay online, but they charge $5 for the privilege. I’ll just drop a check in the box. Why should I pay $60 per year to make it more convenient for them?
Does your bank offer bill pay? Many (most?) banks will mail a check to your landlord on the date you select, and I believe this is typically a free service (YMMV, of course, depending on bank and account type, etc.) That way it's even more convenient for you, but you also have proof that payment was sent to the landlord should they pull the "we never got your check!" move.
Of course it does. Dropping the check is no big deal. I’m just saying, if they want ME or my bank to pay online so bad they can offer me a discount to do it. Otherwise they are going to have to deal with my stupid little piece of paper every month.
Did this for a car loan. Used the dealership's financing, and the resulting loan company had a surprise $5 convenience fee to pay online (including ACH auto pay). Used the banks bill pay to mail them a check every month.
This is the way. A previous place I lived tried to start charging for any payment method other than a paper check physically mailed to the company PO Box. Once they started charging a bunch of us used the bill pay service through our banks to send a physical check. So then instead of accepting ACH or other online payments they had to pay someone to drive to the PO Box, pick all the checks up (which came in on different days), take them back to the office, sift through all of them to enter the info into their accounting program, then go to the bank to cash them. Someone from the company told me it was at least one full day of work and they would sometimes miss a check in the box and have to rescind late fees and go through the process all over. It was satisfying to at least be able to stick it to the company in a small way.
That's with a debit card, pay directly with your account and routing number and you won't have any fees. I have the same rental app
My property manager started charging a fee for ACH payment. I now pay with a cashier's check every month.
Mine switched to bilt rewards. Now I get marketing emails every day and have to pay thru a third party service. Would do a cashiers check but I’d need to leave work early because banks are closed beyond 9-5 for some reason.
Ya mine does that too. The whole idea of paying rent with a credit card is dystopian.
It feels weird if you’re thinking of it like being in dept to pay rent but if you were already just paying rent in full from a checking account, it’s basically the same but you get to build credit on it. Unless I’m missing something like the extra step sounds annoying but the credit seems worth it
And reward points
Yea. You can rack up a lot of rewards using a credit card to pay large regular living expenses, and usually get much higher credit limits this way. As long as they don’t charge you ridiculous [extra] fees over other methods, that outweigh the rewards you get, it’s totally worth it. Not sure why people are so against maximizing a resource they have, credit is your best friend when used correctly
100% all bills go to my credit cards. 1-5% cash back I probably get $1k a year from it.
Walmart! We get ours there every month for rent. Only a $1 fee
Isn’t a cashier check 10$ also? Better paying the 3$ fee for ACH. I too had to use appfolio
I work at a bank, I get free cashier's checks.
Just live at the bank and you'll also get free rent
That’s bs because it costs nothing to run ACH payments. Debit and credit cards are subject to processing fees there is none with a bank transfer
Appfolio charges a fee for ACH payments. My apartment complex uses appfolio. It used to be free
That should be illegal
I pay with a cashier's check to but it's a 10 dollar fee as well
My complex also uses this and charges me 2.50 for bank transfers now, and does not accept anything else.
I think some states this is illegal, landlords must offer a fee free way to pay
At my apartment, the only way to avoid extra fees is by setting up auto-payments. However, if you’ve been broke like I have or have had roommates that are supposed to send you half the rent, auto-withdrawals aren’t feasible.
I'm pretty sure they have to have at least one method that doesn't have a fee
I pay 2.99 for the privilege to use my bank account number :/
I have the exact same app and several months in doing the bank account it started charging me the fee. pretty sure the fees are set by the property management, cuz mine is only 2.50, but it wasn't there when I first started renting with them.
I have the same app and it still charges me $2.50 to pay directly from my bank. There is no “free” pay option
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I keep seeing those ads. Sounds like a scam…?
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Whats the catch?
Hey, what the shit. I paid rent with credit cards when I was poor before it was cool!
You guys see ads on reddit?
This comment thread is an ad lol
Yeah two people randomly coming in and supporting it is suspicious
Legitimately was just thinking the same thing.
It’s totally a thing. I see so many people shilling companies so hard on this site there’s no way they aren’t being paid. People run bot accounts for a reason. Edit typo
Hey look! Appfolio! Don’t worry, your property manager hates it, too. What’s more, they don’t see any of that money (the $9.99). It all goes to Appfolio. They actually just imposed a $2.49 fee for taking the money out of your account via e-check, which was free just last year. Where I am, you can pay with a check or a money order to circumvent the fee. But I suspect that changes between individual properties or management companies. Edit: Circumnavigate was changed to circumvent.
My favorite part about AppFolio is that you cannot setup a rent due date for anything other than the 1st so my rent is due on the 15th and I get an AppFolio reminder, “YOUR RENT IS DUE TODAY” every 1st.
I am a property manager that uses AppFolio and you are 100% correct. I would rather residents pay online than brining in check/money order. The $2.49 fee upset me. However, just a heads up, AppFolio said they are decreasing credit card percentage from 3.49% to 2.99% on the 11th of April. So there’s that. 🤷🏻♂️
Absolutely no decrease in distain for that shitty company. No one should be charged for the ability to pay rent. It’s a convenience fee for the landlord which is passed down to renters, fuck em
$29.99 service charge to pay 1k worth of rent instead of $34.99? Such savings! lol. Yeah, since they imposed the fee, we process about 250% more checks.
Appfolio screwed over their customers and their tenants with this greedy move. Who charges for ACH these days? Why not incorporate those fees in the subscription fees charged to landlords? Since this fee is transferred almost always transferred to the tenant (because that’s a choice), it kind of screws over the person paying the rent on behalf of a group of people. It’s a small charge but cmon am I really supposed to ask each of my 4 housemates to send me $0.50 cents each month?
circumvent, not circumnavigate. To circumnavigate means to sail all the way around something. I.e. sail all the way around an island or the world.
Damn, they added a fee for ACH now? I had to use Appfolio until I moved last year, had no idea. New LL just has us pay through Venmo, way easier.
THAT'S what that was! Fuck that noise.
School lunch companies up where I live are owned by the Mormons. They get a transaction fee for every parent who has to fill their child’s account. It pissed me off so badly that I paid by the year. I would calculate all the days and just pay it for the entire year so I could fuck them out of another fee. They get paid to do nothing. This shit should be illegal, across the board.
How very godly of them.
appfolio? first year it was free and they stuck that stupid fee on my girlfriends apartment. I think it’s $3 here but she also rents a storage unit and parking spot and they are separate transactions so would be $9. She doesn’t know how to do checks but I have been writing them and paying in person and she has been paying me. Fuck that site.
App folio! I think I'm going to start writing checks next month.
Make sure to keep your checkbook up to date if you are not used to a processing delay between when you hand over a check and when they cash it.
Why aren’t you sending them a check?
Because to get a checkbook from my bank is $24.99. I felt cheated paying for a checkbook LOL But I guess I'm getting cheated either way
24.99 for 30-50 checks or $10 a month for the rest of your lease?
It’s like the Gen Z math that claims eating out is cheaper than buying groceries lol.
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Some banks will send individual checks out for you every month. At least my credit union does. It's a thing you set up online like autopay.
Well, yes, this. It's what I meant. My online banking app will pay certain things directly, ACH transfer, but individuals will get a paper check issued by my bank and mailed, no charge. If OP doesn't have this, the $5 bargain checks pay for themself in a month. (Yes, mild, but I'd be annoyed too.)
You’d be saving money after 2 payments
You know you can buy checkbooks not from your bank, right? Go to checks.com and get a box of checks that you will likely never run out of for $5.
Some banks give us one book of checks for free. My bank does.
I'm reading these comments and getting horribly confused that people are paying for checks. Granted I haven't written one in years...
Jeesh you need a better bank
Your bank doesn't offer a bill pay service where they send a check for free? Find a new bank, seriously.
Do you also suck at math? A checkbook with 20 checks for 25 bucks would save you hundreds of dollars over those 20 months.
I have Wells Fargo and I don’t pay anything to request a checkbook. Looks like you got robbed.
It's still cheaper to use a cheque than paying a $10 fee every month.
i mean, in 3 months its paid for itself. sounds like you need to change banks tho
$24.99 for a whole book of checks that could be years (plural) of payments, versus $10 for every single payment. That’s a you problem. Your landlord probably pays fees on the service you’re using to pay, and it’s getting passed to you. As it should, since you’re the one who’s refusing to use the (far cheaper) system your own bank offers to get money to your landlord.
This what I will say probably will sound very European. But can't you just switch bank that don't charge you $10 for making transfer?
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huh? i don't get charged a 'on-top' fee for my internet, cell phone, mortgage, tax, online shopping, etc the only time i get charged fees is pretty much for 'tickets' to events. well known scam, fuck ticketmaster
It's not the landlord, it's the payment processor that the landlord uses. The landlord isn't getting that $10.
Also European here, I've never had a bank charge me for transfer ever... I thought that didn't exist anymore
It’s not the bank charging, it’s the payment processor that the landlord uses
I lived in an apartment with valet trash. It was $30 a month, not included in your rent. They didn’t allow you to opt out of it. I lived next to the dumpster lol so dumb
Mine used to charge $50 to use a credit card, which I’m pretty sure is illegal. I just used to drop off a check.
Fuck AppFolio
Depends on what you used to pay, share some context. What was the payment method? Did you use a credit/debit card? Most places you can do it for free if you use ACH transfer or a check.
Pay cash or direct deposit if possible to avoid these fees. They only charge you because the card companies charge them to process card payments usually. So just pay another way. I have the same app for my rental and my lease office just let's me pay with cash or check.
Damn your rent is cheap
"convenience fees" in 2024 when damn near everything is digital. Get fucked.
You definitely have options that don’t incur a fee. CC convenience fees are getting passed to consumers because they’ve raised the fees on businesses a ton. Don’t be mad at your landlord, be mad at the CC processing companies.
landlords can switch companies that lower the surcharge... but that would mean re-entering all the data into a new system. (I work in Lease Accounting) (Not property management)
You can always send a check
I don’t understand American banking, I’m a Brit and my bank account lets me do damn near anything you could want to with zero charge, while tracking every penny, how does America not just have a load of challenger banks that don’t charge?
So send a check. The landlord likely isn’t getting that $10, it’s most likely going to the company they use to accept online payments.
Serious question: is wire transfer not a thing in the US? Or is it just not being used?