Debit/credit card payment/ACH

mobile home university
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Merchant services via QuickBooks. 4 percent surcharge for credit card.

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@joshmule,

  • “What are the negatives to debit/credit card payment?”

My Husband and I own 2 MHPs.

Currently, we do not accept debit/credit card payments.

However, we got into a conversation with one of our neighbors whose business sells on eBay and they heavily use debit/credit card payments.

This business owner said that debit/credit card payments were wonderful until one of his Clients reversed the transaction on multiple items over multiple months (like 6 months) and requested their money back at one time.

Once this particular business owner had a Client that requested their money back they were hit will the following:

  • High debit/credit card fees of: 4% - (Paypal states that their fees are 2.9% plus $0.30 US)
  • 20% of their transaction amount held for 3 months

This business owner said that we (my Husband and I) would be crazy to accept payment via debit/credit card from our Clients as our Clients could go back 6 month previously and ask for their money back.

Again, we have not taken debit/credit cards from Tenants.

This was just a conversation with a Business Owner who was intimately familiar with the process.

Has any MHP Owner had a Tenant try to reverse one of their old transactions?

Has any MHP Owner had any negative issues with credit/debit cards?

Thanks in advance!

1 Like
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@Kristin
Chargebacks stink, but I think if you have a lease agreement you should be able to win that chargeback.

A while back I wrote an article on different ways and services to accept rent payment, people seem to find it useful

https://www.rentapplication.com/39-ways-to-accept-rental-payments-online/

1 Like
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@ari, Thank you for your post and your article.

We greatly appreciate it!

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I have a retail business, and I am very familiar with the merchant services. To avoid disputes in the future, please make sure have all your credit card information (#, expiration date, security code, billing zip code, etc.) if you do not swipe it at your credit card terminal. I would also obtain a copy of the person’s drivers license whose name is on the card.

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@ShanTX, thank you for your advice!

We greatly appreciate it!

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@ShanTX card present transactions (retail) are MUCH easier to win then card not present


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I don’t see how a landlord can lose the chargeback argument with the credit card company - the tenant is paying for a product/service and it can’t really be disputed that you didn’t provide the product/service. However if someone other than the tenant pays and they charge back the payment, that could be tricky to resolve.

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@joshmule, I am looking into PayNearMe.com

For tenants to be able to pay lot rent, it looks like they need a “payment code” from PayNearMe.com

Is getting the code a challenge for tenants? Do they need to be internet savvy? Is it something that Grandma and Grandma will be able do?

Could you please explain the A,B,Cs of getting the payment code?

Thank you.

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As the landlord / property manager, you enter your tenants into the paynearme website, and then print out a payment slip for each of them. This is really just one piece of paper with a code on it that they physically present to the payment location. They literally walk in, hold up the paper, and say “I’d like to pay my rent please”.

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@joshmule, I contacted PayNearMe.com

They need 100 payments per month minimum. Because my park has only 30 lots, I do not qualify to work with them :frowning:

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CheckFreePay also provides the same service via Paylease and RM if I’m not mistaken. There is a minor fee.

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You need to talk to someone else at PayNearMe. I have 6 or 7 tenants not paying me online right now, and they are my only people using PayNearMe.

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I am closing on a park on Friday. I am going to send an “Introduction Letter” to the tenants. In the letter, I am going to include the ways that they can pay their lot rent. I will give the tenants my LLC’s checking account number and routing number. Please give your opinion on my wording. Thanks.

There are 3 ways for you to pay your lot rent:
1. We can set up an ACH auto debit from your bank account. You will have to fill out an ACH form that you will receive in the next few weeks. Lot rent will be automatically deducted from your account on the 1st of the month.
2. You can auto-pay or transfer funds online from your bank account to ABC Estates, LLC’s checking account. If you need help, please ask your bank to show you how to do it.
3. You can go to the nearest XYZ Bank branch and deposit a check, cash or money order into ABC Estates, LLC’s checking account.

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All,

I just found this post and have a related question regarding the CC fee. We are using QBooks merchant services and the tenants like it. Most use the ACH method which we encourage but some have started using their credit cards (We told them they would be subject to credit card fees). The fees are significant as we are racking up $10+ for each CC transaction. We are just going to include the amount on their next month’s invoice. Is this how you guys do it?

Thanks,
Jon

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Anyone using Cozy.co for online payments?
The ACH is free to both parties.
The Credit/Debit card fee is charged to tenant.
They have the option, FREE or convenience charge. Let the tenant make the choice.
Can pay by Web or Smart phone.

Just a thought.

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Im using Cozy for a few tenants. Works fine so far. Most of my tenants didn’t like the option. I heard reasons from I dont trust it, I never heard of Cozy, I don’t want you to have my info, ,the FBI wont let me have a bank account. So the rest pay the manager with a check.