Blog
Plain, practical writing on collecting rent online, payment fees, autopay, and running rentals of every kind.
Turning your old home into a rental? Here is how to decide between renting and selling, what to sort out with your lender and insurer, and how to set up rent the right way from month one.
Read morePayment apps are one of the most common ways small landlords get paid. They work until the month they do not. Here is what to watch for, and a message you can send to move tenants to something sturdier.
Read moreYour tenant lives a few steps from your kitchen. Here is how to handle permits, pricing, the lease, shared utilities, rent collection, and taxes when the rental is in your own backyard.
Read moreThe rent ledger is the most boring document in your rental business, right up until a tenant disputes a payment. Here are the columns to use, a filled-in example, and how to handle partial payments and late fees.
Read moreGot PCS orders and want to keep the house? Here is a practical plan for running it as a rental from wherever you are stationed, from rent collection to repairs to the SCRA.
Read moreRenting out a property for the first time? This checklist puts the setup in a sensible order, from the insurance call to the first rent payment, with links to the state rules that matter.
Read moreLiving in one side of a duplex and renting the other means your tenant is also your neighbor. Here is how to keep rent formal, utilities simple, repairs in writing, and taxes straight.
Read moreOwn a rental you cannot drive past? Here is how long-distance landlords handle rent, repairs, inspections, state law, and taxes, and how to let family help without sharing a password.
Read moreRenting to a relative or friend can work well, but a below-market rent can limit your tax deductions and a handshake deal can strain the relationship. Here is how to set it up properly.
Read moreA furnished unit rented for a month or a few sits between a vacation rental and a lease. Here is how to size the lease to an assignment, handle deposits, and bill a stay that starts mid-month.
Read moreWith a voucher tenant, the housing agency pays its share and the tenant pays the rest. Here is how to bill only the tenant portion, keep the HAP on your books, and stay inside the HAP contract.
Read moreOutdoor ad rent is its own animal: the payer is a department, the term is a flight, and every face has its own rate. Here is how to bill it without building a spreadsheet for every campaign.
Read moreCash rent usually shows up once or twice a year, often from a farmer you never signed anything with. Here is how to put real dates on it, collect it, and keep records that hold up at tax time.
Read moreIf your landlord only takes checks or cash, you still have options. Here is what actually works to change it, what bank bill pay really costs you, and how to protect yourself in the meantime.
Read moreDeadlines range from 10 days to 60 days depending on the state, and missing yours can cost double or triple the deposit. A state-by-state reference for landlords and renters.
Read moreNo federal law caps how much a landlord can raise rent, but state law often sets a minimum notice period and a few states now cap the increase itself. Here are the verified rules for the states with a rent increase statute, plus how to deliver a notice that holds up.
Read moreA rent receipt is only useful if it names the period it covers. Here is every field a receipt should carry, the states whose laws require one, and a template you can copy.
Read moreIn most states a landlord can pass the cost of an online rent payment to the tenant, provided it is disclosed before payment. Here is what the fee pays for, which states restrict it, and what an honest setup looks like.
Read moreIf rent is due and the money is not there, real help exists. Here is where churches and charities offer rent assistance, how the process works, and how to ask well.
Read moreGoing all-online for rent is tempting, but several states say you cannot force it. Here is where a mandatory online-payment rule is legal, where it is not, and how to stay on the right side of it.
Read moreRenting chairs or suites to stylists means collecting from a dozen independent businesses at once. Here is how to make booth rent automatic instead of a weekly conversation.
Read moreA marina is a lot of small monthly agreements spread across a lot of boaters you only see in passing. Here is how to keep slip fees flowing without chasing anyone down the dock.
Read moreSelf-storage is a high-volume, high-turnover rent business: many small units, month to month, and delinquency that adds up fast. Here is how to put the monthly cycle on autopilot.
Read moreA late fee that is legal in one state can be unenforceable in another. Here is a 2026 reference on late-fee caps, mandatory grace periods, and the federal HUD limits.
Read moreIn a mobile home park, residents own the home and rent the land, often for years. Here is how to collect lot rent from every pad without a drawer full of checks.
Read moreBoarding is monthly board plus a moving list of extras, billed to people you see in the barn every day. Here is how to make the money part automatic so it never gets personal.
Read moreReporting on-time rent can help your tenants build credit and gives them a reason to pay on time. But you cannot send data to the bureaus yourself. Here is how it really works.
Read moreHangar tenants stay for years and live nowhere near the field. Here is how to collect hangar and tie-down rent without depending on a pilot walking into the office with a check.
Read moreA booth mall is dozens of small monthly agreements with vendors who come and go. Here is how to collect stall rent online instead of running it out of the register.
Read moreCome tax time, your rental lands on Schedule E. Here is what each part means, the expenses you can deduct, and how to keep the year of numbers so filing takes minutes, not days.
Read moreA storage yard is a high-volume, low-touch rent business with tenants who are rarely on-site. Here is how to bill every space every month without chasing anyone.
Read moreRenting a house by the room means several people each owe their own share. Here is how to bill each room directly so you are never splitting rent or chasing the one roommate who is short.
Read moreArtist and photo studio tenants want to make work, not deal with checks. Here is how to run studio rent so it stays quietly in the background.
Read moreIf you could change one thing to stop chasing rent, it would be this: get tenants on autopay. Here is how it works and how to get them to switch it on.
Read moreRent collection is not just an apartment thing. If you lease out a storage unit, a salon chair, a boat slip, or a warehouse bay, the monthly money problem is the same, and so is the fix.
Read moreLate rent is less about the money and more about the awkwardness. The fix is a system that does the chasing for you, so it never gets personal.
Read moreMoving rent off paper checks is the single biggest time-saver for a small landlord. Here is how online rent actually works, what it costs, and how to keep the full rent yours.
Read moreManaging for an owner or a few investors? A clean monthly statement is how you keep their trust. Here is what to put on it, and how to stop building it by hand.
Read moreWhen a tenant goes to pay rent online, they pick a method. The choice changes the fee, the speed, and how reliable autopay is. Here is how to think about it.
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