30 Top Excuses for Late Rent Payments – Online Solutions

How many excuses can be eliminated when you accept online rent payments? "62 percent of Americans have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts, and a third of those under-savers have no savings account at all." Go Banking Rates When you accept rent payments online, you can eliminate many common excuses for late rental payments, reduce your financial stress, and reduce your need to pursue tenants with legal action.

When Tenants Can't Pay: Top Excuses For Not Paying the Rent

Why aren't your tenants paying the rent? Sometimes it's all about financial mismanagement on their part. These excuses are all too common:

1. "My other bills are too high". Make rent a priority by adding simple online rent payments that occur automatically through electronic banking or credit card.
2. "I lost my job." Without an emergency fund, tenants have a hard time paying the rent without a steady income. Tenants are still responsible for making rent payments, no matter what their financial situation.
3. "We bought a..." Tenants need to pay the rent no matter whether they've purchased a car, boat, or another large item. Rent needs to come first.
4. "My child needed a..." Children need a place to live as well. Read more about the ways that tenant portals can help your tenants keep track of rent changes, deposits, and other rental expenses so that they know how much money they have to spend on other items.
5. "We're paying for school." Whether it's university or private school, your tenants need to budget for home as well: communicate about rent changes and set up online rental payments with a tenant portal.

Read more about how accepting online payments helps your tenants make rent payments a priority.

I Can't Get the Rent to You: A Common Excuse

Transportation is a big factor when tenants don't pay the rent. Accepting online rental payments can eliminate these excuses. According to SpirePoint Real Estate, as you increase the size of your business, many small businesses have "no repeatable systems in place." You need effective systems that eliminate transportation excuses. Here's how an online payment portal can make a difference:

6. "My car broke down, so I can't send in the rent." If tenants have to hand-deliver the rent or mail it, transportation can be an issue.
7. "I came to drop off the rent, but you weren't home." Online rental payments solve this problem - the portals are always open for business.
8. "The bank is closed so I can't give you the rent after work. "Online banks and ATMs are always open, and adding a tenant portal makes it easier for tenants to give you the rent.
9. "It's too snowy, rainy, or windy." Internet payments work unless the power is out.
10. "It's in the mail." This classic may be true, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. Eliminate mailing the rent with a tenant portal.

Online payments eliminate excuses. Read more to learn how an online payment system can improve the efficiency of rent collection.

Blaming Others: More Excuses for Not Paying the Rent

When tenants want to avoid paying the rent, they often try to blame it on someone else. While you can't manage tenants' personal relationships for them, accepting online rent payments allows tenants to pay quickly once they've secured the funds again.

Here are some common excuses why someone else is to blame for late rental payments. What can you do to change this situation?

11. "Work shorted me on my paycheck." Make rent the priority with automated payments.
12. "I haven't gotten my payment from the government."
13. "My sister, husband, or child took the rent money." With online payments, your tenants can quickly take care of the transaction, get the payment to you on time and avoid the risk of the money disappearing.
14. "I don't have my child support payment."
15. "The bank made a mistake so I don't have the money."
16. "My friend said she dropped it off for me."Remove the uncertainty and add online payments that give tenants a clear record of what they've paid.
17. "It's lost in the mail." Tenants don't need to worry about the mail when you accept online rental payments.
18. "We can't afford to pay for the other items on our account. " With a tenant portal, your tenants can see what other payments they owe to you, such as late fees or deposits.
19. "You made us pay for repairs." While this may be the case, tenants are still responsible for the rent. A tenant portal will show them exactly how much they owe.
20. "You haven't completed the repairs I wanted." While tenants should expect good maintenance, they also need to continue to pay the rent.

Read more about how an online maintenance request system can log requests and reassure tenants that they're being addressed.

Is Confusion Your Tenant's Excuse for Not Paying the Rent?

Confusion is a common excuse for not paying the rent. While mistakes do happen, you can help them happen less frequently by implementing a payment system that makes it easy to track what's due and what's been paid.

21. "The money was in my account. I don't know what happened."
22. "When was it due?" With a tenant portal, your tenants can see clearly when rent is due.
23. "But when is it really late?"
24. "The 1st was a Sunday." Easy online payments make this a non-issue.
25. "I mailed it to the wrong place." With tenant portals, your tenants don't need to rely on the mail.
26. "This is what I have. I'll pay the rest when I get paid."
27. "We are planning to move - can we have until the middle of the month?" With tenant portals, your tenants can see all of your rental agreements and see what notice you need for a move.
28. "I didn't realize there was a change." With property management software, you can automatically notify tenants of any fees or charges.
29. "You've made a mistake." With property management software, it's easier to be accurate with your document management, so that you don't make an error with your tenants. According to Long and Foster Real Estate, they're "able to save time - a lot of time - not having to look for filed documents. Everything's right there when you need it."
30. " I'll pay more next month."

Read more about how epayments, automatic collection of rental fees, automatic reminder emails and other features of accounts receivable software can help you reduce the confusion.

In a world full of excuses, Propertyware's online rental software simplifies your payments.

Ready to Eliminate Late Rent Payment Excuses?

Give us 2 minutes to explain how Propertyware can make rent collection hassle-free for both property managers and tenants. Watch this quick demo of Propertyware and learn how you can easily accept rent payments online.