Should You Pay Apartment Rent With Cash Or Credit

It seems as though the trend in our society is to move toward the use of plastic and away from cash as much as possible. For some landlords, payment of rent is no exception to this trend. It affords tenants the opportunity to pay their rent online, or to arrange to have the rent automatically debited from their bank account on a certain day. This opportunity makes it very convenient for a tenant to pay the rent, and there is no excuse for late payments, or so one would hope. As appealing as the prospect of paying rent with a credit or debit card can be, there may be hidden charges or fees that the landlord charges the tenant to pay for the fees that they have to pay when they agree to accept credit rather than cash. The landlord has to have a merchant account in order to be able to accept those credit cards, and merchant accounts aren’t cheap. *Are there penalties for late deductions? — If you decide to pay for your rent by credit card or debit card, and the deduction is set to occur on a specified date, are you going to incur penalties or late fees if that deduction doesn’t come out on or before the first of the month? If you are, then it isn’t worth the potential loss of a considerable amount of money for this convenience. *Charges for paying by credit — If you pay by credit and are unable to pay that credit card off in full each month, you are incurring interest on that additional amount of money you are paying by credit. Take the time to figure out how much additional interest you would be paying on the amount of your rent if you opt to pay your rent by credit card. Figure out how much extra you will be paying on a yearly basis. If you use your debit card as a credit card and you are short on money in the account, will your bank charge you $35 for the over draft? And if you are charged for an overdraft, will the bank pay the check, or are you going to incur late payment charges for not paying the rent on time? If that’s the case, your decision to pay by credit or debit card may cost you $50 or more over your basic rent charge. *Benefits of paying by check — When you pay by check, you have proof in both the canceled check and the bank statement on which you can see where it cleared that you paid your rent. Even if the landlord tries to contest the date on the check, you can check to see when it was canceled. Your check is also a way by which you can control how much you are paying and not have to worry about whether or not the landlord may decide to add extra charges for incidental things and charge you for those. By paying by check, you are arming yourself with physical evidence that coupled with your leases (and you should always keep copies of your leases) that you paid your rent on time, and that you paid it in full. A landlord can never contest this and use it as a way to try not to renew your lease. There is no question that paying your rent by credit is much more convenient. But you also need to figure out whether you will incur additional charges, be they in late payments, interest on your credit card, potential service charges for paying by credit, or any other fees. If you have to mail your rent to the landlord, is there a risk that the check may not arrive on time? These are all questions that a renter should ask themselves when they weigh the pros and cons of whether or not to pay rent by credit. Neither way is better, but the good old fashioned check will always give you proof of payment, and there is never the risk that if you go over your credit limit, which is distinctly possible with a credit card, that the card would be denied. In a case like that, you would be in real trouble, and that decision to pay by credit would have done you more harm than good. Category:Home › Other • Pomegranates: A newly discovered superfood • Where did the joke why did the chicken cross the road come from and why is it funny? • Can mothers diagnosed with bipolar disorder make good parents? • Spiritual evolution of human consciousness • Tips for getting a college basketball scholarship • Living with Pseudotumor cerebri (PTC) • Caring for the caregiver • Technologys impact on society