Rent paid direct deposit and semi-monthly?

[villalta_peter]

Hello,


My tenant of over a year, and near perfect rent payments, has requested to pay rent twice a month and through direct deposit. This is to help her monthly cash flow and help me not needing to go to bank and deposit cheques.


It all seems fine to me. Has anybody used this method? Any lessons learned you can share?


Thanks,


Peter

 

[Nir]

No problem as long as rent is an even number and can be divided by two.



Example $1,000.50 is fine but $1000.49 is not!



Just joking J








Of course I would agree - anything that helps a good tenant and does not affect your business is a no brainer. Just make sure payment is done semimonthly say on the 1[sup]st and 15[sup]th of each month, not biweekly. (biweekly payments are in line with many employment income schedules but not with a monthly rent. charging half the rent biweekly would result in overcharging the tenant)



I would also have the tenant sign a tenant acknowledgment form confirming the monthly rent ($1000), payment dates (i.e. 1st[/sup] and 15th[/sup] of each month) and frequency and amount of payment ($500 semimonthly).



Regards,

Nir

 

[Alvaro Sanchez]

I am using http://www.tenantpay.com/ with some of my clients... It does not cost anything to them to setup but it will cost you 1.00 + tax per transaction... Your client can setup automatic payments.





I also use interact emails.

 

[bizaro86]

I have limited internet access where I am, but I recall reading somewhere that residential rentals for periods shorter than one month might not be GST exempt. If it saves the tenant 5% GST (or saves you a GST audit) it might be worth it to charge by the month.



IÂm not sure, but it might be worth looking into before you sign.



Michael

 

[countryproperty]

Peter



I charge my tenant biweekly according to there pay schedule and it is accelerated. As a result the 12th month is free they love it. We started off using posted checks. No he wants to switch to email transfers no fee for me but he says it is more convenient and no bounced checks or bounced check fees.



We set it up on the starting month the first half is due with his first pay closest to the first then his next 2 weeks pay etc. it works out so that the first half of the year he is paying 1/2 on time and 1/2 late then it eventually switches to he is paying 1/2 early and 1/2 on time. Then a free month and the cycle continues.



hope that helps.

Mark

 

[bizaro86]

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/gm/19-2-2/19-2-2r-e.html



I did some additional research, and it appears that residential property is exempt from GST based on the period of continuous occupancy, which must be more than one month. So biweekly rent collection doesnÂt have negative tax consequences. Sorry for the previous misrecollection.



Michael