Pay rent electronically - Fidelity? Other?

[MotoTrojan]

Renting a new home and the landlord has provided an account/routing number at a local bank and requested rent be paid via "direct deposit"... What are the easiest ways I can pay them? Ideally automated and with guaranteed and verifiable delivery dates.

It seems Fidelity BillPay will only send paper checks unless they have an established account. EFT would require linking accounts. Wire-transfer seems like it'll incur a hefty fee on their end.

I have the name of their LLC, address, phone-number, bank name/routing#/account#. Any options I am not thinking of?

Fidelity suggested a 3rd party electronic fund transfer but that would require Medallion signature (guess one-time pain...) and it seems it would also require a phone-call every month to initiate the transfer, then 1-2 business days to receive.

[MrsBDG]

Zelle works well and has no fees of which I am aware.

[Katietsu]

My local bank’s bill pay will allow a deposit to another person’s account by providing the account information. So this can be possible. I have also used Zelle as mentioned in another post.

[sailaway]

Following, because we have been paying the outgoing wire fee. Does Zelle work with business accounts?

[big bang]

As you have described, there is no on line option to do that through Fidelity.
My son calls Fidelity every month to initiate the transfer of the rent.

[onmyway33]

Venmo can work well for paying rent, if your landlord is willing to create an account. Neither sender nor recipient has direct access to the other's checking account, so security is maintained. No fees if you link checking accounts, and the transfer is very rapid.

[dm200]

Renting a new home and the landlord has provided an account/routing number at a local bank and requested rent be paid via "direct deposit"... What are the easiest ways I can pay them? Ideally automated and with guaranteed and verifiable delivery dates.
It seems Fidelity BillPay will only send paper checks unless they have an established account. EFT would require linking accounts. Wire-transfer seems like it'll incur a hefty fee on their end.
I have the name of their LLC, address, phone-number, bank name/routing#/account#. Any options I am not thinking of?
Fidelity suggested a 3rd party electronic fund transfer but that would require Medallion signature (guess one-time pain...) and it seems it would also require a phone-call every month to initiate the transfer, then 1-2 business days to receive.

I might contact this local bank (either by phone or in person), explain your situation and ask for suggestions - that are both convenient and low/no cost. It might even be well worth your while to open/have an account at this same bank. With an account there, you should be able to monitor activity - and make 100% sure your rent is always paid on time.

Maintaining good relations with landlords almost always is well worth whatever you can do! [Paying the rent on time, every month, is the #1 best thing you can do.]

With an account there, you can probably have part of your salary taken as a payroll deduction that goes electronically to your account. Then, set up a regular transfer for the rent. Ask the bank ow to do that.

[mervinj7]

Renting a new home and the landlord has provided an account/routing number at a local bank and requested rent be paid via "direct deposit"... What are the easiest ways I can pay them? Ideally automated and with guaranteed and verifiable delivery dates.

It seems Fidelity BillPay will only send paper checks unless they have an established account. EFT would require linking accounts. Wire-transfer seems like it'll incur a hefty fee on their end.

I have the name of their LLC, address, phone-number, bank name/routing#/account#. Any options I am not thinking of?

Fidelity suggested a 3rd party electronic fund transfer but that would require Medallion signature (guess one-time pain...) and it seems it would also require a phone-call every month to initiate the transfer, then 1-2 business days to receive.

I'm a landlord. I allow (and prefer) that my tenant pay me rent monthly via Zelle. Everything is electronic and transfer is instantaneous. I no longer have to worry about bounced checks. That said, Fidelity CMA does not permit Zelle, so I use my old CapitalOne360 account for all Zelle payments (sending and receiving). I was quite annoyed for quite a few months and almost dropped my Fidelity CMA account, but then decided it was probably better to separate Zelle from my primary "checking" account anyway. Another limitation with Zelle is that each bank sets their own daily limit. For example, BofA has a $3000/24 hours limit.

https://www.bankofamerica.com/online-ba ... er-limits/

[crswvc]

Any options I am not thinking of?

I pay my rent with Apple Pay Cash, which is sent as a txt message and debits my debit card

I know landlord recevies the money and the landlord gets a txt that the money was sent

[mervinj7]

Any options I am not thinking of?

I pay my rent with Apple Pay Cash, which is sent as a txt message and debits my debit card

I know landlord recevies the money and the landlord gets a txt that the money was sent

One issue with Apply Pay is that your landlord needs to be iPhone user (unless something has changed recently). I'm not, so I don't allow it but maybe OP's landlord will.

[jharlan]

Have you tried Simple Bills (www.simplebills.com)? I use it for my daughter's rent/utilities while she's at school. I can then use a points CC to pay a monthly bill. Very handy.

[dm200]

One, also convenient for both parties, is that the tenant would just deposit a check into the account of the landlord - at a branch of the bank or credit unions.

However, I think that in some/many cases - this is not allowed any more by the bank or credit union.

[MotoTrojan]

Thanks all, these are all good ideas. I'd rather not bother the landlord too much (not the most responsive person ever) so I think I'll give the 3rd party EFT a try; just a simple call to Fidelity for each transfer.

[MotoTrojan]

Renting a new home and the landlord has provided an account/routing number at a local bank and requested rent be paid via "direct deposit"... What are the easiest ways I can pay them? Ideally automated and with guaranteed and verifiable delivery dates.
It seems Fidelity BillPay will only send paper checks unless they have an established account. EFT would require linking accounts. Wire-transfer seems like it'll incur a hefty fee on their end.
I have the name of their LLC, address, phone-number, bank name/routing#/account#. Any options I am not thinking of?
Fidelity suggested a 3rd party electronic fund transfer but that would require Medallion signature (guess one-time pain...) and it seems it would also require a phone-call every month to initiate the transfer, then 1-2 business days to receive.

I might contact this local bank (either by phone or in person), explain your situation and ask for suggestions - that are both convenient and low/no cost. It might even be well worth your while to open/have an account at this same bank. With an account there, you should be able to monitor activity - and make 100% sure your rent is always paid on time.

Maintaining good relations with landlords almost always is well worth whatever you can do! [Paying the rent on time, every month, is the #1 best thing you can do.]

With an account there, you can probably have part of your salary taken as a payroll deduction that goes electronically to your account. Then, set up a regular transfer for the rent. Ask the bank ow to do that.

Thanks. I am going to go there with the paperwork for the Medallion signature and see if they have any better options. Via e-mail they basically just said talk to your bank, but perhaps in person I can get my situation across better, especially with an offer to open an account there.

[Piper59]

I'm a landlord and my tenants pay with Zelle and the younger generation has pushed me to accept Venmo.

[Blue456]

Renting a new home and the landlord has provided an account/routing number at a local bank and requested rent be paid via "direct deposit"... What are the easiest ways I can pay them? Ideally automated and with guaranteed and verifiable delivery dates.

It seems Fidelity BillPay will only send paper checks unless they have an established account. EFT would require linking accounts. Wire-transfer seems like it'll incur a hefty fee on their end.

I have the name of their LLC, address, phone-number, bank name/routing#/account#. Any options I am not thinking of?

Fidelity suggested a 3rd party electronic fund transfer but that would require Medallion signature (guess one-time pain...) and it seems it would also require a phone-call every month to initiate the transfer, then 1-2 business days to receive.

Lake Michigan Credit Union has a tool that allows to pay other people via direct deposit. It's free to use if you have direct deposit from your job into their credit union. Otherwise it is $5.99 a month.

[boglerdude]

> Lake Michigan Credit Union has a tool that allows to pay other people via direct deposit

I think most banks offer this, online bill pay. Problem is having to ask for someones bank account #
https://www.lmcu.org/help-center/online-bill-pay/