Rent Payments

By Philip Shea, Associate Editor

This month, MHN teamed up with research and consulting services firm Kingsley Associates to ask residents about making rent payments. We found that rates in some parts of the country are approaching historic highs, and this is incurring a significant burden on many renters in a still struggling economy. Additionally, in some cases, options available for making rent payments remain somewhat limited. Allowing for easy electronic payments by credit card is just one step to ensure increased reputation of your property.

“I recommend that management be honest with prospective tenants about future rent increases.” —Washington, D.C.

“The only complain I have is the value. The apartment is not worth what we pay for it. I understand the current supply and demand situation, but it is highly overvalued, and one more rent increase would cause us to leave.” —San Francisco

“I travel a lot, and it would be extremely helpful to be able to pay rent online without a $25 fee. I find that fee ridiculous.” —Broomfield, Colo.

“Individual apartments should be looked at before increasing rent. Some apartments have all new fixtures, carpets and flooring, while others that are older do not.” —Atlanta

“I love this community; my husband and I are very concerned our rent is too high. Our rent now is 80 percent of our monthly income.” —Silver Spring, Md.

“All this time, credit card payment is only accepted for Visa and MasterCard. I’d like to pay my rent by American Express or Discover…and would like to have payment by these accepted.” —Greenbelt, Md.

“Our management could improve on the rent collection process by logging each payment at the time of submission.” —Oxon Hill, Md.

“It’s not possible to pay rent with cash or credit card—only check. You may start a process to enable payment with cash and/or credit/debit card. It [would] be very useful.” —Westbury, N.Y.

“There are still leaves at the community that need to be raked. My roommate is willing to help out with raking if we could have a reduced rate on our monthly rent.” —Marlborough, Va.

“Although competitive for the area, the rent is just too much. For what I am paying I should have a mortgage.” —Highlands Ranch, Colo.

“I do not think it is right that you offer lower rates to new renters than to those of us who have been faithful tenants. I was forced to downsize to a one-bedroom due to my proposed rent increase and later found out you rented to new tenants for exactly what I was paying.” —Pleasant Hill, Calif.