Rent being due on the 1st of the month is a tidy agreement for property managers and renters.
It means that you don’t have to remember a separate due date for each of your residents’ rent, and your renters know that a new month means it’s time to pay up.
However, real life isn’t always so cut and dry; sometimes a renter may want to avoid taking a big chunk out of their paycheck in one go, get paid at an awkward time of the month that makes paying rent on the 1st a bad financial choice, or are a freelancer that has a varied income schedule.
Every renter knows how important timely payments are, but sometimes unexpected expenses and cash flow issues can put you in a bind. Unfortunate circumstances can strain the renter-property manager relationship, so we came up with a solution.
Pay Later!
A new way to pay rent
Qira’s Pay Later is a flexible payment option for rent, similar to a buy-now, pay-later option you’d see when clothes shopping online but for your home. We give renters payment options while making sure that property managers never have to worry about late payments.
We allow residents to defer up to 90% of their outstanding balance for a low fee (as low as 1.5% of the deferred amount), meaning that you can avoid hefty late fees as a renter. As a property manager, you can enjoy a 100% collection rate because Qira pays on behalf of your renters.
How can Pay Later benefit residents?
Renters know that rent payments are often one of their biggest headaches. Economic uncertainty, rising costs of living, different payment schedules – it’s not always easy to come up with rent on the first of the month.
What’s more is there’s often late fees that they have to contend with, which just makes it that much harder to catch up with payments. They can easily fall into a vicious cycle and fall out with you, their property manager.
Pay Later empowers renters to pay when they can. When they go online to pay rent, the Pay Later option will be available directly beside the balance owed. When that option is chosen, we’ll check their eligibility to use it and after approval, we pay rent on their behalf on the 1st of the month. It’s that easy.
The approval process happens in under a minute and after they’ve been approved, they’ll be introduced to several repayment options as well as the transparent fees that we collect (which can be as little as 1.5% of the deferred amount). Their ledger reflects a fully paid balance, you can enjoy a 100% collection rate, and they are in control of your money.
Renters can even split rent payments into up to 4 installments and pay via ACH, credit card, debit card, check, or money order. They choose when and how much they pay each time.
How can Pay Later benefit property managers?
As a property manager, you’re also subject to economic pressures. Granting extensions and waiving late fees can not only negatively affect your ability to offer housing, but your relationship with your renters as well.
Qira’s Pay Later allows you to receive your full rent payments on time every month. You don’t have to worry about the headache of chasing down renters for their payments and ensuring late fees are paid.
Flexible digital payments allow for paperless transactions that provide proof of payment and easily obtained records for both parties, and they’re much easier and faster than their physical counterparts.
Flexible digital payments also make your property more appealing to a wider range of renters who may have non-traditional banking or employment situations.
Beyond these benefits, by giving your renters more flexibility you’re allowing them to choose when and how they pay their rent penalty-free. This improves your relationship and increases tenant retention, all while avoiding the expensive, inconvenient, unnecessary and unwanted eviction process.
Your residents pay no fees for the Pay Later application and can contact the 24/7 Qira support team via phone, email, or in-portal chat.
We can help you with any and everything you may need help with, like the Qira app, the resident portal, adding payment methods, logging in, and more.
If you have multiple team members that need a demo and training on how our software works, that’s not a problem either.
Are there drawbacks to using Pay Later?
While Pay Later does empower renters to pay when and how they want to, they do still need to come up with sufficient rent funds. When Pay Later is used, Qira pays renters’ rent in full on their behalf and then their debt lies with us rather than with you, their property manager. There are always risks of miscommunications and misunderstandings between parties, but our 24/7 support team is always available to sort everything out and fix any problems that may arise.
It’s also important to keep in mind that sometimes solutions like Pay Later can instead lead renters toward poor financial planning and overspending. If your renters have a unique payment, employment, or spending situation but do make and have sufficient money to cover rent, Pay Later is perfect for them.
If you have a renter that has trouble managing their funds and isn’t disciplined enough to keep aside enough money every month for rent despite making enough, please do note that this may not be the solution for them as it can compound any issues that they struggle with.
A great way to offer pay later while also still encouraging residents who may struggle with managing their funds to pay their rent in full on time is to pair it with rent reporting. Qira recently partnered with Tackle to offer this service to their property management partners. It allows you to report your renters on time payments to credit bureaus to encourage timely rent payments as well as help residents boost their scores.
How is Qira different from other flexible rent payment plans?
Most flexible rent payment plans aren’t actually very resident-friendly. They run on subscription-based models that force renters to use the service every month. Qira prides itself on being for residents and property managers alike, and so we created our Pay Later program to be used only as needed. It’s entirely controlled by residents’ wishes and needs.
We are a small, boutique financial management firm and pride ourselves on exemplary service and support for our renters and partners. If an issue or question does arise, our team is available 24/7.
Our property management partners get 100% timely rent collection and little-to-no delinquency with their portfolios, residents are empowered to control their finances, and properties have a new amenity to market.
Click here to book a demo today and learn more about Qira!
