The HERO Payments system includes two payment solutions: the Standard payment solution, and the Pre-Authorized payment solution. This article specifically highlights the Pre-Authorized payment solution, its features, benefits and configuration.
The Pre-Authorized payment solution allows tenants to authorize rental payments for the entirety of their lease for only $0.50 per transaction. Once tenants have pre-authorized their payments in their online accounts, they simply logon to their account each month, click the Payments tab, and initiate their one-click rental payment. Or, if they’ve authorized you to collect their rent, you can conveniently process the payment in your Control Panel on or after the due date. The Pre-Authorized payment solution is the most convenient, cost effective, time saving rental payment option available. And best of all…it’s already included in your RP Management system!
Pre-Authorized Payments: Features
- The tenant can schedule pre-authorized rental payments (via ACH) for the entirety of their lease. (Application fees, owner charges and credit card payments can be made using the Standard payment system.)
- The cost per transaction is only $0.50…the lowest averaged payment cost anywhere. (Property management company is charged the $0.50 fee.)
- You may charge a convenience fee for the clients’ use of the electronic payment system, either as a percentage of the payment or a set dollar amount.
- Once tenants have pre-authorized their payments, they logon to their account each month, click the Payments tab and initiate their one-click rental payment.
- With the tenant’s authorization, you can process the tenant’s pre-authorized payments on or after the lease payment due date. Process the payment in your Control Panel under RP Management > Tenants > Process Pre-approved Payments.
- The Pre-Authorized payment solution is fully integrated into your RP Management system. You can configure online payments in your Control Panel, lookup payments, process payments, export payments to a lockbox file and more, all through your RP Management system.
- You can enable or disable online payments at any time.
Pre-Authorized Payments: Benefits
- It’s cost-effective!
- The Pre-Authorized payment solution via ACH costs only $0.50 per transaction (fee charged to property management company by PayPal), which is the lowest averaged payment cost anywhere.
- There are no setup fees, no monthly fees and no hidden fees associated with the Pre-Authorized Payment Solution.
- You can reduce delinquencies and collection challenges, and reduce paper check processing time and cost…saving you (and your tenant!) time and money.
- It’s convenient!
- The HERO Payments system is seamlessly integrated into the RP Management system. One logon, all the tools you need in one place, integrated with each other. You can configure the online payments in your Control Panel, lookup payments, process payments, export payments to a rent payment report or a PROMAS lockbox file and more, all through your RP Management system.
- Tenants can conveniently pay online from anywhere, or authorize you to process their payments.
- You can free your staff from chasing rent payments each month.
- You can instantly turn payments off or on manually at any time, freeing yourself from the headaches related to terminations or evictions.
- It’s Secure!
- The HERO Payments system offers the most comprehensive security and fraud protection you can find for your company and your tenant, and protects you from liability.
- Online payments are made through PayPal as the payment processor. This results in the most comprehensive security and fraud protection available for you and your tenant, with the utmost protection from liability.
- It protects the privacy of its users. When tenants make payments through their online account, you never see their bank account or credit card information.
- It’s Trust Accounting Compliant!
- Fully qualified trust accounting ensures all transactions are properly handled. You and your tenants can be assured that financial transactions and records will always be accurate, always detail each transaction fully, and provide a complete audit trail.
- Trust account funds can be tracked separately from other funds in accordance with the Real Estate Commissions rules prohibiting “co-mingling” of funds.
Pre-Authorized Payments: Configuration
Before a tenant can setup and make pre-authorized rental payments, you must first configure the Pre-Authorized payment option in your Control Panel:
- Go to Configuration > System Preferences
- Link your PayPal account to your Control Panel (once linked, it cannot be changed)
- Add Tenant ACH Convenience Fee if desired (should not exceed $1)
- Add an ACH Pre-Approval Buffer up to 10% of the lease amount (adding the ACH Pre-Approval buffer will allow you to add late charges, maintenance fees, etc. to the total amount due)
- Click Save Info
- Go to Configuration > System Options
- Check the Online Portal box to allow online account access for your clients
- Check the Online Payments box to allow online payments
- Check the Online Payments – Pre-Approved box to allow pre-approved ACH rent payments on a lease
- Click Save Info
- Go to Configuration > RP Preferences > Default Profile Authorizations
- In the Tenant section, check Online Access and Online Payments
- Check the box next to “o customize profile authorizations on an individual basis, edit individual client profiles through the RP Management tenant profile list
After you configure the Pre-Authorized payment option in your Control Panel, add a lease for your tenant:
(The lease must be added before the tenant can setup and make their pre-authorized payments. The amount due on the lease indicates what the tenant must pay each month.)
- Go to the list of tenants in your Control Panel (RP Management > Tenants > Tenant Lookup > Find Tenant)
- Click the View/Edit Tenant’s Lease option
- Click Add Lease, and enter the Rent amount, Lease terms, Scheduled Payments, etc.
- Add Scheduled Payments to be able to add late fees to the amount due if necessary, and to process tenant payments with the tenant’s authorization
- Click Save Lease
- Add a lease for each tenant who will make Pre-Authorized payments
Once the lease is added, the tenant logs in to their online account to setup pre-approved payments and make payments:
- The tenant logs into their online account, clicks the Payments tab and goes through the setup steps for Pre-Authorized payments:
- Step 1 is connecting their PayPal account
- Step 2 is approving their payment arrangement
- Step 3 is adding their bank account (if the tenant has already linked their bank account to their PayPal account, this step is complete)
- The tenant then logs into their online account each month, clicks the Payment tab, clicks Go to Pre-Approved Payments and clicks Pay Now to make their lease payment
With the tenant’s authorization, you (the property management company) can process the tenant’s Pre-Authorized rental payment in your Control Panel on or after the lease due date:
- Your User or Agent profile must be configured with authorization to process rental payments: logon to your Control Panel as the Master Administrator; in your User or Agent profile, check the Initiate ACH Payments box in the Special Authorization section and click Save User
- Process the rental payment in RP Management > Payments > Process Pre-Approved Payments
- Click Process payment
View and export the payment in your Control Panel:
- When a Pre-Authorized rental payment is made, the payment record is immediately posted in your Control Panel and you will simultaneously receive a notification email in your business PayPal email account
- View the payment in RP Management > Payments > Lookup a Pre-Approved Payment
- Export the payment to a rent payment report or a PROMAS lockbox file in RP Management > Payments > Export Rent Payments (first transfer payments to the appropriate trust account before creating the payment export file)
The HERO Payments system is seamlessly integrated into the HERO PM RP Management system. If you do not currently utilize the RP Management system, please contact us for information. Or, you can upgrade your HERO PM account to include the RP Management system by clicking on Configuration > Orders & Upgrades > Company Upgrade in your Control Panel.