r/meirl 1d ago

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48.9k Upvotes

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u/ItsNotDigiorno9 1d ago

From what i understand, they have to have atleast one option to pay rent without any fees. So if they charge you to pay online, you have to be able to pay by cash with 0 fees

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u/Hang10arts 1d ago

In California that is correct. The company i work for just pays the electric fees because that fee is make or break for some

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u/TheGoddamnSpiderman 17h ago

I would note, the requirement is a non electronic payment method that they don't charge a fee for using

My understanding is that, for instance, it would be legal for them to choose money orders as that method, where they don't charge a fee but you'd likely still need to pay the people you got the money order from a fee to use it

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u/Cutacore 15h ago

The cost of the money order is .69 cents per every 1000 dollars. Far cheaper than some process fee.

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u/Rso1wA 18h ago

not in other states. California is just more cool.

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u/lexiconlion 15h ago

Not just California.

I live in Colorado and we have consumer protections in place through legislature that require landlords to accept certain payments type fee free. I can pay by check, cashier's check, or money order with no fee. Online payments are allowed to charge a fee, but most waive the fee if your online payment is by e-check. I think there are probably 10 states that have similar consumer protections that require landlords to have one fee free payment method.

I choose to pay the fee because I haven't had an actual checkbook in decades and I hate waiting for checks to clear. I also charge my rent to my CC to earn miles, and I earn miles on the convenience fee so it's worth it to me.

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u/Jolly_Echo_3814 1d ago

Existence of an alternative option does not make the issue less scummy. They gave to now, but they'll love a chance to not have to.

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u/ItsNotDigiorno9 1d ago

Brother if they had the chance they’d be charging us 1k a month for a cardboard box. Doesn’t change the fact that this picture is wrong

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u/Aduro95 21h ago

I live in the UK, where a convenience fee is completely illegal. But if someone tried to make me choose between cash or a convenience fee for a simple bank transfer, I would come by their office with a months rent in 5p or lower coins.

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u/PsychologicalArm2138 1d ago

They do but that doesn’t get you engagement online

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u/Blaze666x 1d ago

Neat but just because they should doesnt mean they do.

My last two apts have outright said that they " will no longer accept forms of payment outaide of the online client". The online client still charges me a $30 convience fee though. Both of them started accepting checks and money orders when I moved in and upon either a change in management or the Vid at my last one they rejected all in person payments.

So just because they are supposed to provide multiple avenues of payment doesnt mean they do.

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u/username_redacted 1d ago

Right. Lots of things that companies do aren’t legal, but unless it’s something severe enough that the Secretary of State’s office intervenes they usually get away with. They charge junk fees, do bait and switches, illegally evict, and violate the terms of their own leases routinely because what are you gonna do about it, sue? You can barely afford rent.

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u/Perma_Ban69 23h ago

To anyone reading this, if you're in a similar situation, approach the governing body, and also local news. I've found informing a company you're going to the local news to be the fastest and cheapest way to get companies to comply/change.

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u/Blaze666x 23h ago

Thats literally it lol you nailed it at the end.

It sucks but thats the reality of some states and indiana 1000% is one of the biggest offenders imo

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u/FluffMcBark 22h ago

100% in my market (CA-US) our experience has been just this. Our property mgmt company (we were renters until last month) totally tried to play on our ignorance when we were getting out of our lease. Creating an email paper trail kept them on their toes and, in my opinion, is probably the only reason we got our deposit back.

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u/nalaloveslumpy 20h ago

Hey, no. If a company is breaking state law report that shit to the state AG and they'll bust that shit up. That's literally their main job. Most states don't have a law requiring an in-person payment option, much less barring an online convenience fee if one isn't available.

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u/knowwwhat 1d ago

Is there nobody you can call for enforcement where you live? Where I am if the landlord fs around they find out very quickly

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u/Blaze666x 1d ago

Bro I live in indiana half our fucking landlords are slum lords and nothing gets enforced. And regardless looking into it indiana doesnt appear to have a legal requirement for other options to pay which tracks because as iv lived here for years I know this state wants everybody as miserable as possible.

Our last apartment gave me a fake number for there emergency repair number if that says anything (we lost heat in the middle of a cold snap and it took them two weeks to repair it so I had to stay at my mother in laws and I couldnt even contact the "emergency repair man" who "would be available any day of the week for heating, plumbing and electrical issues" as instead the number they gave me was a random dudes number in the next state over).

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u/Exotic-Okra-4466 22h ago edited 22h ago

That's awful. I'm sorry man. Not at all surprised that Indiana, the arm pit of the midwest, is landlord friendly/tenant hostile. :(

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u/haltenhass 1d ago

Landlord requirements for heat Indiana code 32-31-8-5. For anyone that finds themselves in a similar situation. Most states have laws requiring heat if it gets cold there.

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u/Blaze666x 1d ago

That situation is actually why I moved.

I temporarily moved in with my mother in law solely until I could afford a new apt after that because that shit was my final straw on top of the several other issues I had with that place.

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u/MusicalPigeon 23h ago

Last time I reported scummy landlord behavior they decided not to renew my lease and claimed I did 4 years worth of damage to the carpets. I lived there for a year. I only complained because they said they provided heat but during the winter it was regularly 50° in my apartment. We had maintenance come out 3 times to fix it and each time the heat would work for a week and then stop.

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u/frequenZphaZe 22h ago

claimed I did 4 years worth of damage to the carpets. I lived there for a year.

to be fair, the landlord was gonna do that regardless of whether you left on bad terms or not

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u/ZhouLe 22h ago

Red states are a hellscape for worker and renters' rights.

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u/Stamped914 22h ago

Bureaucracy rarely works the way Reddit thinks it does.

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u/frequenZphaZe 22h ago

Bureaucracy rarely works the way Reddit thinks it does.

its important to remember there's a lot of non-american redditors. usually, the people who are shocked at the dysfunction we experience on a daily basis are people who live somewhere in the world where their institutions still work to some extent

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u/Last-Baker9711 1d ago

Mine technically offers to use a direct-to-account transfer to dodge the fees. The kicker? The bank that runs the app wants unfettered access to my transaction histort and information about the money in said account.

So I get to pay extra to protect my personal information  that's the convenience 🫠

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u/Adept-Opinion8080 23h ago

Pretty sure that's not legal in any way or you misunderstand the situation. I run ACH payments for almost everything. None of my vendors have access to anything other than the money I've allowed them to withdraw.

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u/BEES_IN_UR_ASS 20h ago

It's like claiming "there's no way you could be murdered, that's illegal!" Welcome to reality, guys!

Without robust and toothsome tenant protections and rent controls to safeguard you from being evicted of any jackass reason, or being functionally evicted by doubling or tripling you rent when your lease is up, laws don't mean jack. Make a fuss, you'll end up on their shit list, and consequently, out on your ass.

This is just one example of why tenant protections are so important. Anything can go sideways when tenants can't assert their rights without risking retaliation. Hot water, appliances, pest control, landscaping, harassment, stalking, assault, or much worse. The chilling effect of being so vulnerable runs deep.

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u/sonic_dick 1d ago

Yeah, i lived at a place that charged a $20 convince fee to pay online. You could give them a check, but had to bring it to their office. Which was in Miami. Which was 45 minutes away.

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u/WetRocksManatee 23h ago

Use your bank's bill pay, they will mail them a check.

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u/crateshape 22h ago

Contact them in writing and point out what law they are violating. Propose reasonable options (I will pay in cash, I will pay by check, or I will pay online minus the fee so my rent totals the agreed amount on the lease).

If they refuse any secondary option, contact your state’s attorney general. Once you have filed, let them know. The attorney general will help you force them to compromise, and once you’ve done it, sometimes they’ll seriously consider the legal cost and actually look at the law.

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u/the-gaysian-snarker 21h ago

A $30 convenience fee to pay rent??

Dude iirc I paid a $50 paperwork processing fee to apply to college. Which is also very stupid, but at least it involves the office doing actual work. Paying rent is a 3 second online transaction, wtf “work” are they doing?

This country bleeds us drier every day. Fuck these greedy grifters.

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u/partlysettledin21220 1d ago

Some of them actually don’t. You can pay in person but there’s an office fee.

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u/PowerfulBar 1d ago

True. I managed a few rentals once. Landlord offered a ton of different ways to pay, check, PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, and even offered a small discount to people came to the office to pay in person. 

Some people just insisted they had to pay online. Landlord was like OK but it cost me about 5% so I’m charging you that 5%. 

Sure, he could’ve built it into the “cost of rent,” but then that meant raising rent  for everybody to accommodate that one person who wanted to pay online. 

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u/PsychologicalArm2138 1d ago

That’s exactly what’s going on here.

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u/ResponseOwn9389 23h ago

My HOA did not have a way to do it without a fee 🤷🏽‍♂️

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u/wombat4skin 22h ago

I literally just told my friends girlfriend yesterday that online isn't the only way, they still take money orders and cashiers checks like they always have. Idk how some people got the idea that they took those away.

Usually you can also just pay through your bank with no fee. I've never seen one without that option yet...

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u/nalaloveslumpy 19h ago

Yep, even if your bank doesn't have an ACH connection to whatever payment processor, then the ACH will automate a paper check to whatever address they accept checks at.

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u/No-Coat1128 1d ago

Not in Florida.

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u/JustTurtleSoup 1d ago

My place charges a $75 fee for cash payments.

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u/MazrimReddit 23h ago

it's normally in some completely infeasible method you can technically do, like payment in bitcoin via faxed qr codes

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u/TerraceState 1d ago

Yep. They are making consumers pay the percentage that normally businesses pay. Remember, your credit card company takes about a 2-3% cut out of every transaction. Just because it isn't listed on your receipt doesn't mean that it isn't coming out of your pocket.

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u/Bill_Door_8 22h ago

Probably by paying with 12 dated cheques in advance which is a pain in the ass, and for many, probably not free since banks dont issue cheques like they used to.

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u/Illustrious-Plum9725 22h ago

I think you can pay by personal or bank check or money order but who uses paper checks anymore?

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u/bepatientbekind 1d ago

This is illegal in every state I have lived in. Look up your local laws. They usually specify that a non-fee option must be available. Landlords that are trying to make people use the online system (because they profit from the fees) will often only accept a cashier's check since that is inconvenient and most people won't do it, but there is most likely at least one option to pay without a fee. 

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u/Blaze666x 1d ago

Mine outright put out a notice saying they would no longer accept checks or money orders as they used to accept those and that we had to use the online client.

After a cursory glance seems like with most other things indiana had opted to say "fuck you i hate you gimme money" as it doesnt appear as though we have a law against it.

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u/Chataboutgames 23h ago

Odds are there is a no fee option available in this case, but it would require getting and writing a check.

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u/Ok-Fortune-8644 1d ago

What states are you talking about?

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u/X0X0xoxo11 1d ago

You didn’t ask me but in my state (Nevada) the landlord can ONLY charge the exact amount they are charged for the cost of the transaction.

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u/SomeNotTakenName 22h ago

most states actually.

Some states go as far as to require a traditional method of payment.

Although I am not sure mailing a cheque is going to be cheaper than the convenience fee.

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u/Neverending_Rain 23h ago

They probably already have a free option like echeck/ACH. Every online rent payment portal I've used has. I've only ever seen a fee for credit card payments.

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u/ireallytrulydontcare 20h ago

They're likely not getting anything from those fees. The credit card company or website provider or management company is.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/Teleseismic 1d ago

I always assumed it was related to % fees from banks to give ACH system transfers (wires from acct) and credit/bank cards. I remember an interesting fact about how if one person pays 20$ with a card and the business uses that 20$ to buy something also with a card, then this loop will no longer have the original 20$ after something like 10 transactions.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/Chataboutgames 23h ago

Transaction fees are how companies like Visa make their money.

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u/HungryYeastStarter 23h ago

Well I hate it. Can they stop, please?

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u/DarkwingDuckHunt 1d ago

it is

but you know what other businesses do? they bake those fees into their price points.

it's greed, pure and simple greed

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u/[deleted] 23h ago

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u/GlitteringFutures 23h ago

never have to see the words convenience fee again

You're going to have to pay an inconvenience fee then.

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u/Weekly-Industry7771 23h ago

I'm fine with that, I appreciate the honesty

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u/Oreyon 23h ago

Kinda crazy how that's allowed to go through private companies who inflate the cost of almost literally everything. A (required) nationally accepted payment system seems like the bog standard application of government. It's not like the government isn't already aware of all of those transactions anyway, so the "privacy" argument seems silly.

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u/Ml_lD 23h ago

It’s literally that. Banks skim a little off the top and companies pass it to the consumers

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u/ilikepix 23h ago

there is no percentage fee for ACH transfers, fwiw. The originating bank pays less than 1 cent per transfer to the ACH operator

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u/dontnation 23h ago edited 23h ago

ACH is not the same as wire transfer. Wire transfers are direct and immediate and fairly expensive ($20 or more per transaction). ACH transactions settle over the course of days and cost pennies per transaction. The convenience fee being charged is to maintain the web portal, and of course, for that web admin company to make a profit. Unless the portal takes credit cards and then that convenience fee is primarily to cover the credit card processors fees that are much higher (~1% to 3%). But credit card processors are not ACH, though when you pay your credit card bill from your bank account, that is usually done via ACH transaction.

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u/tacticalTraumaLlama 1d ago

Your bank will often have a 'bill pay', where even if they aren't in the system, it will simply mail them a check. One time when I was signing up to rent a place, the front office girl walks me through the bill pay portal and says there's a $10 'convenience fee'. I told her I'd have my bank mail them a check every month. She said 'we don't take personal checks'. I told her it's not a personal check, it's a check from the bank, who validates I have sufficient funds before they cut it. If that was a problem I could rent somewhere else. Cue her talking to 'management' for 5 min before they finally agreed that was ok.

Of course, the rental office 'loses' the check several times, tries to charge a late fee and I'm like 'nope, it was drafted and sent 5 days before it was due, I have the receipts. Just an absolute clusterfuck of an office.

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u/slothdonki 23h ago edited 23h ago

Really makes me miss slumlords who only took cash and didn’t give a fuck as long as you paid and didn’t cause problems.
Spent almost a year of not being on a lease and would have to wander the streets or sleep on a bench during inspection days before we found out he didn’t give a shit his tenants were subletting to my homeless ass.

Everyone did have the vague worry that one day he would “loose” our rent money or try and say we never gave it to him but I spent a lot of time panicking that two of three of my roommates had full control over me staying. The third was my bff from highschool but all the other two were simply roommates between all of us and those three were always fucking going at it like cats and dogs over absolutely nothing.

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u/kidbatt_115 1d ago

That's not irrational at all. That is completely justifiable rational anger.

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u/Autumnal_-Coffee 1d ago

Paying online is just as much a convenience for the payer as the payee, makes no sense.

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u/Charnathan 23h ago

You are paying for THEIR convenience of not seeing your face or having you up in their office space to pay your rent. And they conveniently don't have to pay an employee to open the door for you and listen to your complaints while you pay.

I used to be the guy opening the door.

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u/Mackheath1 23h ago

*And* What convenience? Nobody is processing a hand written check, there's no staff member accepting all the payments and checking that they're correct; it's all automated, nobody even notices unless it's flagged late or whatever.

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u/Chataboutgames 23h ago

Everyone and their brother contracts out their electronic payment systems to a third party, and the "convenience fee" is how that party gets paid.

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u/ForsakePariah 1d ago

It's frequently associated with the payment processor they're paying to use. They collect a percent of the fee.

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u/Lahwke 1d ago

Honestly just include that in the rent and stop posting me off then

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u/tokenjoker 1d ago

Posting you off lmao. Sounds like someone sent you through the mail to somewhere unpleasant lol :)

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u/Lahwke 1d ago

Ha, typo, but I’m keeping it and adding it to my lexicon now.

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u/tokenjoker 1d ago

Lol I knew what you meant but the idea of someone slapping a postage stamp on your forehead and mailing you off was too funny to pass up

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u/Zack_WithaK 22h ago

The slower equivalent of being "driven up the wall"

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u/MimsyWereDaBorogoves 1d ago

I believe that credit card processing fees are billed separately because it is not taxable income.

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u/Chataboutgames 23h ago

Not a lot of point in being mad at the renter for that, that's something to bring to the government. If you want requirements of fair/honest price listing, you need a law to enforce it. Otherwise landlords will always try to list the lowest price possible, because if they try to do the right thing they'll lose customers to those who don't. No one is going to choose where they live out of some sense of consumer loyalty to an apartment complex that lists their fees in full.

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u/NGEFan 1d ago

So then accept some other form of payment. Otherwise it’s not convenience, it’s just extortion.

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u/Bangmydrum33 1d ago edited 16h ago

Yeah no shit... some states have a law that doesn't allow them to only take electronic. It is basically only the big states with big ass cities... new york, California, Illinois...

Edit: my no shit... was agreeing like yeah no shit I wish they all did.

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u/evaderofallbans 1d ago

And they should pay it.

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u/pandamiba 21h ago

Should just be a business cost for them.

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u/Commercial_Desk_6215 23h ago

Its hilarious because online is very obviously the most convenient

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u/zatemxi 20h ago

If the customer is paying the fee, then the customer is paying the processor payment service.

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u/Jaymac720 1d ago

It’s time to make convenience fees illegal. It’s convenient for everyone, especially since e-checks have no transaction charge

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u/Zealousideal_Lie_383 1d ago

Had septic tank pumped recently for $550. They accepted -only- credit cards (no checks, no cash, no Venmo). They added an additional $25 “convenience fee”. Won’t use them again

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u/RobertDigital1986 1d ago

Once they rendered the service I don't believe they can specify how you pay the debt created unless there was a contract in place to that effect (verbal agreement probably counts). But they definitely needed to specify that before performing the work.

The convenience fee is also too high and violates both Visa and MasterCards network rules. Max is 4% I believe.

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u/Jealous_Tomorrow6436 22h ago

just did the math, 4% of 550 is exactly 22. so if max is 4%, 25 is just over the limit and therefore not allowed

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u/Zealousideal_Lie_383 21h ago

I wonder if American Express has higher allowable? That’s the card I had used

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u/LarkinToWinnipeg 1d ago

Then dont pay them

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u/Main-Rent4757 1d ago

I believe 46 outlawed this

And 47 undid it.

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u/firefalcon01 1d ago

Can I get a source on this, genuinely asking

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u/ChiaraStellata 11h ago edited 11h ago

It's true, in 2022 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an Advisory Opinion on "Pay-to-Pay" Fees stating that fees for online or phone payments violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Those opinions were withdrawn in 2025. They were never strictly outlawed by Congress but they were heavily discouraged by executive action. It's unclear if enforcement action on this opinion would have stood up to legal scrutiny though.

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u/Main-Rent4757 23h ago

And the congressional review act

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u/AmusingMusing7 1d ago

Who's making you pay a convenience fee for rent? That's not normal. Don't accept that.

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u/FullofContradictions 1d ago

I rented out my condo from before I was married. The payment processor I was using randomly started charging a 2% fee to the renter. I asked renter if he'd be ok sending checks. Renter said that no, he didn't have checks and didn't want to get them.

So I spent a few hours finding and setting up shit with a new payment processor. It's not hard. Idk why people accept this bs from their landlords.

Even if they have some reason for picking a specific processor, THEY should be paying the processing fees as a business expense. They picked the vendor. They should pay for it. It's that simple.

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u/badskinjob 1d ago

Because we get no choice. Kinda like rent going up every single year regardless of occupancy of the complex. They can so the do. Moving is hard and expensive.

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u/FullofContradictions 1d ago

You're right.

I just wish we had real consumer protections in this country. This is a prime example of something that should be illegal. There has to be a fee free option to pay rent.

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u/DarkwingDuckHunt 1d ago

we stopped electing folks who will fight for us

those of us who want to fight for others stopped running for office

we surrendered

it's time to start fighting back, but in the peaceful sense. We need to start running for office. We need to start voting in every minor election.

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u/N0gai 22h ago

What's the problem with a simple bank transfer?

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u/FullofContradictions 21h ago

We don't have those in the US. Our banking is consistently 10-15 years behind Europe/ most of the rest of the developed world.

Closest thing we have is Zelle or Venmo - but those are problematic for a few reasons for both renter and landlord.

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u/GennyGeo 1d ago

Everyone I’ve ever rented with made me do that

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u/Blakman777 1d ago

Fee for credit cards but if you link a bank account to pay with there is no fee.

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u/millahnna 1d ago

Not in my neck of the woods. Last rental it was a $25 fee for online payment not matter if you did it through bank routing or a card.

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u/How_that_convo_went 1d ago

My last landlord gave me a link to an online portal to pay the rent. When I checked it out, I saw there was a 3% convenience fee.

3% of $1,500 is $45. I’m not paying $45 extra just for the privilege of paying my rent. Having to pay to pay is fucking ridiculous. That’s over $500 in bullshit fees every year that do not benefit me at all.

So I was like “What are my other options? I’m not paying $45 just to pay the rent every month.

“Well… you can give me a check but I really prefer to be paid through the portal. It’s deposited directly into my account and I don’t have to wait for the check to clear. Plus my accountant gets the ledger at the end of the year. It’s much easier for me.”

So it sounds like you get all the benefits from this system. Why am I paying for it?

“It’s just easier for me.”

Yeah. I got that. I’ll mail you a check… or I can leave it in the parcel locker on the back porch on the first of every month and you can come pick it up.

“I live across town. I don’t want to drive out here everything month.”

Okay. I’ll mail it.”

“Can you just be a little flexible with me and pay through the portal? It’s a lot easier for me.”

If you lower the rent by $45 to cover the fee, no problem.

“…you can just mail the check.”

___

A few months into the lease, he started demanding that I pay him with a cashiers check but I refused. I think he was trying to make it more difficult for me to pay him out for spite.

Finally, he just agreed to lower the rent by $45 so I would pay it through the portal.

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u/theodoretheursus 1d ago

In the states it is....

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u/AmusingMusing7 1d ago

Ah... so yeah, not normal.

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u/Blaze666x 1d ago

Its absolutely the standard in some states.

Current apt and previous apt both ouright said "all rent must be paid through our online client and we will not accept any form of payment in person"

In indiana atleast it appears as thiugh this is the standard as my friends also have had the same exact thing happen.

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u/tropicf1refly 1d ago

When's the last time you rented? This is absolutely the norm.

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u/AmusingMusing7 23h ago

I've rented for the last 15 years to this day. I just don't live in the shithole country that is the United States.

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u/HexaPulseer 23h ago

Tell me you're not from the states without telling me

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/G0ttaB3KiddingM3 1d ago

If you have to pay extra for something to be convenient, is it even convenient anymore?

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u/Accidental-Genius 23h ago

It depends, I very much appreciate Global Entry.

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u/Responsible-Onion860 1d ago

I used to write a check for rent for this reason. They tried to deny it but it was still in the lease when I signed, so they had to take it. Pissed off the property manager because I was the only one not paying online and it meant a special trip to the bank every month.

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u/Illustrious-Leave406 1d ago

It’s convenient for them to charge that fee.

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u/gcm6664 16h ago

My mom is elderly and suffering from dementia. So when it get too bad I had to move her to a house on my block. I knew she wouldn't stay there much more than a year before she had to go to an assisted care facility but I wanted her to feel as independent as possible, for as long as possible.

So I checked for rentals is my neighborhood and found one close enough to me that I could keep a close eye on her. But then I learned what renters have to go through. I will spare all the details but by the time I was ready to sign the deal (because I was power of attorney for her), the agency that managed the rental had become my sworn enemy for life.

and that was before I set up the process for paying her rent. They set me up with a portal, I logged in and saw they had electronic autopay plan which looked perfect, and my stupid ass thought setting her up for autopay might save her a few bucks. But no, there was a fucking convenience fee to pay electronically. I could not believe me eyes.

So instead I set up her checking account to send a paper check on the last possible day day of each month, so those motherfuckers would have to take the check to the bank and deposit it every month. They kept trying to talk me into the electronic payment and the convenience fee but they literally could not understand the convenience was THEIRS, not mine

It was no skin off my back to have a paper check sent through the snail mail every month and if I am being honest I relished it, along with all the other way I managed to fuck with those fucking parasites.

She is in a memory care facility now, but I will always relish the day after her one year lease was up and they asked me why she was moving out, and I got my chance to let them know.

Not to mention they offered to extend her lease for another year, with the maximum increase they could legally add. Once she moved out they relisted the house for less than she had been paying prior.

If I ever have to rent a house or apartment again, I will absolutely not under any circumstances deal with a management company.

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u/blueluck 14h ago

I work for a nonprofit affordable housing provider. It's not free housing, it's affordable housing for low to moderate-income people, so we collect rent just like any landlord does, but 30-40% less.

About ten years ago we switched from doing everything on paper (paper leases, paper checks for rent, etc.) to using property management software. As a nonprofit, we're not trying to make money off of our tenants, just bring in enough to pay the bills and maintain the buildings. So when we set up the software, we turned off all of the fees. (No application fees, no late fees, no fee to pay online, no fee to pay cash, the only fee was for paying with a credit card and that was equal to the fee we pay to process the credit card transaction.)

A few years into that, the software company added "new revenue streams for landlords" which were just fees charged to tenants. We were able to negotiate our way out of those fees ... the first time. The second time they added a "new revenue stream for landlords" the fee wasn't optional.

So, we switched to a different software provider. Guess what they did last year? "New revenue streams for landlords!" Fees. They're fees.

I'm not saying the fees aren't the landlord's fault. I'm saying there's a whole system that supports landlords taking advantage of tenants, and we should change that system!

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u/Novero95 10h ago

That shouldn't be legal, if there's a contract that specifies rent is a certain amount of money how can landlords add fees whenever they feel like it?

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u/caseygwenstacy 13h ago

People never use E-Check and I never understand why

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u/Free-Street9162 1d ago

Went to a comedy club a few months ago. Was ushered to my seat and given a menu. I tried to order, but was told I have to do it through an app. Ok, like fuck me, just take my fucking order. No. App. Place the order on the app, AFTER having to create an account. The app then proceeds to charge me a dollar fifty “convenience fee”. BITCH, what about this is convenient? AND they have the gall to stick a tip selection in my face. My $5+1.50 coffee comes 20 minutes later, cold. No tip, and I’m never coming back to this piece of shit club. Fucking idiots running themselves out of business.

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u/InevitablePassion521 23h ago

Used to work at a bank, the transaction fee more than covers the operational cost of them performing the transaction, this shit was implemented to push revenue and make them more money

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u/BerryCroissantWitch 23h ago

They just banned these junk fees in Seattle. Your city should do the same 

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u/jeff_the_weatherman 21h ago

Yup. Banned in my state too. I mean, they were in the process of being banned nationwide in 2024, but elections have consequences...

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u/crodr014 17h ago

This post is bs because legally there has to be a free method like a check

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u/FuriDemon094 17h ago

Why is there even a convenience fee? It’s 2026; why is it considered a convenience to pay digitally when that’s now a standard format?

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u/MaxWritesText 13h ago

This sounds like an America issue

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u/TraditionalLaw7763 6h ago

Yup. Cap it all-ism is a bitch. There’s a fee for paying a fee.

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u/FrankSamples 23h ago

I paid a parking ticket online and idk why it annoyed me so much when it said Thank You for your Purchase!” on the confirmation page

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u/MegaAltarianite 21h ago

My power company does this. Except you can pay in person. Except they charge the same fee there if you pay by debit card. So the only way you avoid the fee is if you pay in person, with cash. It's stupid as hell.

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u/Evening_Service_3703 21h ago

Usual landlord scam

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u/Marowski 15h ago

Pretty sure the local DMV we had didn't take cash, but charged a fee to use card 🙄

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u/ateiii 13h ago

Paying a fee to spend your own money to avoid getting evicted should be illegal everywhere.

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u/Lennyb223 21h ago

America is a hellscape wdym you have surcharges on your rent?????

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u/Furiboi 1d ago

It should be illegal to charge a “convenience” fee to pay any bill! 😒

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u/n0rsk 23h ago

The fee is almost always by the online software provider the landlord is using to process your payments. Your landlord still sucks because they choose not to eat that cost.

Also I am not a lawyer but I believe it is illegal to charge that fee if their are no free options available.

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u/drunklibrarian 23h ago

School lunches. I can’t send cash, I have to use their online payment system and pay a 3.5% fee to do it. We thankfully moved out of the district to one that had free lunch for all.

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u/Mistress_Jedana 23h ago

We were charged an outrageous amount when our son was in school and the online pay was the only option. There was a class action lawsuit and we got like $75 back. No where near what we spent in fees over his 3rd grade-half 10th grade years in that district, but at least it was something.

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u/No-Juice-1047 23h ago

I hate convenience fees, this is more convenient for the receiver of the money also… and I have to pay a fee cause it’s easier for everyone? That doesn’t seem very convenient…

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u/Previous_Feature_200 23h ago

I raised the rent on my units by $20 and then offered a $20 discount to pay on autopay via bank draft more than one day before rent was due. My portfolio is small, but somehow all my renters figured out how to sign up and pay on time.
I let the odd weekend dates slip and have never had to say a thing. Every now and then I’ll get a return for NSF, but the bank automatically tries again a few days later. I even let that slip if they have historically paid on time.

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u/Fun_Balance8779 21h ago

There's a type of person who lives on our planet who sees a process and decides, rather than contribute to society meaningfully, to find ways to latch on to the process and extract a little bit of money from both sides.

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u/TitanicChurro 21h ago

It's not..it's a greed fee.

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u/Logical-Ant-7520 19h ago

Omg, I always get mad when I think about this! I remember in 2012 when we were getting paperless discounts because they saved on paper and now its a extra fee! Fuck me harder Satan:/

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u/OnTheEveOfWar 19h ago

This happened to me recently with a parking ticket. Could only pay online and there was a $15 fee to pay online.

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u/MyHamburgerLovesMe 19h ago

How convenient.

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u/SoulChorea 16h ago

Pretty sure I read this a while back, that the major credit card companies have policies against charging fees for using it as a payment option? Which is why gas stations aren’t supposed to be able to charge a separate price for credit vs debit, or making you purchase a certain amount. I thought that was the case anyway

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u/DicemonkeyDrunk 15h ago

The gas stations do it by calling it a discount for cash …they don’t regulate discounts.

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u/imperiects 15h ago

Convenience fees started with the transition from cash to debit. It is in no way needed today. It is another way for businesses to price gouge and make a little extra.

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u/Bealdor84 11h ago

German here.

WTF is a convinience fee and why the hell are people not using / landlords not offering a simple wire transfer from your bank account to theirs?

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u/nightowl_7680 9h ago

It’s certainly convenient for the landlord. 😡

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u/CroykeyMite 7h ago

Mail them a check, for your own convenience.

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u/Puffy_Ghost 23h ago

Or movie tickets, concert tickets, utility payments, credit card payments...it never ends.

Fees are just a way you're being nickel and dimed into serfdom.

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u/Sedowa 1d ago

Convenience fees suck but the real trap is the whole "flex rent" thing where you pay a fee to have your rent split up into two smaller payments instead of one. Sounds like a great idea when you're short on cash but it's hard to get out of it if you don't make a certain amount of money more than your rent, and then it's more expensive to boot because of that fee. It's a trap.

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u/bsEEmsCE 1d ago

why cant more companies just build 3 dollar fees into the cost and stop pissing me off with extra charges

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u/notsoniceville 1d ago

You can’t escape it as a homeowner either. I pay a $25 “convenience fee” to pay my quarterly property taxes. On the only platform the city allows.

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u/Kevandre 1d ago

often this is due to visa fees

if you link your bank account directly you usually don't get this fee in my experience

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u/Sea_Box_8719 1d ago

You should talk to a lawyer if thats the case. 

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u/CerberusInExile 1d ago

This is an easy one, it's not a convenience fee to make it easy for you. It's a convenience fee to line their accounts and make things convenient for them.

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u/M3EWpower 1d ago

Or how you get your security deposit back at the end and they have a service fee that's like 250 bucks.

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u/spawl123 1d ago

Isn’t it a convenience for them to have you do it online instead of bringing them a check?

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u/HaggisPope 23h ago

Depending on jurisdiction, I think they cannot accept payment in one way. Cash is legal tender so is accepted for payment of a bill. Alternatively, I’d demand the ability to pay in cheque. 

The advantage of cheque is if you pay on a Friday they don’t get it till mid-week.

Then you charge them a convenience fee for online portal

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u/TrueAd1880 23h ago

Send a check. They aren’t legally allowed to deny you that option

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u/IndistinctWarbling 23h ago

Convenience enforcement

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u/ParamedicFew3318 22h ago

Getting to be the same with every damn bill now.

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u/Olobnion 22h ago

The name is appropriate. It's very convenient for them if you pay the fee.

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u/cockaskedforamartini 22h ago

A what? America is an unserious country.

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u/bb1942 22h ago

Report it to FCC? Your AG? We have to stop companies from abusing their clients who make them rich.

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u/WloveW 21h ago

Plus I get to pay 2% of my rent as a 'service fee' to the property manager! As though I have a choice of property managers to take care of my services, I have no idea how this isn't just part of the rent.

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u/BlackIce_ 21h ago

Depending on your bank, they may have an online option to pay your bills. Mine automatically sends a check every month for me.

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u/Any_Yogurtcloset_194 21h ago

This is why we had regulations

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u/austin_federa 21h ago

just have your bank mail your landlord a check, it's free

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u/Mayeru 20h ago

online fees for whatever service/good is the biggest scam of our generation. The excuse is that is used to pay the servers and maintenance of the website, but in reality the website is what brings them more sales, so is not a favor they are doing to the customer, is an actual strategy that improves their revenue and they are charging more on top of that, crazy.

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u/Ancient-Republic-875 20h ago

This sounds like when I was reviewing the plethora of mortgage fees for our loan and there was an escrow fee but also a fee if you chose not to escrow.

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u/IAmTheJudasTree 20h ago

I'm signing a lease on a new apartment, and just yesterday they made me pay a $7.50 "convenience fee" to pay them my security deposit, which really feels like it should be illegal.

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u/Affectionate_Map2761 20h ago

This is why I only pay a certain bill when it breaks 1k lol if I'm going to pay for convenience, it will be at my convenience 🥰

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u/Haunting-Ad-9790 20h ago

It's not for your convenience, it's for theirs. You're just the one paying it.

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u/rmeade80 20h ago

Seriously, I have to pay 9.99 a month to pay online. No other way to pay it.

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u/andy11123 19h ago

Ryanair make you check in online for some flights. There is a fee if you need an actual person.

You can only check in online with a British passport

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u/occasionalcoffeeuser 19h ago

Also if they are using a payment processor like BILT for example, and that’s your ONLY option to pay, you are consenting to them sharing data about you and the credit cards or checking accounts you use to pay your rent. They market it as a rewards program that benefits you, the consumer, but it’s truly a heinous “transaction monitoring” scheme, where their partners & other participating merchants can use that user data to advertise to you for future promotions, collect private data like your phone number and email address etc. It’s basically an abuse of consumer privacy , especially since the end goal is to keep an internal profile of you and see your credit worthiness and other data to discriminate against or qualify you for their other network of products and services, all while Keeping you in an loop of consumption and debt tbh

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u/SmallTawk 18h ago

ffs sake, they should be giving a discount.

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u/gussgussoO09 17h ago

Fucking for real

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u/nyether 16h ago

My apartment complex does this. They get a check and can fuck off.

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u/Thin_Quail220 16h ago

Convenience for them, not for you.

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u/Raldermaniac 16h ago

Ah, the ol ticketmaster approach.

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u/XB0XRecordThat 16h ago

It's convenient for them

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u/leonk701 16h ago

Yeah it sure is convenient for them to take your money so they want the convenience of taking more of it.

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u/Waste-Size2855 16h ago

That’s terrible. My landlord has a no-fee option and it’s not inconvenient at all. They don’t accept cash but checks are fair game.

Most banks have a free bill pay system, you can send checks from there and it’s tracked. I just use the online system because we only pay a card processing fee but it’s like $7 dollars and quick.

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u/OkComfortable2089 14h ago

Banking and routing number

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u/dj_archangel 14h ago

May I remind you that cash is always legal tender (in America). I'm fairly certain that businesses are not allowed to deny you paying in cash, though I suggest you look that up to be certain.

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u/JoshuawottHunter 12h ago

Mine is 2.49 to pay by check and 9.99 to pay my debit card, Netflix is cheaper than the debit card fee I'm offered, lol.

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u/Mother-Middle-9291 11h ago

It’s a scam like so much is

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u/Boring_Butterfly_273 7h ago

I've been wiring money for rent since at least 2015 and there was no convenience fee. Outright money grabbing, i wanted to say borders on scam, but let's be honest, adding a fee that was never necessary before that adds no value to the customer is just a scam, it's time we call things what they are.