Landlordmovingfrompapertoelectronicpayment

Tribune Content Agency Q: IliveinFlorida.

I have a one-year lease that expires early next year. Inmy lease it states that payment to the landlordmust be by check or money order. I received a letter on June 1 stating that on July 1 all rent payments must be made electronically and that this form of payment is mandatory.

Is this legal? On July 1, I gave a check to the building manager. She accepted the check but said she wasn’t sure what would happen. I received an email that day saying thatmy rent had been paid. Can my landlord require electronic payments? A:

We question whether your landlord has the unilateral right to require you to make payments to the landlord in any other manner than as set forth in the lease. If the lease says that payments must be made by check or money order, you will be abiding by the terms of the lease by paying that way. We don’t see how your landlord can claim you are in default under the lease when you comply with the terms specified in the lease.

However, when it comes time to renew, your landlord can make it a condition of your lease to have auto-pay set up for future rent payments. Many landlords find that the hassle of handling the paper checks is too much when they can get the payments automatically from tenants using an automated system.

You can either set up a mechanism to have your rent deducted from your checking account automatically or you can manually pay the landlord through the electronic system set up by your landlord. In either case, the payment system favors the landlord by reducing the landlord’s costs in managing all the payments. Youmay not like it, but it seems that more and more payments are being made that way and more and more people are becoming more comfortable with electronic payments.

Your question seems to imply that you don’t want to make electronic payments and want to continue to pay the landlord using a paper check. Your landlord is clearly trying to convert the building to an electronic system, but perhaps could have found a better way to go about doing it.

We suggest you try to have a conversation with the property manager (someone who is authorized to speak on the landlord’s behalf) to understand what the landlord’s intentions are. And you should ask what will happen if you continue to pay by check through the end of the lease period, even as everyone else’s payments are automated. If you won’t make payments through the system, the landlord will have to manually input your information to avoid holding you in default.

Why would you be in default? Well, if the landlord automates the receipt of payments, the landlord may also automate the system for sending out default notices. So if your payment is made but the system doesn’t recognize it, the system might send you out a default. Youmight need to have some patience while the landlord works with you to receive your paper checks or until you decide whether you want to participate in paying the landlord electronically.

Finally, we have not encountered any laws that have been passed that require people tomake electronic payments. But we haven’t met all landlords in the country, so we’re putting it out to you, our readers: Please email us if you know of municipalities or government agencies that require electronic payments from consumers or any laws that have been passed requiring consumers to pay certain bills electronically. Thanks for your question.

Ilyce Glink is the creator of an 18-part webinar and ebook series called “The Intentional Investor: How to be wildly successful in real estate,” as well as the author of many books on real estate. She also offers information on her YouTube channel. (youtube.com/user/ExpertRealEstateTips).