How to collect rent online

Most small landlords still collect rent through some mix of Zelle, Venmo, and paper checks. It works, until a payment arrives with no note, a check sits in a coat pocket, or you spend an evening matching deposits to months. Here is the better setup.

Why Zelle and Venmo fall short for rent

• No ledger. A Zelle deposit is just money in your account. You still have to record which property and which month it covers.
• No partial-payment control. Payment apps accept whatever the tenant sends, which can complicate an eviction case in many states.
• No automation. Nothing reminds the tenant, nothing marks the month paid, and nothing adds the income to your books.

What to use instead: ACH with autopay

ACH is a direct bank-to-bank transfer, the same rail your paycheck uses. For rent, it has three advantages: it is cheap (no card processing fees), it is documented (every payment has a date, amount, and payer), and it can run on a schedule. The tenant links a bank account once, turns on autopay, and rent simply arrives each month.

Setting it up in Lotts

• Add the property and lease. Scan the lease PDF and the rent amount, due day, and late-fee rules fill in automatically.
• Invite the tenant. They get a private portal link. No app to download, works on any phone.
• Tenant links a bank. A one-time secure connection through Stripe. From then on it is one-tap pay or full autopay.
• Rent posts itself. The payment lands in the rent ledger, the month marks itself paid, and the income flows into that property's financial report.

If a month does go late, reminders follow the lease's own grace period automatically, in the tone you choose, and late fees phase in exactly as written. You never have to send the awkward text yourself.

A note on timing

ACH transfers typically settle in a few business days, so a payment made on the 1st lands shortly after. Lotts shows the payment as processing the moment the tenant pays, so you always know rent is on the way.