Can You Require Your Tenant to Pay Rent in a Specific Form?

Traditionally, tenants would pay rent using cash, check, money order, cashier’s check, or bank transfers. Recently, more and more tenants prefer pay rent online through Venmo, Paypal, or a free property management app. However, some of the traditional methods (and even modern methods like PayPal and Venmo) can actually be dangerous for landlords. When accepting rent payments, make sure your collection method is private and secure. In some states, you also want the ability to block partial payments, since even a small deposit in your account can delay eviction proceedings.

Whether or not you can require rent payments in a specific form depends on your State laws. In some states like California, landlords are not allowed to require the tenants to make the rent payment in cash only. California landlords must also allow tenants to pay rent by at least one form of payment that is not cash or electronic funds transfer, such as a check or money order.