Paying Rent by Cashier's Check or Money Order

Use a postal money order for a payment of $1,000 or less and a cashier's check for anything larger, such as first month's rent plus a security deposit. The Postal Service charges $2.65 for a money order up to $500 and $3.75 for one up to $1,000, while a cashier's check costs whatever your bank charges. You generally cannot stop payment on either one, so hand it over only after you have confirmed who the landlord is, and get a signed, dated receipt in return.

Money order or cashier's check: which to use

If you buy a money order somewhere other than a Post Office, ask that seller for its fee and its limit per money order.

Example: move-in costs of $3,400, made up of $1,700 in first month's rent and a $1,700 security deposit. Paying by postal money order takes four of them, three for $1,000 and one for $400, which costs 3 x $3.75 + $2.65 = $13.90 in fees and leaves four receipts to keep. One cashier's check covers the full $3,400 for a single bank fee. Move-in fees vs. security deposits explains which upfront charges you get back.

Can your landlord require a money order or cashier's check?

Your lease usually names the ways you can pay, within limits some states set:

• California: a landlord must offer at least one way to pay rent that is neither cash nor an electronic funds transfer, and the state's tenant guide lists a money order or cashier's check as examples. The guide says these rules also apply when a landlord asks for the security deposit in cash.
• Washington: a landlord must accept a personal check, cashier's check, or money order. It can refuse your personal checks, leaving a money order or cashier's check, only if one of them was returned for insufficient funds or a closed account in the previous 9 months.

For due dates and the rules that apply however you pay, see rent payment rules for tenants. Rent payment methods compared sets these two options against personal checks, portals, and apps.

How to fill it out, deliver it, and keep proof

1. Make it payable to the exact name in your lease. In California, the rental agreement must state the name and address of the person or company that receives rent.
2. Fill out a postal money order at the counter, with the retail associate, as USPS instructs.
3. Photograph the completed money order or check before you hand it over, and keep the purchase receipt. USPS says the receipt is how you track a money order.
4. Get a receipt from your landlord. Deliver it in person and ask for a signed, dated receipt, or mail it with delivery tracking. In New York, a landlord must give a written receipt for rent paid by money order or cashier's check, showing the payment date, amount, rental period, and apartment number, signed by the person who took it with that person's title.
5. Confirm it was cashed. Look up a postal money order in the USPS Money Orders tool at tools.usps.com with its serial number, Post Office number, and amount. For a cashier's check, ask the issuing bank whether it has been paid.

What if a money order or cashier's check is lost or stolen?

• Postal money order: take your purchase receipt to a Post Office and ask for a Money Order Inquiry. USPS says confirming the loss can take up to 30 days and investigating it up to 60 days, and a replacement costs a $23 processing fee.
• Cashier's check: contact the issuing bank right away. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which supervises national banks, says the bank will require an indemnity bond before it issues a new check. That bond is a type of insurance policy that makes you, not the bank, responsible if the original is cashed later. The bank may also make you wait 30 to 90 days. Ask the bank what its replacement process is, what a bond would cost, and whether it will replace the check after a waiting period instead.

If it was lost before your landlord received it, the rent is still unpaid while you wait. Tell your landlord in writing, offer to pay another way, and keep the inquiry or bank paperwork. What happens when you pay rent late covers the fees and notices that can follow a missed payment.

Why rental scammers ask for money orders

Rental scammers ask for payments that cannot be reversed. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says they ask for wire transfers, gift cards, or cryptocurrency, and that paying those ways is the same as sending cash. The FTC's fake-check guidance also warns never to use money from a check to send money orders to anyone who asks. A postal money order works like cash once it is cashed, because USPS does not allow stop payments, and a cashier's check generally cannot be stopped either.

Some scams run the other way. The FTC describes a stranger who sends you a check for more than you are owed, which can look like a cashier's check or a money order, and asks you to send part of the money back. Fake checks can look real even to bank employees, and funds showing in your account do not mean the check is good. When it turns out to be fake, you have to repay your bank.

Before you pay a deposit or rent by money order or cashier's check:

• Look up the owner on your city or county tax assessor's website and check the person's ID against it. The FTC warns that a tour or video does not prove a listing is real, because scammers copy listings from landlords who use self-guided tours.
• Reach the owner or management company through contact information you find yourself, not details from the ad or from someone who says they work for the owner.
• Search the owner's or company's name with "complaint," "review," or "scam," and search the address to see whether other ads list a different owner.
• Get a copy of the lease before you send money.

If you paid a scammer, report it to local police, the website that ran the ad, ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and your state attorney general. Security deposit scams to watch for describes other schemes aimed at renters.