My apartment complex is pretty relaxed when it comes to rent payments.
Almost too relaxed, if you ask me.
Rent is due on the first of the month, as is true with most apartments. We also get a grace period, like most apartments. But our grace period is a whopping ten days! I’ve never needed a ten day grace period – I always pay on the first, sometimes the second if things are a little crazy. I’m not going to complain about the grace period though. It’s a nice little perk.
What does get me, though, is that they don’t deposit rent checks right away. Nor do they deposit them by the end of the grace period. Frequently, it’s not until the 15th or later that the check shows up. And I know they deposit them at the same bank branch that I bank at, so it’s not just a check clearing delay. Plus, I have called before to make sure they received my payment and they say “Oh, we have, we just haven’t gone to the bank yet.”
I guess this shouldn’t frustrate me, but since I am penalized if my check is late, it would be nice to get some confirmation that they received it. Yes, it’s a small complaint.
I suppose this does indicate that the company is doing well, since they don’t need that money right away. That’s a good feeling.
We don’t deal with a company, but our landlord is the same way. Unfortunately, before I took over payments, my parents took such full advantage of the grace period that it was kind of abused — I didn’t have any idea that rent was due on the 15th and not the 26th!!
Now I always pay in the early part of the month, and the landlord still takes more than ten days to deposit. But that’s fine with me. Using ING’s Electric Orange means the account deducts the amount of the check sent without waiting and wondering when I can balance my register!
You’re making me neurotic just reading this post! The whole time I was thinking, “Wait, did I pay my check on time this month? It hasn’t cleared the bank yet…” Our grace period is 5 days, which is pretty nice for those rare occasions that I forget to drop off my check on the 1st. Our landlord has a similarly annoying habit with depositing rent checks. I paid last Thursday, and it still hasn’t cleared. Last month it cleared on the 4th, but I think that’s the earliest it’s ever made it through to my account. Frustrating!