Best way to collect rent

Set a due date that suits the tenant's pay cycle

A rent date two days after the tenant is paid produces fewer late payments than any amount of chasing. It costs nothing to agree at the start of a tenancy and is awkward to change later. Landlords who set the first of the month because it is tidy are choosing their own convenience over the thing they actually want, which is the money arriving.

Send something before the money is due

A short demand or statement, a few days ahead, saying what is due and when. It prompts the tenant who was going to forget and creates the dated record that the amount was communicated. This single habit removes a meaningful share of late payments and costs nothing once the software does it.

Look the day after, every month

The arrears position on the day after the due date is either a two minute check or an impression nobody has. Making it a check is what allows the first reminder to go out the same day, neutral and routine, which is when non-payment is cheapest to resolve. Almost every serious arrears case started in a month when nobody looked.

Have the ladder written down before you need it

Day one a factual reminder, day seven a conversation ending in a written plan, day thirty the formal position. Deciding the sequence in advance means it is applied consistently rather than according to how irritated somebody is, and consistency is both fairer and more effective.