The multi-family housing industry is a robust and unique industry that has found significant growth in occupancy and revenue despite our country’s economic downturn.  The Census Bureau and the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) survey claim thirty-three percent of Americans live in renter-occupied housing.  For many, the first thing that comes to mind when hearing “multi-family” industry or “apartment” industry is large property  management companies.  However, the truth of the matter is, most rental properties are in fact owned by individuals, not large corporations.  An unpublished Census Bureau Property Owners and Managers Survey as stated by NMHC, revealed that 46.9% of all rental properties are owned by individuals, 20.3% by partnerships and only 5.8% by real estate corporations. 

The majority of apartment buildings in the United States are not thousand unit high-rises, but rather they are complexes with fewer than one hundred units.  Seventy-nine percent of all rental properties in the United States have 2 to 4 units. Only 2% have over one hundred units, meaning 98% of all rental properties in the United States have less than one hundred units according to NMHC tabulations of a Residential Finance Survey.

Because most multi-family housing properties are so small, electronic payment options are not available to the majority of American renters.  Electronic rent payment acceptance would be such an immense benefit for these smaller properties because it is likely that most individuals who own small complexes have other careers as well.  Therefore, spending time and effort to collect paper checks, make a trip to the bank, keep track of payments and post late notices could be extremely costly. Not to mention, residents of such communities are likely unable to stop by a leasing office to simply hand in a paper check. Instead, residents are required to purchase postage and mail a check well in advance of their rent due date to ensure their payment gets made on time and without penalty. 

The multi-family housing industry is evolving and participating in the digital revolution we are currently experiencing.  Eighty percent of all large property management companies already provide their residents with electronic payment options. It only makes sense for the largest bulk of the multi-family industry to jump on board and begin accepting electronic payments with a safe and secure electronic payment processor like RentPayment.  American renters deserve the flexibility of online payment options, so why not find a way to give it to them?

For more information about how to get RentPayment at your property contact Sales@RentPayment.com.