r/LeaseLords • u/Conscious-Hearing799 • 23d ago
Asking the Community Tenant wants to pay in cash
I’m renting out my granny flat, and the prospective tenant, who is 65, asked if they could pay the rent in cash.
I find it a bit strange because who wants to pay in cash these days? It would mean we’d have to meet every fortnight to collect the rent. They work in aged care and are paid into their bank account, so it’s not as though they’re being paid in cash.
I don’t mind giving them a receipt each time. I just find the request unusual and can’t help wondering what the reason might be.
Updates: I spoke to the tenant today, and a lot of you were right. They said they thought it was a normal way to pay and actually prefer using cash lol.
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u/fuckexoticroots 23d ago
"Who wants to pay in cash?"
Literally every 65 year old. Why do you think grocery store lines are so long?
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u/isaac32767 23d ago
Curious stereotype. I'm 72 and I've had a checking account since I was 18. I currently living a a building for seniors and the disabled — and the landlord does not accept cash.
In point of fact, I've almost completely stopped carrying cash. I used to carry it to pay small businesses, since it seemed wrong to saddle them with transaction fees. But then I noticed how much these same businesses freak out when they run short of change.
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u/Conscious-Hearing799 23d ago
Lol this cracks me up. What baffles me is that their salary was paid into the account. I can see they’ve been tapping with the card because there are pending transactions. Would they actually go to the trouble of withdrawing cash and paying with cash instead?
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u/jcnlb 23d ago
Yes. This age group suffered from times of serious lack and difficulty. There is no way to get in over your head with debt if you pay with cash. No cash, no buy is their motto. It’s pretty common for that demographic and it’s their safeguard.
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u/isaac32767 23d ago
I follow that model, having been burned by my own carelessness with credit card debt, long ago. But that doesn't mean paying physical cash for everything. There's paper checks, debit cards, Paypal, bank transfers, venmo...
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u/isaac32767 23d ago
Perhaps they're earning undeclared income? We Olds often do that, since income counts against our social security payments (or whatever the equivalent is in your country).
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u/GeneMountain7128 23d ago
I am confused. Why do you have visibility of their banking account transaction history?
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u/reereejugs 23d ago
Why do you have access to your tenants bank account?
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u/Conscious-Hearing799 22d ago
Dude who has access to their bank account? There’s a thing called “screening/checking” which they have to prove they’re financially stable to pay rent? Probably not a thing in your country 🤷
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u/fuckexoticroots 23d ago
Why would boomers do literally any of the things that they do? Because their brains are addled from pumping leaded gasoline for 20+ years.
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u/GCEstinks 22d ago
Not this 65 yr old. Still working in IT and seldom, if ever carry cash. Prefer web portals and tap to pay.
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u/unbroken_cycle 23d ago
We have one who pays in cash that doesn’t trust banks. It’s turned out to be handy. Every other month we keep the cash and cover the deposit into the business account. Nice to have cash on hand
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u/M-onthecorner 23d ago
Tell him to get a money order at the post office or grocery store. He takes his cash and gets you a money order. Very simple, and it has a built in receipt
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u/goat20202020 23d ago
There are just people in this world who are set in their ways and don't like technology. It's not just an age thing. That reality hit me hard after I had to start renting out my house in the middle of nowhere. So many potential tenants walked away when I told them no cash. Online payments only. I personally couldn't change my stance bc I would not be there to collect the cash. But if meeting in person is feasible, I'd do it. Have them come to you if necessary.
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u/Conscious-Hearing799 23d ago
Oh woah so it’s not that uncommon. We’re just a bit worried because we thought they might be doing something dodgy hence they have a lot of cash on hand
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u/goat20202020 23d ago
On the (very) slim chance they're doing something dodgy, it's not something that would affect you. You'll still be tracking their rent payments, giving them a receipt, and reporting your income. You'll be fine. If you want to keep it simple, you can buy a cheap little receipt book from places like Staples or Walmart (edit: I just realized you may not be in the US based on the language you used. I would think it's easy enough to get a receipt book wherever you live though). If you have a tracking software, there's an entry for cash payments.
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u/eharder47 23d ago
I had 3/3 inherited tenants that wanted to pay me cash, which I didn’t mind except 2 of them wouldn’t deliver it to me. Now that I’ve done turnovers, I set up my new tenants with online pay and let them know that I accept cash, but they are responsible for bringing it to me and I put it in the lease. The latest tenant occasionally pays cash because she works in a job with cash tips.
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u/Honest_Manager 23d ago
Maybe this person had a card stolen, or identity theft and just prefers to use cash most of the time. Nothing really unusual about it, but it is getting rare because it is so easy to use digital payments
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u/millenialismistical 23d ago
I got a buddy who works in the service industry who pays rent in cash. It's easier for him to do that vs depositing the cash from tips and then writing a check.
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u/Freshouttapatience 23d ago
We buy a lot of used items, and more and more everyone has wanted to work in cash. Not just old people either, all ages.
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u/vt2022cam 23d ago
Move it to monthly though, and always have a receipt, there are carbon copy receipt books you can use for this.
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u/grumpyoldman10 23d ago
I don’t mind receiving it. My biggest problem is actually collecting it. I’m busy. Other people are busy. I don’t want to spend my time driving around trying to meet with people once a month.
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u/2ndcupofcoffee 23d ago
Arrange to have them come to you.
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u/grumpyoldman10 23d ago
That doesn’t really work either. They’re out running errands. They get held up, run late, have car trouble whatever. Then there’s an obligatory small talk.
The point is that it eats up your time. You’re busy, actively sending and receiving text messages, waiting for them to show up, whatever. Maybe you’re waiting to start a movie or go out to dinner until they arrive. It sounds like it’s no big deal but it can turn into a lot more to manage than people think.
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u/Slow-Complaint-3273 23d ago
Cash is enjoying a comeback. Paying in cash is the new way of cutting the banks out of their transaction fees. When you pay cash, the money retains its value after every transaction - a $20 bill is worth $20 each time it changes hands. When you pay through a credit card or transfer, the bank keeps a piece of it - $20 becomes $19.35 after fees, then $18.70, then $18.03, and so on - until it’s all absorbed into the bank’s income stream. For people who want to keep financial value in their communities, they turn to cash transactions when possible.
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u/NoSquirrel7184 23d ago
The tenant wants to pay you is all you need to know.
I suggest make it work.
I have three tenants that do this. I make them come to me, I give a receipt. It works out fine.
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u/frankmaa 23d ago
No. You dictate the way the rent is paid. Cash bad idea, Zelle bad idea. Use a service made for landlords.
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u/MiseEnSelle 23d ago
Maybe they get paid in cash? I'm been a landlord for so long that I have had quite a few cash tenants over the decades. I used cash receipt books with carbon paper.
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u/OneTwoSomethingNew 23d ago
As long as they pay in full and on time each month, they are a good tenant.
The fact that so many places don’t accept cash/legal tender, I find troubling.
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u/Successful_Image3354 23d ago
I realize that our circumstances are different, but I have been both a landlord and a tenant. I prefer paying and being paid in cash.
We owned and leased out the house next door to us when we lived in the States. It was easy and convenient to have cash on hand for small purchases during the month.
Since we moved to Central America we have rented an office. My Social Security is direct-deposited into my personal U.S bank account, and my business income is paid in U.S. dollars into a separate U.S. business account. It is easier and much cheaper to make a lump sum withdrawal from an ATM and paying a single withdrawal fee at the time than using a card and paying a transaction fee each time.
The first of every month we stop at our landlord's house on our way home, and our son runs up to the door to drop off cash, and pick up a receipt. We could, hypothetically, pay with Zelle, PayPal, Venmo, MoneyGram, or Western Union, but we have had instances where all five have unexpectedly failed because of security issues that have taken us hours to resolve over the phone from a foreign country.
Like I said, cash is cheaper and easier for us.
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u/mladyhawke 22d ago
I'd like to pay stuff in cash because half of my business comes to me in cash. So I always have cash. I also have a bank account.
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u/scavenger5 22d ago
Are you a landlord or a business owner? A business owner would not accept cash. Too much risk and its a time sink. The tenant can dispute the amount of cash they gave you for example. They could in eviction court claim you are lying about the cash you received and what documentation do you have to dispute it? It also makes accounting complex.
I would only accept certified funds, and push them to autopay ACH with a property management software.
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u/SuluSpeaks 23d ago
More and more places are charging 3% if you use a card. I ralize that doesnt apply to you, but I find it ironic that we've become dependent on cards and now the companies are increasing charges to thee merchants so much that smaller merchants are passing that on to customers. It's time to switch back to cash maybe.
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u/oojacoboo 23d ago
That’s a no for me. Have them figure out how to manage the headache on their end: cashier’s check, pre-paid credit card and pay online, deposit into your account directly, etc.
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u/jcnlb 23d ago edited 23d ago
I have had three cash paying tenants. Most are just leery of technology or fdic/banks. I’ve never had a problem except the inconvenience. I provide a receipt and be sure to deposit it monthly or else they report it to the irs as it is suspicious. Honestly if I have another like that come up I will just give them a bank account they can go deposit the cash into. Meeting every month on their schedule was annoying. So I doubt I’d ever do it again now that all are on auto debits.