Let Prospects Pay Security Deposit by Credit Card

If your tax credit site lets residents pay their rent by credit card, consider letting prospects pay their security deposits by credit card as well, suggests property manager Kristen Morgan. Doing so can increase the likelihood that prospects will sign a lease when they first visit your site, she says.

Morgan decided to allow prospects to pay their security deposits by credit card after noticing that many prospects didn't have their checkbooks with them when they came to visit the site for the first time. These days, people prefer to pay for things using a bank debit card or a credit card, so they don't carry their checkbooks with them, she explains. But if you let a prospect leave the leasing office with just a promise that she'll come back with a check for the security deposit, you run the risk that she won't return, says Morgan. Accepting credit cards for security deposit payments makes it easier for interested prospects to pay their security deposit and sign the lease without having to come back another day, she says.

Insider Source

Kristen Morgan: Property Manager, The Wheatlands, 1225 Deerfield Parkway, Buffalo Grove, IL 60089; www.thewheatlands.com.