Autopay: how automatic rent collection works
Tenants enroll in their portal with a saved bank or card. Each month, autopay charges the monthly rent on the due day — with a catch-up rule so late enrollment or a hiccup never skips a month.
Autopay is the end state of rent collection: the tenant enrolls once, and rent arrives every month without anyone doing anything.
How tenants enroll
In the resident portal's Payments area, the tenant saves a payment method (bank or card) and turns autopay on. Enrollment is theirs to manage — they can switch methods or turn it off, and you can see who's enrolled.
When it charges
A daily process checks every enrolled tenant: once the tenant's rent due day arrives (or any day after, if something delayed it), the month's rent is charged to their saved method. That "on or after" rule is the quiet workhorse — a tenant who enrolls on the 12th with rent due the 5th gets charged that same day rather than skipping to next month, and a temporary card failure retries on subsequent days instead of losing the month. Each month is charged exactly once — the charge is idempotent per tenant per month, so no double-billing, ever.
What it charges
Monthly rent only. Deposits, one-off fees, damages, and late fees are never swept up by autopay — a tenant's saved card can't be surprise-charged for a disputed fee. Anything beyond rent, the tenant pays deliberately (or you record manually).
When a payment fails
A failed charge simply doesn't post — no phantom payment appears on the ledger, and the daily run tries again. If rent goes uncovered past your grace window, the normal late-fee machinery takes over, which tends to prompt the tenant to fix their payment method.
The card-fee note
Autopay on a card carries the same convenience fee as a manual card payment (see online payments); autopay on ACH is free to the tenant. Worth mentioning when a tenant picks their method.
Related guides
Online rent payments: ACH free, card with a fee
Tenants pay rent in their portal by bank (ACH, free to them) or card (a convenience fee is added). You control which rails are on and the card fee in Settings → Payments & Stripe.
How the tenant ledger works
Every tenant has one ledger: charges (rent, fees, deposits) and payments, each with a due date. Payments allocate to the oldest due charge first, and the balance is always charges minus payments.