Late fee refers to a price creditors and other businesses levy on customers who fail to honour and pay on time any sort of financial debt such as a loan or credit card, an insurance policy or rental agreement. A mention of the late fees on any contract or agreement warns the consumer to pay the dues before the last date.
See also: How does paying rent on a credit card affect your credit utilisation ratio?
Should a credit card be utilised to pay rent?
If you want flexibility and avoid the hassle of writing cheques, you can pay rent online with a credit card. This is particularly beneficial if you pay the credit card bill on time every month and are earning rewards that can be used to offset convenience costs.
However, putting your rent on a credit card could be problematic if you have a low credit limit or an unreliable income. If you don’t pay it off promptly, it could harm both your credit score and your finances. Deliberate and make an informed choice after weighing the pros and cons.
See also: What are the pros and cons of paying rent with credit cards?
Avoiding late fees while paying rent on a credit card
- Know your landlord’s rules: Examine your lease agreement and speak with your landlord to learn about their preferred payment procedures, any applicable fees, and the day the rent is due.
- Create reminders: Mark the due date on your calendar or set up alerts on your phone or computer to ensure that you never forget to make a rent payment. To give enough time for processing, think about scheduling reminders a few days before the deadline.
- Schedule your payments: Learn the billing cycle and statement ending date for your credit card. Plan your rent payment such that it occurs between these days at a convenient time. This provides you plenty of time to complete the payment and guarantees that it will appear on your subsequent credit card statement.
- Set up automatic payments: Ask your landlord whether there is a method for using a credit card to pay automatically. You can do this by giving your credit card company permission to automatically deduct the rent payment from your card on the due date and pay your landlord. To prevent any technological issues, make sure to organise this layout well in advance.
- Check the balance on your credit card: Check your credit card statement frequently to be sure the rent payment has been processed properly. Check the transaction for any inconsistencies or mistakes, and in case you find any, contact your credit card company or your landlord.
- Maintain a high enough credit limit: Make sure your credit card has enough credit available to cover the rent. Your transaction can be rejected or only partially processed if your credit limit is too low, which would incur late fees. If required, think about asking your credit card company to raise your credit limit.
FAQs
Can a credit card be used for the payment of my rent?
It depends on how your landlord handles payments. While some need the use of third-party services, others accept credit card payments directly.
Are there any costs involved with using a credit card to pay the rent?
Rent payments made using credit cards may incur costs. For credit card payments, some landlords levy a convenience fee, and third-party payment systems could have additional costs. First understand the potential expenses from your credit card company and then proceed.
| Got any questions or point of view on our article? We would love to hear from you. Write to our Editor-in-Chief Jhumur Ghosh at jhumur.ghosh1@housing.com |
Housing News Desk is the news desk of leading online real estate portal, Housing.com. Housing News Desk focuses on a variety of topics such as real estate laws, taxes, current news, property trends, home loans, rentals, décor, green homes, home improvement, etc. The main objective of the news desk, is to cover the real estate sector from the perspective of providing information that is useful to the end-user.
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