How do your college students living off-campus pay their rent?

[Sunshine State Sue]

Is there a more newfangled way than the old-fashioned writing of a check?  Ds brought some temporary checks to school with him which he can't find in order to put down a deposit.  :cursing:

 

I can pay most of my bills electronically, but some I think the bank writes for me (ex. public radio).  And I imagine that is how it would be with a landlord. 

 

I personally find that I write more and more checks these days.  Doctors, hair stylist, food co-op.  Makes me wonder if credit card fees have increased with so many opting out.

 

TIA.

 

[Laura in CA]

I'll be interested to hear what others have to say. I imagine our situation is somewhat unusual, but I'll share anyway. :)

My son just arranged his first-ever off-campus housing last week, but all the paperwork is done with parents, not the students -- the lease is signed by one set of parents. (Somehow this ended up being my husband and me. :glare: ) Anyway, I pay by old-fashioned check, but I'm having his roommates' parents pay *me* via PayPal. :)

It's rather stressful, because the monthly rent for this two-bedroom apartment (in an extremely-high-COL area) is more than we usually have in our checking account at any given time. (In fact, it's more than twice our monthly mortgage payment.) It's still (per person) way less than the dorms cost, so as long as the other parents pay me on time each month, we'll come out ahead compared with this year.

 

And yes, I doubt my son could lay his hands on the 2 or 3 checks he took with him to college ...

[Gwen in VA]

My kids have always paid by check. Yup. Even now.

[wendyroo]

I set up a local bank account as soon as I started college.  The local banks all offered different student accounts and I shopped around for what would best serve my needs.  My work study money was direct deposited into that account and I wrote rent checks from it.

 

Wendy

[Pawz4me]

DS lives in an off-campus dorm.  They accept electronic payments.  He's looked into apartments around the campus and it appears they all accept electronic payments, too.  But those are all large apartment complexes, and they allow each student (or a parent) to sign individual leases.

[Nan in Mass]

One student in the apartment is in charge of the bills in return for the best room or less rent or something. He is given checks for the bills by my students. The bill paying requires time and running around, which is why it usually is a "paid" position. In all of the apartments my children have been in, it was the "homeless" student that was given the position, the student with a family the resources to help support the student but who didn,t want the student home again for some reason, making the apartment that student,s home rather than dorm room. (We know now to watch for this situation and take it into account when it comes to common space furnishings and holidays.)

 

Nan

[Sunshine State Sue]

Nan, interesting idea about the student with the master bed/bath being the person in charge of the bills.  I will pass that along to ds. 

 

I will tell ds to ask about an e-pay option.

 

Laura, that is a very odd situation.  I don't know that I would be comfortable with it.

[xixstar]

Bill pay through my bank. They will mail a check if there is no electronic transfer option.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I'll be interested to hear what others have to say. I imagine our situation is somewhat unusual, but I'll share anyway. :)

My son just arranged his first-ever off-campus housing last week, but all the paperwork is done with parents, not the students -- the lease is signed by one set of parents. (Somehow this ended up being my husband and me. :glare: ) Anyway, I pay by old-fashioned check, but I'm having his roommates' parents pay *me* via PayPal. :)

It's rather stressful, because the monthly rent for this two-bedroom apartment (in an extremely-high-COL area) is more than we usually have in our checking account at any given time. (In fact, it's more than twice our monthly mortgage payment.) It's still (per person) way less than the dorms cost, so as long as the other parents pay me on time each month, we'll come out ahead compared with this year.

 

And yes, I doubt my son could lay his hands on the 2 or 3 checks he took with him to college ...

 

You are a much braver soul than I am.

 

There is no way I would be trusting enough of strangers to make sure I had money in my account to cover the payment.  Not without at least one or two month's rent as a deposit. 

 

Just the thought of doing this makes my heart skip a beat.

[Laura in CA]

 

 

Laura, that is a very odd situation.  I don't know that I would be comfortable with it.

 

Well, it appears to be the norm in my son's college town. For all of the apartments he & his buddies applied for, the parents had to fill out even the application form (and of course the lease, later). I think it's just a consequence of sky-high rents -- no normal undergrad student would be able to afford an apartment there, ever.

 

You are a much braver soul than I am.

 

There is no way I would be trusting enough of strangers to make sure I had money in my account to cover the payment.  Not without at least one or two month's rent as a deposit. 

 

Just the thought of doing this makes my heart skip a beat.

 

Yes, exactly. We talked with all of the parents involved, and they will pay me well in advance. So far, so good! :)

 

[Catherine]

Just asked ds-he is the designated bill payer for his house and he sends electronic payments.  In fact, I learned last fall that he actually carried all of the internet and gas and electric bills for the house for a lot of the semester until his housemates paid him in full at the end of the semester. He is a trusting soul : )  He has an account but does not ever use checks for anything, as far as I know.  

[Miss Marple]

DS lives in an off campus condo with 4 other fellas.  They rent each room individually.  Each is responsible only for his room.  The landlord (condo-owner - not a rental agency) asked that we give him 10 dated checks - one for each month - and he deposits each one on the 1st of each month.  That sounded really odd to me, but it has worked for 2 years now.  It has made life nice in that I don't have to remember, he doesn't have to remember, and no one has to remind us lol.

[KathyBC]

Privately-owned student housing complex, direct account withdrawal from bank account, landlord supplied forms at time of lease. Boys set up a joint account specifically for rent that carries only that amount in it each month; each is responsible for ensuring his share is transferred in by month's end. Has been working so far.

[Southern Ivy]

Nan, interesting idea about the student with the master bed/bath being the person in charge of the bills.  

That is how my roommate and I did it as well. She had lived on her own previously; so since she already had accounts with the utility companies, we didn't have to do all the ridiculous set-up fees if we put it all under her name. 

[KathyBC]

DS lives in an off campus condo with 4 other fellas.  They rent each room individually.  Each is responsible only for his room.  The landlord (condo-owner - not a rental agency) asked that we give him 10 dated checks - one for each month - and he deposits each one on the 1st of each month.  That sounded really odd to me, but it has worked for 2 years now.  It has made life nice in that I don't have to remember, he doesn't have to remember, and no one has to remind us lol.

This is how dh and I did things as renters, back in the good old days. :D

[*LC]

The apt. my daughter will live in next year only takes checks. There will be 4 girls in the apt. Each will put her check in the rent envelope, and one will deliver it to the nearby rental agency at the first of the month. She opened an online checking account after arriving at college, and she has those checks. (The parents of each student had to sign the lease and have a credit check.) I wonder if it would work with online billpay, which is what I use. My bank does send paper checks to those accounts that I pay that aren't set up for electronic payments. 

 

The apt where she hopes to live this summer will accept separate credit card payments from each of the 4 girls living there.