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@tess That's free in the US to me thru my bank's website, but takes a day or two to arrive.
@dalias @tess Many landlords/condos have auto-deduct to a tenant bank account. It's auto-processed by landlord/condo without anyone, them or renter, thinking about it, and no fee. Once authorized by the tenant, of course.
Win-win.
That may certainly not apply to every landlord! But it is in their interest to set it up since payment is now automatic and never late.
Lots of other bills, fees, credit cards, utilities, you can do the same.
@MarkSquiresWine @tess Yeah, no thanks. The fine print for that always allows them to do abusive things, and even if not, you can end up with overdrafts because it's via ACH which isn't synchronous with available balance.
Even if you want automated payments, you want them scheduled and initiated "push" by the sender at their bank, not "pull" by the recipient.
@MarkSquiresWine @tess Like pretty sure they'd authorize the landlord to charge you extra for claimed damages when you move out, rather than them having to go to court if they want more than your deposit. Or even if not really authorized, slimy landlord would do it if they thought you couldn't afford a lawyer.
@dalias @tess I see nothing like that authorized in my ACH.
If you're confronted with a lawless crook, ultimately there's a problem somewhere. No game plan fixes everything. They will find a way to drive you crazy somehow if there is an imbalance in power. (It's one reason I became a lawyer!)
OTOH, with auto-deduct, I have never had a late fee or notice, have a great credit rating as a result, and my obligation gets auto paid even if I'm traveling out of the country. It has advantages too.
@dalias @MarkSquiresWine @tess
One of the first things you do when moving out is cancel the authorization, copy to the bank. So simple.
Standard in Europe, rent, utilities, the lot .
@uc @MarkSquiresWine @tess ACH has no such concept as cancelling authorization.
@dalias @MarkSquiresWine @tess
Then why sign it?
@uc @MarkSquiresWine @tess There's no signature. All it takes is knowing the bank and account number. Any signed authorization is just evidence if the person you're pulling money from takes you to court, not part of getting the money.
@dalias @MarkSquiresWine @tess
Wouldn't be legal in the real world. If I don't authorize payment, it doesn't happen. If someone tries taking payment without authorization I recall it with the click of a button.
To authorize ACH, I went to my vendors' sites and said I authorize ACH auto-pay and entered my bank account information.
All I have to do to unauthorize it is go back to the site and uncheck that box. I can also remove the bank account information as a method of payment from that part of the vendor site.
@MarkSquiresWine @dalias @tess
Electronic signature, in effect.