I heard of this site through a friend of mine.
It is a really great site for renters, and also for students who are paying a student loan.
It actually gives renters credit history for paying their rent, and allows them to either build credit or improve their credit simply by paying their rent.
You set up your payment online with a credit, debit, or checking account, and your good payment history gets reported to the credit bureaus. Even if your landlord doesn't accept credit cards, it can still get paid to them via check.
If you have a roommate or split the rent between roommates, you can set it up so that each person pays online, and the landlord gets one check.
You also earn cash back on all of your payments that you make for your normal household expenses.
I thought this was a great idea.
Check it out: www.williampaid.com
Thanks for sharing Ralph. I will pass this on to some friends and clients. This is a great idea for college students!
I suspect this is a cute attempt at playing "the float" with tenant's monies. There is no guarantee that the landlord will ever get the money and the website will be hard to bring into court if defense against an eviction is required.
Most landlords have a ledger or computer generated rent roll and mortgage companies are getting VERY diligent about tenants getting rental verification forms - I don't see this as being a valuable payment method for most tenants.
Wallace,
Williampaid.com is listed as a FCRA-certified data furnisher.
I would think that this would be an even easier defense against eviction because a credit card payment is much harder evidence then "the check was in the mail".
As far as rental verification, the landlord still ends up getting a check anyway, so what difference would it make in what channel it took to get to them?
Ralph,
Thank you for the recognition. While WilliamPaid has recently gone live, the entire business has been in development since mid-2008. Myself, along with several other members of the WilliamPaid team have worked together in the consumer finance sector for 14 years. A few things we know from our past - the age group, 21-34, who happen to make up a large portion of the rental market, care very much about their credit, they worry about their debt situation, and they are the ones who are most in need of payment flexibility. Unfortunately, they're also the ones to not do much about it until they encounter some life event that prevents them from obtaining something they want, such as; going back to school, buying a car, getting a job, an apartment, etc. So, we founded WilliamPaid as a platform to help young adults build credit without going into more debt, shop for the things they need and pay down their student loan debt (as little as $15 per month extra can save thousands over their term) and offer them rent payment flexibility should they need it. Bottom line, there are companies that promise to help you save money to go to college - we promise to help you pay it off and help you be better financially positioned in the future.
Wallace,
I completely understand and agree with your position. In fact, I would be asking the same questions. All I can say is that, as a team, our track record in the financial services sector over the years was a major factor in securing our relationships with our financial partners - First Data and Charter One Bank (a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Scotland). As part of our agreements, our operating accounts are segregated from our FBO accounts and monies can never be co-mingled. Therefore, the example you use is an unlikely one, albeit a great question to ask. As for playing the float game, we're not a bi-weekly payment company holding mortgage payments for 30-days. A tenants' funds are held for no more than 2 days before a check is issued and less if we have secured a direct deposit relationship with the Landlord. Our goal is to provide products and services, a la cart, that would be of benefit to different types of tenants. Hopefully, that alleviates your biggest concern.
Anyway, I greatly appreciate all your comments - the pros and the cons. We know that there will be areas to improve on, but after 16 months of development and many focus groups later, we're confident we're off to the right start as to what this demo group has asked for.
Don't hesitate to join - it's free - and see all the free tools we offer to renters and roommates to manage their lives - it's more than just rent pay. Let me know what you think. If you would like a promo code that would provide you with full access to view our paid services for free, just ask - would be my pleasure.
I'm more than happy to discuss any of this with you on a personal level and educate you a bit more about WilliamPaid if you desire.
Best,
Evan Silverman | CEO
http://www.williampaid.com
Evan, are you in any relation to Lauren?
I am going to get my property manager to check this out and see if it is something they can use. Always interesting to see the new stuff on A/R.
Charles,
Thanks for the interest. Just an FYI...WilliamPaid is a site for renters and roommates. We are not an A/R platform for property managers, although we are in discussions with property managers as to how to incorporate our platform as a benefit for their tenants through product upgrades, etc.
Hope that clarifies a bit!
Evan Silverman | CEO
http://www.williampaid.com
Evan,
I know Lauren!
I did some theater with her and Paul for quite a few years when they were still living in So Calif.
It was Paul's post on Facebook where I learned about your website.