Autopay lets a tenant pay rent automatically each month instead of clicking Pay Now on every bill. This article covers how tenants enroll and what happens when a charge doesn't go through.
How tenants enroll
Tenants enroll in autopay themselves, from the tenant portal. Landlords don't enroll a tenant on their behalf. Autopay uses ACH bank transfer only; it isn't available for cards. During enrollment, the tenant picks a charge day of the month, from the 1st through the 28th.
Choosing a charge day near the due date is usually the simplest setup, but tenants can pick any day in that range that fits how they manage their bank account. Once enrolled, autopay runs automatically each month on the chosen day, and the tenant doesn't need to log in and confirm each payment.
Autopay only works once your Stripe Connect account is fully enabled. If your account isn't fully set up, autopay charges are skipped that cycle rather than attempted (more on that below).
What happens when a charge fails
If an autopay charge fails, Tenvale retries it: up to 3 attempts over 7 days. If a charge still hasn't succeeded after 2 consecutive failed cycles, autopay is paused automatically for that tenant.
Some bank declines are treated as permanent rather than retryable, for example an account that's closed, invalid, frozen, or a payment marked as disputed or unauthorized. In those cases autopay pauses immediately, without going through the retry sequence, since retrying wouldn't change the outcome.
What landlords see
You're alerted when a tenant's autopay charge fails and when autopay is paused, so a stalled rent payment doesn't go unnoticed. You'll still want to follow up directly with the tenant if a pause drags on, since Tenvale doesn't chase the bank issue for them.
Autopay charges are still ordinary rent payments, so the same processing fee applies as with a manual Pay Now transfer: 0.8%, capped at $5 per payment, deducted from your payout rather than added to what the tenant is charged. See Rent Collection & Fees for the full fee breakdown.
If your Stripe account isn't fully enabled
If your own Stripe Connect account isn't fully enabled when an autopay charge is due, Tenvale skips the charge rather than attempting and failing it. This doesn't count against the tenant's autopay standing; it's on the landlord side, and you'll get an alert so you can finish your Stripe setup. See Getting Started for the setup steps.
Related
- Rent Collection & Fees — how one-off Pay Now payments and processing fees work
- Late Fees — how late fees interact with a bill that's mid-payment attempt
Need help?
If a tenant's autopay looks stuck or you're not sure why a charge was skipped, email support@tenvale.com with the tenant name and the bill in question.