My current agent has just been taken over by ray white, they use SIMPLERENT… on my first transaction I was charged for two months rent - they tried to throw this back at me saying it was user error… I’m a digital designer and have been in ecommerce industry for well over a decade…. The user interface is very clunky and it is very very easy to submit a payment twice. Then the login keeps your bank details in full, which I am totally against, and then on top of this they are wanting to charge a transaction fee for a BPAY payment using a standard direct debit…. Now i understand if you’re using a credit card there is an additional cost but charging and end user to use standard BPAY - I’m investigating this now with the ATO and will further push this in the tenant support system in Victoria… this is I’m sure against the ACCC regulations and ATO regulations… and if simple rent are do this to 1000 users or 100,000 users - they are taking serious advantage of tenants.This is what I'v found thus far - I will post as much content as possible to support anyone in the same situation... BTW - there are loads of people reaching out to me with the exact same issue.... clearly SIMPLERENT are breaking the rules and creating a new revenue stream - poaching tenants money and I have absolutely no doubt that the real estate agents get a kick back $$$AS PER TENENATS VIC.ORGWhat the law saysThe rental provider (landlord), or agent, may be breaking the law if they insist on you using a rental app to pay rent.Ways to pay rentUnder the law the rental provider must allow you to pay rent:In a way that does not result in you being charged any extra fees, apart from your usual bank feesBy electronic funds transfer (EFT) and, if you are receiving Centrelink payments, by Centrepay [section 42, regulation 19]It is against the law – and an offence – if a rental provider does not give you an option to pay rent in a way that does not result in you being charged any extra fees [section 42].It is also against the law – and an offence – for rental providers, agents, or anyone else, including a third-party service provider such as a rental app, to charge for the first issue of a rent payment card or for establishing or using direct debit facilities for rent payments [section 51].For more information on paying rent see the heading ‘Rent’ on our page Starting a tenancy.Note that all the sections in brackets on this page, such as [section 42], refer to Victoria’s Residential Tenancies Act 1997. References in brackets to regulations, such as [regulation 19], are to the Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021. See the bottom of this page for links to all of these.Prohibited termsIt against the law – and an offence – for a rental provider, or their agent, to include a prohibited term in a rental agreement (lease) [section 26A].Prohibited terms include any that require you to:Pay rent in advance in a way that forces you to pay fees, apart from your usual bank feesUse the services of a third-party service provider (except for an ‘embedded energy network provider’, where power is supplied jointly such as to an apartment block) [section 27B, regulation 11]If a prohibited term is included in a rental agreement it will be ‘void’ and cannot be enforced by the rental provider [section 26A].If the rental provider refuses to remove any prohibited terms you can apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), which can order that a term in your rental agreement is ‘invalid’ [section 28, section 472].For more information see the heading ‘Prohibited terms’ on our page Rental agreements (leases).FYI - in regards to the "early withdrawals" - I saw this on my account setup also.... I literally wrote to RayWhite and stated to please correct the due dates to the same as per my tenancy agreement - so if you're Calendar month falls on the 15th of each month - make sure that your login has the same dates.... I recommend to EVERYONE for now not to buy in on the auto option - select Pay on the Day or whatever it is called... this is fee free BUT BUT BUT - they keep your full bank account details and won't allow you to delete unless you enter a new bank account and BSB....I do not agree with saving my account details with any website or app - pretty sure I have a legal right for that too - I think the site/merchant must allow it to be optional within your account... but I will confirm this also
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SimpleRent.com.au is a cloud-based property management platform that optimises lease and rental payments management. SimpleRent reduces administrative time and costs, whilst driving business growth and better customer satisfaction. It helps property managers create meaningful experiences for their tenants through:
🗸 Fast and easy online lease setup and signing from anywhere
🗸 Fast and easy online lease payment set up for entry, bond and recurring payments
🗸 Automated rent collection (whether entry payment, bond, scheduled rent or water bill) with pre-built communications
🗸 Added customer value by giving shopping discounts for paying rentSee more
