this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2024
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Is it normal to pay cash for rent in the US? I've always done it by bank transfer, set up to pay automatically on the agreed date..
Seems like a great way to perform tax fraud.
Years ago you needed to send them a check every month. You also mostly got paid with a monthly check.
For some (historic) reason bank transfers are very underutilized in America. I think it gets better though? I don't know am not 'murican.
My guess is that forcing you to withdraw cash or write checks is more profitable for one of the most under-regulated industries in the world in one of the most under-regulated countries in the world 🤷
Just how backwards do you think we are? I haven't written a check for at least ten years. Everything is electronic now.
Very, very backward
The last time I paid for rent via check was... 12 years ago? And that was for a pretty ghetto apartment. Everything before and after was electronic (some used Paypal, some had a website that accepted bank transfers, and accepted Venmo). I write maybe one check/year these days, and usually for a wedding. This year, I'm back to writing multiple, because my kid's pre-school charges extra for Venmo for some reason.
Greater opportunity, yes; however, cash is still legal tender in the US and it used to be illegal to not accept it as payment (this may have changed). And, as the payer, make sure you get a receipt so they can't screw you and if the landlord doesn't pay taxes, you're not culpable - it's their responsibility, not your's.
Cash is fine. The receipt is important, though, for a number of reasons. Not many people are going to go withdraw $1,100 just to pay rent, unless they're getting a discount for cash, which is a good indication there's some tax dodging going on.
Even if you trade sex for rent, get a receipt saying you paid your rent.
I don't know about rent, but an increasing amount of the retail industry no longer accepts cash.
It’s kinda funny seeing some places that don’t accept cash, and others that charge as high as a 4% fee (that I’ve seen)?for using a credit card.
American here. I have never paid rent in cash to a landlord I had a lease with. Only times I have paid in cash was when I was either living with a friend or giving a roommate my part of the rent. It's possible some people pay in cash, but I would say it is not common.
Same. I might have paid an application fee in cash or something (for background check), but that's really it in the past 15 years. If I was a landlord, I would highly discourage paying in cash, because nobody wants to handle thousands of dollars in cash every month...
I paid for the registration for my car in cash because I didn’t feel like buying checks to write a $25 bill.
MFers apparently charge a fee for cash transactions and never told me. Since I mailed it out and the state of Misery is awful it took 8 months before someone finally told me what I needed to do (send $26) and finally I got my plates.
Wow, that's dumb. My local emissions place charges a 3% "service charge," which is waived if I pay in cash, but since that's pretty close to the rewards I get with my card (2%), I just paid by card since the difference is like $1. I don't remember my DMV charging any fees for credit though (i.e. when I get plates).
If you're buying from a dealership, you could probably go to the DMV directly to get the plates, and maybe they don't charge a fee. Idk though, each state is different, and I've never bought a car at a dealership.
Probably a check. If this was a while ago or a smaller landlord that just doesn't have a fancypants website with a payment portal they probably have to drop a check off at their office each month. I had to do that in the year of our lord two thousand and twenty one before I got my house
Edit to add: the lowish rent definitely supports either reason too. Small towns most businesses have no web presence beyond a Facebook page or maybe some static html made by the local computer place 5-15 years ago that they haven't updated since then because they aren't seeing the value in spending money to update it. It really is like going back in time technologically a good 15 years living in a small town
For almost the first year I lived there I paid rent in person by cheque to a management company office. It was a midtown manhatten apartment in a nice ish building less than a decade ago. They also forgot to cash the bankers draft I had written up for my deposit (five fucking figures that they just didn't notice for years). Real Estate has a surprising number of absolute clowns still for some reason. I guess because it's been easy money for asset owners so they chaff wasn't being squeezed out.