Paying rent may be less of a hassle if Isla Vista landlords choose to make use of a new Web site designed to alleviate monthly payment problems.

Payyourrent.com is a nationwide online portal that offers money payment solutions to both tenants and landlords. By creating a free account through payyourrent.com, landlords can bill tenants and tenants can pay rent online with a credit card. However, due to service charges, some local residents and landlords are skeptical of the proposal.

According to Payrent CEO Kevin Eberly, the service is better than other online payment plans because it is fast, efficient and organized.

“With services like bill pay, there is a lot of delay, and you would lose the efficiency of making online electric payment,” Eberly said. “It’s a great way to avoid late fees and property managers and tenants can track all payments through the internet portal.”

According to Eberly, payyourrent.com is a safe and secure Web site. The Web site is also audited by truste.org in order to protect personal information of the clients.

“Security is our top priority,” Eberly said. “We are audited weekly by PCI compliance weekly, and our security certificate is higher than the industry standard.”

However, Isla Vista landlord Felipe Garcia, who oversees Studio Plaza Apartments, said he is not convinced by the security promises.

“It is too risky, sharing information online,” Garcia said. “Having money online represents a percentage of risk of having
information stolen.”

Although creating a user profile and using the site service is free, there is a $3.95 maximum fee per transaction made. The fee can be paid either by the manager or passed on to the tenant if the manager of the property chooses.

Kevin Chavarria, a fourth-year psychology and Spanish double major, believes the service is helpful, but said he would not want to pay the fee for every check he sends.

“I definitely would use this service if my landlord used the service,” Chavarria said. “It is fast and safe. … But I wouldn’t pay a four dollar fee.”

While the $3.95 fee is reduced per number of units owned by the manager, Garcia said he thinks that the overall cost is still too much. Assuming a fee of $2.50 per transactions, Garcia calculated having to spend $4,000 per year for the service.

“I would rather put in new bathrooms in three units for that amount of money,” Garcia said. “I know it is very 21st century, but my system is what has worked for me for the last 10 years.”

Despite the service charge, Eberly said the Web site could significantly benefit residents by allowing tenants to send online maintenance requests to their landlord, access the best prices for utilities locally and submit rental applications.

“The residents don’t have to go to multiple sites to get their questions answered; they have everything right there,” he said.

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