RoxanneYour rent is late. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time it’s happened, so you’re landlord has just about had it. What are your options before you get that eviction letter and end up on the streets?
You could call up friends or family and ask for a loan, but that may be a bit embarrassing. You could get a personal loan, but that may end up being more of a hassle than it’s worth. You could sell some of your stuff, but that can take a while and leave you short-handed. Or you could whip out your credit card and use that to pay your landlord instead.
Yes, paying the rent with your credit card is a thing. And even though you may not want to do it every single month, using your card can come in handy when times are tough.
If you’ve never done it before, we’ll show you how to use your card to pay the rent, plus the benefits and risks that come with it.
Ways To Pay With Your Credit Card
Your landlord may be willing to take a credit card payment if you have no other means at the moment. Ask them first. If they say yes to the card, here are some potential options to process your payment if the landlord doesn’t have one set up already:
1. RentMoola
Transaction fees: 2.99% credit, $3.99 debit
Landlord receives a direct deposit.
2. RadPad
Transaction fees: 2.99% credit, $4.95 debit
Landlord receives a check.
3. Place
Transaction fees: 2.99% credit, 2.99% debit
Landlord receives a direct deposit.
4. Plastiq
Transaction fees: 2.5% credit, 1% debit
Landlord receives a check, wire transfer, or ACH transfer.
5. Venmo
Transaction fees: 3% credit, free debit
Landlord receives payment directly via Venmo.
The Good and Bad of Paying Rent With Credit
As you can see, there are various ways to process credit card payments, so your landlord gets paid. But how does making this move affect you? Here are the good and bad aspects of using credit for your rent payment:
The Good:
- You can pay your landlord quickly if you don’t have the actual funds to do so.
- You can build credit history to clean up your finances.
- You can earn sign-up bonuses if you use a new credit card.
- You can earn rewards points for travel discounts or convert them into cash or gift cards.
- You can keep on track by setting up automatic payments.
The Bad:
- You may have a processing error if you exceed your credit limit, the card is expired, etc. This can delay your payment.
- Credit card payments may take a while to process, which could anger your landlord even more.
- Interest can make your rent more expensive if you don’t pay your CC balance each month.
- You could find yourself in deep debt by using too much credit.
- Processing fees increase the cost of rent.
