Hacker News Reader

Comment by carlmr | Hacker News Reader

>Most landlords don't even allow their rent to be paid online.

I felt like I traveled back to 1990 when I moved to Canada. In Germany I've never paid anything with cheque. We've always had free wire transfers. Online or offline is not visible even to the landlord.

When I found out this doesn't work with Canadian banks I was flabbergasted.

I moved back 10 years ago. Is this still the case in US/CAN?

View on HN

When I moved to Canada last year, no landlords I talked to took cheques, thankfully. They all required E-transfer, which is free, and near instant. This is in Toronto.

e-transfer is not always free; it's often included in your monthly plan or capped or fee per use. Banks / plans vary wildly

The US banking system will never fail to underwhelm I guess.

Almost all of the banks include it for free at this point on all but the most basic plans.

It depends, really. My first apartment was in a three unit building managed by a small management company. We mailed checks.

My next apartment was a condo we rented directly from the owners. We paid by bank transfer.

Then the third place I rented years later after moving across country was managed by a large management firm and they had an online portal with rental payment, maintenance tickets, and all that. We weren't in large building, it was a townhouse, but they had properties all over the region they managed.

For what it's worth, my last several landlords in Canada have accepted Interac E-Transfers (free instant domestic transfers up to $3000) for rent instead of post-dated cheques when I asked, and many of my friends say they do the same thing.

I've only rented in America once, but in that case the property management company had their own online system that accepted (slow non-instant) bank transfers or (with a surcharge) credit cards.

US: My landlords accept checks and money orders, I have my banks bill pay service send my landlord a check every month, so I never actually have to mail or write a check myself.

Covid might have changed things? A few months ago my landlord declared that cheques and cash were now forbidden.

> I felt like I traveled back to 1990 when I moved to Canada. In Germany I've never paid anything with cheque.

I’m sure the reich likes the nationalism but that sort of flame bait isn’t allowed on HN

Reply on news.ycombinator.com