If you rent an apartment, you are probably wondering whether you will receive an invoice or bill each month prompting you to pay. However, in the United States, it is not customary for apartments to send invoices to renters.
It is the renter’s job to know that rent is due per the lease contract, usually the 1st of the month.
Do Landlords or Property Managers Usually Issue Invoices for Rent?
No, you typically do not get an invoice for your apartment rent. If you’ve never lived in an apartment before, it can be confusing, because most people are used to receiving invoices for things like utilities and other items.
Why Do You Not Receive an Invoice For Your Apartment Rent?
When you sign a lease, it is an agreement between you and the landlord to pay a certain rental amount every month for a specified period of time. Therefore, it is your responsibility to adhere to the lease and remember to pay the rent.
Having said that, you may get, but are typically not entitled to, friendly reminders of rent or late notices. It is important to note, however, that these are different from invoices.
Some apartments can also offer you the option to pay your rent online through a recurring payment system, so you set up rent payments once and can forget about it.
You might also consider setting a recurring reminder in your calendar or phone so you don’t forget.
What are the Best Ways to Pay Rent?
Most landlords and property managers today will offer the flexibility of online rental payments and monthly checks.
Before you sign the lease, check with the property management company about rental payments and what is expected of you, so you are not caught surprised later.
Once you pay, you are typically paying rent for the month ahead (i.e. payment on July 1 would cover payment from July 1 to July 31).
Can I Get an Invoice If I Ask?
Generally, most apartment complexes are not set up to do this. Having said that, if you sign up with the landlord’s online rent payment system, you can usually set it up to get an automated email that may contain the amount due. In this case, as a workaround, you may be able to get a rent invoice (really just a statement or reminder) each month sent to you via the online rent payment system. Don’t count on this though.
If you’re afraid you will forget to pay rent, set up an automatic reminder in your calendar. You want to pay on time to avoid late fees.
Renting can come with several questions. This should answer your question about invoices for your rental payments.
