Set up ACH Payments as a Tenant in STRATAFOLIO

Using ACH (Automated Clearing House) for rent payments offers a safer, faster, and more convenient option than paying by check or cash. ACH payments are processed electronically, reducing the risk of lost or stolen checks and eliminating the inconvenience of making in-person payments.

When you set up autopay to cover your full invoice balance, you’ll enjoy a hands-free automated service that guarantees timely payments. By using autopay this way, you will never have to deal with a late payment fee, ensuring you always pay the correct amount, even when rent escalations take effect, which results in a positive payment history.

Finally, ACH transactions provide clear digital records for both you and your landlord. Overall, ACH payments offer enhanced security, efficiency, automation, and reliability.

NOTE: STRATAFOLIO does not update information in real time. After adding a bank account, a lease, or other ACH-related information, refresh the page to see the latest status.

How Landlords Should Guide Tenants Through ACH Setup

As a landlord or property manager, the easiest way to ensure tenants set up ACH payments correctly is to direct them to this knowledge base article.

This article is written specifically for tenants and walks through the full ACH setup process step by step, including entering bank details, verifying accounts, and understanding how payments are processed.

By sharing this article with your tenants, you can:

• Reduce back-and-forth questions during setup
• Ensure ACH information is entered accurately
• Help tenants complete setup faster and with confidence

Tenants should follow the instructions in this article directly when enabling ACH payments in STRATAFOLIO.

How To Set Up Payment as a Tenant

Once your landlord/property owner completes their setup process, you will be invited to the Tenant Portal to set up your ACH Payments. For our US-based customers, the Tenant payment option allows one-time or recurring ACH payments.

NOTE: Your landlord/owner must generate an invoice before you can initiate a payment.

1. Accept the Invitation to Your Tenant Portal

You have 24 hours from when your landlord/owner invites you to your tenant portal to accept the invitation. You will receive an email invitation from STRATAFOLIO. This is what your portal will look like when you first log in:

2. Complete ACH Payment Setup

First, you will complete the ACH Payment Setup. To do this, click on the ACH Payment Setup tab and click Set Up ACH Account.

NOTE: The tenant contact who sets up the ACH integration is the only person who can view and edit it. For security reasons, other tenant contacts on your account cannot see that integration, even if they work for the same company. If two different contacts each set up an ACH integration, each one can only see their own.

Fill out the requested information. Read the terms and conditions, and click the box and the Agree and Continue button to continue.

3. Add a Bank Account

The next step is to add a bank account. STRATAFOLIO uses Plaid to make the setup safe. Click Add a Bank Account button and complete the steps as follows:

NOTE: You can find the Add a Bank Account button in two locations: the ACH Payment setup tab or the Bank Account tab within the payment integration.

WARNING: When searching for your lending institution, ensure you select the correct link. Many institutions have separate links for personal and business accounts. If you select the personal account link instead of the business account link, the bank may reject your account. It is important to double-check before proceeding to avoid delays in the setup process.

If you cannot find your lending institution on the list or through the search function, you can still link it manually using your account numbers by scrolling to the very bottom of the pop-up.

To add the accounts manually, you’ll need to:

• Provide the account number, routing number, and the first and last name of the account holder listed on the account you’ll be using.
• After you verify and approve your account numbers, you’ll receive a $0.01 microdeposit within a few days. It is crucial to verify your account promptly since the system will automatically remove the microdeposits if the account is not verified within a few days.
• Once you receive the microdeposit, which will include a short verification code at the beginning, you must return to STRATAFOLIO to verify your account. There, you will need to enter the verification code on the deposit. Click on the Pending Manual Verification button on the bank account on your screen and enter the code. If the code matches, your account will be verified and activated.
• Once you submit the verification, your Bank Account Status will briefly show as Manually Verified. This means your entry was accepted, but STRATAFOLIO does not display account data in real time, so the final result may take a moment to appear. Refresh the page after a short wait to see the updated status.

If you set up your bank account correctly, it will look similar to the image below:

NOTE: If your transactions will be $50,000 (including applicable fees) or less, then you can skip the next step, Verify Your Account.

4. Verify Your Account

If your payment is between $50,000 and $100,000 (including fees), you will be required to upgrade your ACH account to Premium.

Click on the Details button to begin the verification process.

Then, click Upgrade to Premium.

Complete the requested information.

5. Selecting Payment Type: Autopay or One-Time Payment

To set up AUTOPAY, select the + Add Autopay button on the ACH Payment Setup tab.

The Autopay form will open. Complete the following required fields:

• Bank Account. Select the bank account you want to withdraw payments from.
• Autopay Activation Date. This is the date your autopay schedule becomes active. The activation date must be at least one day before your initial Recurring Withdrawal Day. If you activate autopay on the same day the withdrawal is scheduled to start, payments will begin the following month. You can still make a one-time payment at any time.
• Recurring Withdrawal Day. This is the day of the month your payment will be withdrawn from your bank account.

Select Save Autopay Schedule to finish.

To set up a ONE-TIME PAYMENT, select the + Make Payment button on the Leases tab.

Follow the steps to set up a one-time payment.

You can see a historical view of all your one-time payments on the Payments tab.

How to Add a New Bank Account

1. Log back in to the Tenant Portal.
2. Select the ACH Payment Setup tab.
3. Select Add a Bank Account and follow the prompts to connect your account through Plaid or add it manually.

How to Remove a Bank Account

1. Log in to the Tenant Portal.
2. Select the ACH Payment Setup tab.
3. Select Details.
4. Select the Bank Accounts tab.
5. Select the trash can icon next to the account you want to remove.
6. Type REMOVE in the confirmation window, then confirm to complete the removal.

Before you remove a bank account, keep the following in mind:

• You cannot remove a bank account that is currently set up for autopay. Stop autopay, then try again.
• You cannot remove a bank account that has a payment currently scheduled against it. Cancel or complete the scheduled payment before removing the account.
• If you remove an account while it still has pending transactions, those transactions may fail. This can lead to an NSF (non-sufficient funds) situation, and your landlord may charge you an NSF fee or a late fee as a result. To avoid this, wait until all pending transactions have finished processing before you remove the account.

NOTE: Only the tenant who created the ACH integration can view it, edit it, or add and remove bank accounts. Other contacts will not see that integration when they sign in to the Tenant Portal.

How Much Will ACH Cost Me

There may be fees for making ACH payments. Please ask your landlord for more information if you are unsure of the fees.

How to Stop Future ACH Payments as a Tenant

There may be situations where you will no longer be processing payments through STRATAFOLIO’s ACH integration. For example, payments may be handled outside the system, or issues with autopay limits may require ACH to be disabled. In these cases, you can stop ACH autopay to ensure no future payments are made through STRATAFOLIO.

NOTE: You can stop your own autopay at any time from your Tenant Portal. Your landlord or property manager can also disconnect your autopay from their side, for example when you move out or switch to paying outside STRATAFOLIO. If autopay is disconnected by either of you, it will not turn back on by itself. You will need to set it up again if you want automatic payments to resume.

Stopping ACH Autopay

To prevent future ACH payments from being processed, disconnect your autopay in the Tenant Portal.

Steps to Disconnect Autopay:

1. Log in to the Tenant Portal.
2. Select the Leases tab.
3. Find the lease with the active autopay record, then select Disconnect Autopay.
4. Read the confirmation window. It explains that your automatic payments will stop and that you will need to set up autopay again to resume.
5. Type YES to confirm.

Once disconnected, STRATAFOLIO will not run ACH autopay for future invoices on that lease. You can still make one-time ACH payments at any time, but recurring payments will no longer process automatically.

TIP: If you have more than one lease with autopay, disconnect autopay on each lease you want to stop.

Troubleshooting ACH Issues as a Tenant

Sometimes an ACH payment may fail or not process as expected. Here are common issues and solutions:

• Autopay Limit Too Low
  • If the tenant’s maximum autopay limit is less than the invoice balance, the system will not process the payment.
  • Example: If an invoice totals $6,066.84 and the autopay limit is $3,033.42, STRATAFOLIO will not process the payment.
  • Solution: The tenant must either increase their limit or make a one-time payment to cover the full amount.
• Invoice Not Finalized
  • Autopay only processes finalized invoices. If an invoice is still pending, the system will skip it.
  • Solution: Ensure invoices are finalized in STRATAFOLIO before the autopay date.
• Timing of Invoice vs. Autopay Date
  • If an invoice date is later than the scheduled autopay date, the payment will not run.
  • Solution: Verify that invoice dates align with autopay schedules.
• Pending Transfers
  • If an ACH transfer is already pending (e.g., expedited processing), it will continue unless stopped by the bank.
  • Solution: Contact your bank to cancel a pending ACH transfer.
• Bank Account Removed by Dwolla
  • If your bank account is removed by Dwolla, STRATAFOLIO will immediately send you an email alert. You will also receive an alert each time your autopay attempts to run while your account is still in removed status, since those payments will not go through.
  • Solution: Log in to your Tenant Portal and add a new bank account under the ACH Payment Setup tab. Once your new account is verified, update your autopay to use the new account so future payments can process normally.
• Landlord’s Payment Integration Is Unavailable
  • If your landlord’s payment integration is unable to accept payments, you will receive an email alert that your payment attempt did not go through. This is not an issue with your bank account.
  • Solution: Contact your landlord directly. They will need to resolve the issue on their end before you can make a payment through STRATAFOLIO. You will not be able to complete a payment until the landlord’s integration is resolved.
• Verification Document Not Accepted
  • STRATAFOLIO does not see or review the documents you upload for ACH identity verification. These documents go directly to Dwolla, STRATAFOLIO’s payment processing partner, so STRATAFOLIO has no visibility into a document’s content and cannot tell you why it was not accepted.
  • Solution: Before you submit a document, check it carefully. Confirm that all the information on it, such as your name and business name, matches what you entered during setup. Make sure the image is clear, not blurry, and shows the full document. If your document is still not accepted after you review it, submit a support ticket to STRATAFOLIO and include the name of the Entity you are applying verification for. The STRATAFOLIO team can look into Dwolla to check the status of your documents.
• Permissions Message When Viewing Your ACH Setup
  • If you see a permissions message when you open ACH Payment Setup, you are most likely signed in as a different tenant contact than the one who created the ACH integration. ACH banking details are protected at the individual user level, so each contact can only view and edit the integration they set up. Your ACH setup and bank account are usually still in place.
  • Example: Contact A sets up ACH and connects the company bank account. Later, Contact B signs in to the Tenant Portal and opens ACH Payment Setup. Contact B sees a permissions message because the integration belongs to Contact A. If Contact B creates a separate ACH integration, Contact A cannot see that one either.
  • Solution: Do not remove the bank account or create a new ACH integration. Instead, follow these steps: