Are you a resident? This article is for landlords. To pay rent or manage your payments, see Stessa Rent Collection for Tenants.
What is the “Bring Your Own Bank” Option?
This option lets you route rent directly to your own external bank account.
Why Use Your Own Bank?
Direct all incoming rent funds directly into your existing operating accounts at most U.S. banks.
Flexibility to use different accounts for different properties or LLCs.
What You’ll Need
U.S.-based checking account.
SSN or EIN.
Mailing address (no PO boxes), phone, and email.
Mobile phone for verification.
Business info if under LLC/company.
How to Set It Up
When creating a new lease for a tenant, you will be provided with the rent collection options. Simply choose to collect and track rent with Stessa and then Connect a new deposit account.
For existing tenants, go to the Rent Collection page and under the Rent Collection column click the pencil icon. From here choose to collect and track rent with Stessa and then Connect a new deposit account.
During setup, you’ll complete an identity verification step, so have the items listed under What You’ll Need ready before you begin.
Payment Processing & Timing:
Funds are deposited directly into your external bank account. The processing time will depend on the payment method that your tenant chooses.
ACH: Up to 5 business days.
Card: Up to 2 business days.
Fees
Landlords: Free.
Residents:
ACH: $2 per transaction
Credit Card: 3% per transaction
Debit Card: 3% per transaction
There are no resident convenience fees for ACH if you use a Stessa Cash Management account to receive rent deposits.
Managing Multiple Leases
You can connect different external deposit accounts or banks to different leases if you like.
This can be helpful for landlords with multiple entities or LLCs.
Security
Banking connections, identity checks, and fraud detection handled by our industry partners.
Neither Stessa, nor residents, can see your full account numbers.
Troubleshooting
Setup didn’t go through
If setup doesn’t complete, try again. It usually goes through on a second attempt. If it still fails, contact our support team and we’ll look into it.
Your rent deposit account is set up through Rent Collection. It’s separate from Connected Accounts, which imports transactions. Reconnecting a bank under Connected Accounts won’t affect rent collection.
My tenant didn’t get the invite email
On the Rent Collection page, turn rent collection off for that lease and then turn it back on. This resends the invite. Ask your tenant to check their spam folder too.
My payout hasn’t arrived
If a payment is stuck in Processing or Pending longer than the timing above, look for a “Payments are disabled” banner on the Rent Collection page. Payouts are paused until it’s resolved. See Fixing the “Payments Are Disabled” Error When Collecting Rent for step-by-step instructions. If you don’t see an error, contact our support team.
FAQ
Do I need a Stessa Cash Management account to bring my own bank account?
No. You can have rent deposited directly into your own external bank account.
Who pays the convenience fees?
When applicable, residents pay the convenience fees. Landlords never pay rent collection fees.
How can I keep resident fees as low as possible?
Use a Stessa Cash Management account. ACH payments into Cash Management are free for residents. Card payments still carry a 3% fee.
Can I switch between Cash Management and external deposit accounts?
Yes. Change deposit method anytime under Lease settings.
Where do I track rent payments?
All payments appear in your Stessa dashboard and reports.