Posted by John Butler on June 08, 2000 at 11:48:37:
According to the documentation of the software, many banks have now moved to OCR for the numbers at the bottom of the checks, so the magnetic toner is not an issue. I have been using normal toner for all of my checks and have had no problems. They do have to manually enter my check information at Home depot though b/c it is not magnetic. I do not think an inkjet would be a problem. Also, FYI, there is no per draft charge since you are printing the checks yourself(other than the obvious cost of check stock).
I’m a very busy person these days and I don’t feel like hasseling with checks in the mail. Some of my tenant/buyers actually want electronic debitting of their accounts and I am thinking about offering incentives to do so.
Generally, what is my cost for using such a service and which services are recommended?
Also, if there are any investors in San Marcos, TX, please give me a call (877) 926-2224 or drop an e-mail. I have a deal to discuss.
Mr. Landlord has a couple of items you may want to check out. I just ran across them at the site so I cannot give you feedback on them. They have FAQs and will e-mail you the info with no obligation if interested.
I looked into a few of the services that provide automatic debiting, and found out that many of them end up printing a “draft check” and then depositing it or having you deposit it. I searched around some more and found a software package at Office Depot called VersaCheck Web Commerce that allows me to do what the services are charging per draft for. I simply get a check authorization form filled out by the tenant with a voided check and then print my own rent check from their account on the due date. No playing the wait and see game with the mail, no envelopes to address, no stamps to buy. I give my residents a $25 monthly discount for signing up for my “bank draft program.” The only catch is that many of my tenants do not have checking accounts and pay by money order. I like the extra $25 from them too ;). I pitch it to many of them that they should open one of those “really free” checking accounts and only use it for the rent to get the $25 discount. It has worked pretty well for me so far.
Will that work with an inkjet printer? I got a “check printing” program once tht said it needed a laser printer so the ink would be readable magnetically. (Specifically the acct & routing numbers at the bottom)