Posted by Rob FL on March 03, 1999 at 19:13:00:
You will probably get better responses if you post on newsgroup I, this group is designed for real estate course information.
The legality probably depends on the state you live in. Laws tend to vary from state to state.
I will say it might be difficult to get tenants to do this. Many tenants might hesitate to allow you to invade their privacy like this. Also some tenants do not have checking accounts. It is worth a try. You might be willing to give tenants a discount or something if they do it this way. You could just raise your asking rent by $20 and then offer a $20 discount.