Frequently asked questions
The questions we actually get.
If your question isn't here, email hello@rentcaddie.com — usually a same-day reply.
Pricing & plans
Do I need a credit card to start a trial?+
Yes — a card is required at signup, but you're not charged for 14 days. You can cancel any time before the trial ends with zero charge.
What's included in the $97/mo plan?+
Everything. Unlimited units, all features (rent collection, screening, lease signing, maintenance, accounting, tenant portal, cleaner/inspector workflows, reports), unlimited tenants, unlimited team members. No per-door fees, no tiered upsells.
Can I cancel anytime?+
Yes. Cancel from your dashboard with one click. You keep access until the end of the billing period. No contracts, no penalty.
Do you offer annual billing discounts?+
Annual prepay gets 2 months free ($97 × 10 = $970/yr instead of $1,164). Same cancellation policy — refunded prorata if you cancel.
Is there a setup fee?+
No setup fee. No migration fee. We import your data for free if you give us a spreadsheet or AppFolio read access.
How does the RentCaddie Guarantee work?+
If RentCaddie hasn't saved you at least 12 hours in your first 30 paid days, email hello@rentcaddie.com and we refund the month + pay you $100. One claim per customer. Full details on the Terms page.
Setup & onboarding
How long does setup take?+
About 15 minutes for a fresh workspace. If you're migrating from AppFolio, Buildium, DoorLoop, or a spreadsheet, our team imports your data in roughly a day at no charge.
Do I need to be tech-savvy?+
No. If you can use Gmail, you can use RentCaddie. The onboarding wizard walks you through adding properties, importing tenants, configuring rent collection, and setting up your branded portal.
Can I import data from AppFolio, Buildium, or DoorLoop?+
Yes. Export a tenant CSV or give us temporary read access to your existing platform. We map fields, dedupe, preserve payment history where available, and import lease PDFs as documents. Takes about a day on our side.
What if I'm coming from spreadsheets?+
Easiest migration of all. Send us your sheet — we'll import properties, tenants, leases, and current balances. Most spreadsheet operators are live in under 24 hours.
Can I run this as a side-hustle landlord with 3 doors?+
It works at any size, but it really starts paying for itself around 3+ doors or any co-living configuration. Below that, free tools may be enough — we'll tell you honestly if we don't think you need us yet.
Payments & rent collection
How do my tenants pay?+
ACH (free), debit card (2.9% + 30¢ to the tenant), or credit card (3.5% + 30¢ to the tenant). Autopay enrollment in two clicks. Cash + check tracking is built-in too.
Who holds my money — you or me?+
You. Rent goes from your tenant directly to your bank via Stripe Connect. RentCaddie never touches the funds. If we disappeared tomorrow, your tenants would still be paying you.
When do I get paid out?+
ACH payments hit your account in 2 business days on Stripe's standard schedule. Card payments in 2-3 days. Same as any direct Stripe integration.
What about split rent between roommates?+
Native co-living support. Each roommate has their own lease, their own portal login, their own rent obligation, their own ledger. They each pay their share independently. No more chasing one person for everyone's money.
What happens when a payment bounces?+
Automatic retry logic via Stripe. We notify you + the tenant, allow tenant to fix the payment method, retry up to 3 times. Late fees auto-trigger based on your per-property configuration.
Can I add late fees automatically?+
Yes. Per-template config: flat amount on day N + daily accrual after. Late fees post to the tenant ledger automatically and show on next month's invoice. Per-state caps are surfaced as guardrails, not enforced.
Applications & screening
How do tenants apply?+
Each property has a public application URL on your branded subdomain (yourcompany.rentcaddie.app/apply). Tenants fill out the application, upload IDs and pay stubs, and authorize screening — all on their phone in about 10 minutes.
Who pays the application fee?+
Up to you. You can charge the applicant directly (most operators do, $35-$50) or eat it yourself. The fee covers screening costs.
What credit and background check do you run?+
Soft credit pull (no impact on applicant credit), eviction history, criminal background, employment + income verification, prior landlord references via email follow-up. FCRA-compliant.
Can I require cosigners?+
Yes. Mark an applicant as 'cosigner required' and they get a separate cosigner invite link. Cosigner is screened, signs the lease, and is on the hook for rent.
What if my applicant is self-employed?+
Upload last 2 years of tax returns + 3 months of business bank statements. The screening report flags self-employed income for your review. You decide if it qualifies.
Leases & documents
Do you have lease templates?+
Yes — a Co-living Lease template ships in your workspace. You can customize section-by-section, add custom variables, set per-section initial requirements, and save your own templates. Upload an existing PDF lease as a one-off if you prefer.
Is your e-sign legally binding?+
Yes — ESIGN- and UETA-compliant. PM signs first, tenant signs second, both consent to electronic signing, IP + user agent + geolocation captured on every event, SHA-256 hash of the document, full audit log appended as a Certificate of Completion on the back of the signed PDF. Defensible in court.
Can I upload my own custom lease PDF?+
Yes. Drop a PDF into the approve modal during lease creation, drag signature/date/initial fields onto the right pages, send for signing. You can save it as a reusable template afterward.
Where are signed leases stored?+
In your workspace's documents storage (Supabase Storage, AES-256 encrypted). Tenant gets a copy in their portal automatically. You can download the signed PDF (with certificate of completion) anytime.
How do I amend a lease mid-term?+
Use the Amend Lease flow from the tenant drawer. Pick the amendment type (rent change, term extension, add roommate, parking, utilities, custom), set effective date, send for e-sign. On tenant signature, the lease auto-updates and future rent charges cascade.
What happens at renewal time?+
60 days before lease end, send a renewal offer with your terms (new rate, new dates). Tenant accepts in-portal, signs the renewal addendum, and the new term auto-applies. If they decline, the lease ends naturally or auto-converts to month-to-month (your choice per lease).
Accounting & taxes
Will my accountant understand this?+
Yes. Schedule E-ready chart of accounts: rent income, late fees, deposits, operating expenses (by IRS category), capital expenses with depreciation schedule, per-property P&L. Every number traces back to the underlying ACH deposit or vendor invoice.
Do you sync with QuickBooks?+
QuickBooks CSV export is built in. Direct API sync is on the roadmap. For most owner-operators the CSV monthly is sufficient — fewer moving parts.
How does Schedule E work?+
RentCaddie categorizes every expense to the correct Schedule E line (Advertising, Repairs, Utilities, Insurance, Mortgage Interest, Depreciation, etc.) as you enter them. At year-end, generate the per-property Schedule E PDF, hand it to your CPA, done.
Will I get 1099s for my vendors?+
Automatic 1099 tracking on vendors. We flag vendors who hit the $600 threshold, you confirm their W-9 info, and we generate the 1099-NEC PDFs at year-end. Print and mail.
What about multi-LLC tax tracking?+
Each property has an owner-entity tag. Filter all reports by entity. Property-level P&L rolls up to the LLC level for separate Schedule E submissions.
Can I give my CPA access?+
Yes. Invite them as an Accountant role — read-only access to reports, transactions, and documents. No tenant PII exposed except what's necessary for tax categorization.
For your tenants
What does the tenant portal look like?+
Your brand. Your domain. Your colors. They log into yourcompany.com (or yourcompany.rentcaddie.app) and see your logo on every page. Rent payment, lease access, maintenance requests, document downloads, autopay setup, move-out notice — all branded as you.
Will my tenants get emails from RentCaddie or from me?+
From you. Emails come from noreply@yourcompany.com (or your custom domain on Pro+) with your branding. The word 'RentCaddie' never appears in tenant-facing communications unless you put it there.
Is my tenant's data safe?+
Yes — full details on the Security page. AES-256 at rest, TLS 1.3 in transit, row-level isolation at the database. Tenants only see their own data.
How does autopay work for tenants?+
Tenant goes to the portal, hits 'Enroll in Autopay,' links their bank or card, picks a day of the month. Rent is auto-charged on that day. They can pause or cancel from the portal any time.
What happens when their lease ends?+
60 days out, they get a renewal offer (if you've sent one). If they accept and sign, lease continues. If they decline, they fill out a move-out checklist in-portal, schedule the move-out inspection, and we cancel future rent charges automatically.
Security & data
Is my data encrypted?+
Yes. AES-256 at rest (database, file storage, backups). TLS 1.3 in transit on every connection. Full details on the Security page.
Are you SOC 2 certified?+
Our infrastructure (Supabase, Stripe, Vercel) is SOC 2 Type II certified. Our own SOC 2 audit is on the roadmap as we approach the right scale to make it meaningful.
Can RentCaddie engineers see my tenant data?+
Not by default. Engineers see metadata and aggregated counts. To access raw workspace data (typically to debug something you reported), we require your in-product approval and every break-glass access is logged.
What if RentCaddie goes out of business?+
One-click full export of your workspace to JSON + CSV at any time, no questions asked. We'd give you 90 days' notice + an extended export window. The data is yours; we don't hold it hostage. Rent payments would continue to flow through your Stripe Connect account regardless of what we do.
Can I get a signed DPA?+
Yes. Email legal@rentcaddie.com. Standard DPA follows the EU SCCs (Module Two). 1-2 business day turnaround.
Didn't see your question?
We're a quick email away.
Usually same-day reply. We answer specific questions about your portfolio, your migration, your edge cases — not just FAQ-able stuff.