In this day and age it surprises me that there are people out there that are paying their rent with cash or wiring money. There are several issues with this from a renter and owner point of view.
As a renter, if you plan on handing someone cash for your first month's rent and deposit, make sure you get a receipt, have a lease, and are handing it to a reputable Property Management company. I have heard numerous stories where a tenant sees a house, hands some 'guy' cash as a deposit (upwards of $1500), then they leave thinking that they have secured the house. Just so happens that this 'guy' doesn't own the house and isn't contracted by the owner to rent it. How did he get in, who knows... maybe he is maintenance and knows the lock box code. Maybe he broke in the back window before you showed up to view the house. Either way, even if this 'guy' gives you a receipt you probably aren't going to be able to track him down.
And then there is the infamous craigslist owners that really don't own anything but hijack rentals and advertise them at extremely low prices. When a prospective renter calls them, they tell you to drive by (because they are not in town to show it) look in the windows and if you like it wire them a specific amount of money to hold the property until they are back in town. Really???
There are solutions out there for people that would still like to pay in cash but want the security of going through a reputable business. Paynearme.com is one of these businesses. Owners can setup a payment slip and the tenants can take that slip to 7-11 and pay in cash, they get a receipt, and there are multiple businesses that stand behind the fact that money was received.
Owners, why accept something that can't be really tracked? If its for tax purposes you better look into something called Fair Rental Price. Below is the definition from the IRS. Using payment options that aren't trackable sometimes looks good on the surface, but you may just be asking for an audit. If you property is worth $1000 as fair market rent but you are only renting it for $700 cash or are claiming that its not rented, well, they'll figure it out eventually. Good Luck!
Fair rental price. A fair rental price for your property generally is the amount of rent that a person who is not related to you would be willing to pay. The rent you charge is not a fair rental price if it is substantially less than the rents charged for other properties that are similar to your property in your area.
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