Avenue Living Communities is making it more convenient for residents to pay their rent.
The Calgary-based company, with about 10,000 residential rental units across 19 markets in Western Canada, has introduced both weekly and semi-monthly payment options for residents who may need to better budget their finances during the challenges brought on by the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
“We felt it was a good time to provide flexible options, given that many people that we serve, particularly the workforce housing demographic, are going from the consistency of a pay cheque to a ‘wait and see’ zone with an EI application or a government funding application,” said Louise Elsey, Chief Operating Officer for Avenue Living.
“We wanted to give our residents the ability to take a bite-size chunk approach to their rental payments, because everyone’s going to be under pressure as they look to ways to provide for themselves and their family during these difficult times. When you’re looking at your budget, you may not be able to look a full month out or a few months out. But if people are in a position to break it down into smaller denominations within a weekly landscape, we thought it would be a useful tool for many of our residents,” added Elsey.
It is rare in the residential rental real estate industry that landlords have ever permitted residents in their properties to pay rent on a weekly basis, mostly because of the administrative work that would be involved.
Avenue Living has also introduced other options to make payments convenient, simpler and more efficient. Prairie Relief Team members are able to process payments via Moneris Gateway by taking credit card details over the phone.
“If someone was looking before to pay with a debit card or a credit card, they would have had to meet with one of our staff and use the physical payment terminal,” said Elsey. “What we now have is an online portal where they can give their payment information over the phone and we can enter that and it will go straight onto their credit card,” stated Elsey.
“We’ve been accepting rent by e-transfer for the last couple of months, and it has been tremendously well-received with our residents from the convenience point of view. In the midst of this pandemic, with people looking for non-contact options, we were leaders in coming up with solutions well ahead of time,” added Elsey.
Currently, Avenue Living accepts payments made by:
- Cheque
- Credit and debit card in its offices
- Credit card, Visa and Mastercard debit cards over the phone
- E-transfer via online banking
- Money order
Residents can contact Avenue Living at [email protected] with questions or concerns.
