Bilt Rent Payment Changes: What You Need to Know

Bilt recently announced some important changes to its BillPay feature that could affect how you pay your rent. To avoid any hiccups, here's a straightforward breakdown of what's happening and who needs to take action:

What's Changing?

Bilt is updating its rent payment system to make it more seamless, secure, and capable of adding cool new features later this year, like mortgage rewards.

Do You Need to Take Action?

You need to make changes if:

You live in a property outside of the Bilt network and pay rent via ACH (direct bank transfer).

You don’t need to do anything if:

You live in a building within the Bilt network.

You pay rent by check.

You recently joined Bilt after their new payment backend launched (you'll receive a separate email confirming this).

Steps to Update Your Payment (if required):

Authorize Rent in the Bilt App: Choose your rent amount and payment method (use your Bilt Mastercard to avoid fees or another card to double-dip rewards).

Note: The first time you do this, you'll get new routing and account numbers from Bilt.

Update Your Property’s Payment Portal: Enter these new routing and account numbers in your landlord’s payment system. This only needs to happen once, but it must be completed by April 29, 2025.

Pay Rent Normally: After updating, pay rent through your property’s portal each month within 5 days after authorizing it on the Bilt app.

What About Autopay?

Initially, this change made it seem you'd have to manually authorize your rent each month. Good news—starting the week of March 24, you can again set your rent payments to automatically authorize, keeping the autopay convenience you've always enjoyed.

FAQs and Potential Issues:

1. What if my rent includes utilities and changes monthly?

You can authorize payments for up to 110% of your base rent. If utilities push your bill higher than this, you'll receive an immediate notification to adjust your payment.

2. What happens if I miss updating my payment details?

Bilt will send several reminders before the April 29 deadline. If missed, you'll be alerted to update your information. Bilt promises support if late fees arise due to this transition.

3. Could this affect my credit score?

Bilt continues to report only on-time rent payments for credit-boosting purposes. Your credit won't be negatively affected if payments are delayed during this transition.

Quick Example:

If your rent is usually $1,250/month, auto-authorization allows payment up to $1,375. If your utility bills push the total over this amount, the payment won't go through, and you'll be notified immediately. You'd then need to adjust and resubmit the payment.

Bottom Line:

Keep an eye out for emails from Bilt, make the necessary updates by April 29, and double-check monthly to ensure everything processes smoothly, especially if your utilities vary.

Stay informed, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions!