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Rent day, minus the awkward texts.

Collect rent by bank transfer, keep every security deposit in its own account, and see who has paid before your coffee cools. Made for people who own a duplex, not a tower.

  • Free for up to 2 units
  • Payouts in 2 business days, or same day on Plus
  • Year-end summary for your tax preparer

Pay rent from your bank for free, split it with roommates, and see your deposit sitting in its own account. Every payment adds to a rent history you can show your next landlord.

  • Bank transfers are always free
  • Split rent with up to 5 roommates
  • 12-month rent history as a PDF
Open accountHow it works

Own 13 or more units, or rent through an LLC? Apply for a business account

Your landlord isn't on Fernholdyet? Open an account and we'll send them a one-page invite.

households paid rent through Fernhold in September
18,940
in rent moved that month
$41.7M
average rating from 2,316 in-app reviews
4.8 / 5
Landlord home screen: November rent, $8,420 collected of $9,150 across 6 units. Two units at 12 Alder Street paid, 48 Pike Avenue due November 5 with a reminder sent, and $6,200 in deposits held for 5 leases.
Tenant home screen: rent of $1,385 due November 1 with autopay on from a checking account, split evenly with a roommate at $692.50 each. October rent paid, a $1,500 security deposit held in the tenant's name, and a faucet repair booked for November 4.

What changes on the 1st

What changes for landlords

Rent arrives without a chase

93%of Fernhold tenants pay by autopay

Tenants get reminders 3 days and 1 day before rent is due, from Fernhold, not from you. Autopay is one tap on their side.

  1. Deposits kept apart

    Every deposit sits in a separate account tied to one lease, with the move-in photo checklist you both signed attached.

  2. Tax season is one download

    Income, fees and repairs sorted by property into a single year-end summary your preparer can read.

  3. Repairs with a paper trail

    Tenants send requests with photos. You reply, book a day and mark it fixed, and the thread stays with the unit.

What changes for tenants

Free by bank, every month

$0to pay rent by bank transfer

Paying from a checking account costs nothing. A debit or credit card works too, for a fee shown before you confirm.

  1. Roommates pay their own share

    Each person links their own bank and pays their part. Your landlord sees one full payment, and nobody fronts the rest.

  2. Your deposit, visible

    See exactly where your deposit is held and the move-in photos you both signed. It can't be moved without your say.

  3. A rent history that travels

    Download 12 months of on-time payments as a PDF for your next application. It's yours, even after you move out.

Three steps, about eleven minutes

That's the median time from opening an account to the first invite going out, measured across 4,112 new landlords this summer.

  1. Step 1: Add a home and invite your tenant

    Type the address, the rent and the due day. We text and email your tenant an invite with your name on it, not ours.

  2. Step 2: Your tenant links a bank and picks a day

    Bank linking is read-only and takes about 40 seconds. They can switch on autopay, or pay by hand each month.

  3. Step 3: Rent lands. The deposit stays put.

    Rent reaches your bank in 2 business days. Deposits go to a separate account and stay there until you both agree on the return.

Fees you could explain to your accountant

Landlords pick a plan. Tenants never pay a monthly fee.

Yearly: about 2 months free

Showing monthly prices.

  • Starter

    1 or 2 units

    $0/month

    Free while you have 2 units or fewer

    • Bank transfers at no cost to anyone
    • Reminders, receipts and late-fee rules
    • One deposit account per lease
    • Payouts in 2 business days
    Open account

  • Plus

    Most landlords pick this

    3 to 12 units

    $14/month

    Billed monthly, cancel any time

    • Everything in Starter
    • Same-day payouts when rent clears by 2pm ET
    • Year-end summary by property
    • Repairs inbox with photos
    • Co-owner access for one partner
    Open account

  • Business

    13 to 150 units, LLCs welcome

    $2.40/unit/month

    Billed monthly on active units

    • Everything in Plus
    • Separate bank accounts per property
    • Read-only access for your bookkeeper
    • Phone support from a named person
    Apply for a business account
See every fee, including the ones we don't charge

Where your money sits, in plain words

Fernhold writes the software. A licensed payment partner holds the money. Here's what that means on an ordinary day and on a bad one.

  1. Tenant's bank
  2. Harrowgate Payment TrustCustodial account, held for you
  3. Landlord's bankDeposit account, one per lease
Where is the money while it moves?
In a custodial account at Harrowgate Payment Trust Co., our licensed payment partner. It is never on Fernhold's own balance sheet and we can't lend it or invest it.
What if Fernhold closed tomorrow?
Money at Harrowgate is held for you, so Fernhold's creditors have no claim on it. Harrowgate would send every balance to the bank account on file within 10 business days.
What if a rent payment bounces?
We tell both of you within one business day. Tenants never pay us a returned-payment fee, and nothing is taken back from a landlord without written notice first.
What if we disagree about the deposit?
Neither side can move a deposit alone. A release needs both taps, or a decision from an independent mediator on our panel within 21 days.
Who can see my bank login?
Nobody at Fernhold. Bank linking uses a read-only connection, and we store a token, never your username or password.
Read how we protect accounts

From people with one front door to forty

Last winter I chased three late payments by text and felt like a debt collector. Since March, all 3 of my units have paid on the 1st or the 2nd. The reminder at 3 days out does the nagging for me.
Dolores Ferreira-HahnOwns a triplex in Dayton, OhioLandlord · 3 units
“My roommate and I each pay $812.50 and our landlord sees one payment. When I moved out, my $1,600 deposit came back in 6 days with the photo checklist we'd both signed.”
Kwame Osei · Tenant · 2 yearsRenter in Tacoma, Washington
“My bookkeeper used to rebuild the rent roll every April. Now she downloads the year-end summary and we're done by lunch.”
June Taliaferro · Landlord · Plus14 units across 4 buildings in Asheville, North Carolina
“I attached the 12-month rent history to an apartment application. They approved me the same afternoon.”
Raúl Iturbe · Tenant · 14 monthsRenter in Albuquerque, New Mexico
median time from tenant payment to landlord's bank
2.1 days
median deposit return after both sides agree
6 days
median wait for a person in in-app chat last quarter
37 sec

Before you switch

Still unsure? Write to us and a person replies, usually within the hour.

help@fernhold.example(303) 555-0147 · Mon to Sat, 8am to 8pm Mountain

Rent day lives in your pocket

Reminders, receipts and the deposit view on your phone, protected by face or fingerprint sign-in, with a quiet notification when money moves.

Opening an account takes about 4 minutes. You'll need a US bank account and a photo ID.