Rent reminder app: send automatic reminders so tenants pay on time

Record what rent is due each month and let the app send polite reminders to tenants, so you stop chasing payments one by one.

Who it's for

You rent out a few flats in Benoni and a garden cottage behind your own house, and you look after a unit or two for family. There is no office. You do the leases, the bank app and the plumber calls yourself, with a caretaker who handles keys and complaints. The problem bites on the third of the month, when you sit with your bank statement on one side and your tenant list on the other, trying to work out who has actually paid.

The problem today

Right now it lives in a spreadsheet and my head. On the first I go through WhatsApp and type the same message to each tenant, rent is due, here are my banking details. Some pay the same day. Some send a proof of payment screenshot that I never match to the statement. Then I forget who paid short last month, so when I finally ask they tell me they settled it and I cannot prove otherwise. The ones who always pay late get reminded late, because by the fifth I am busy with a burst geyser and not with my spreadsheet. I lose a full morning every month on messages, and I still end up carrying someone's arrears without noticing.

What the app does, screen by screen

1. Rent board for this month — The owner opens this first to see every unit at a glance, who has paid, who is short and who is behind.
2. Unit and tenant page — The owner captures the property, the unit, the tenant in it, the rent amount, the due day and the lease dates, and the caretaker can look up who lives where.
3. Reminder settings — The owner decides when reminders go out before and after the due day and what the message says, so the app does the asking instead of the owner.
4. Record a payment — The owner or bookkeeper marks money received against a tenant's rent for that month and attaches the proof of payment, so nothing is settled on memory.
5. My statement — The tenant signs in to see only their own rent, what they have paid, what is outstanding, their payment reference and a WhatsApp button to message the landlord.
6. Arrears list — The owner sees only the tenants who are behind and how far behind they are, so a hard conversation happens early instead of three months late.

Who uses it and what it keeps track of

• Properties and units — Address, unit name or number, type of unit, whether it is occupied, and any notes about keys or parking. The owner and the caretaker can see this.
• Tenants and leases — Name, cellphone number, email, lease start and end, rent amount, the day rent is due, deposit held and the unit they occupy. The owner sees all of it, the caretaker sees name and unit only, and a tenant sees their own lease.
• Monthly rent charges — The month, the tenant, the amount due, what has been paid against it and whether it is settled, short or overdue. Only the owner and the tenant it belongs to.
• Payments received — Date the money came in, amount, which month it covers, the payment reference and the proof of payment the tenant sent. Owner only, with the tenant able to see their own receipts.
• Reminder history — Which tenant was reminded, when, and what the message said. Owner only, so there is a record when a tenant says nobody told them.

What it changes for the business

The first of the month stops being a morning of typing. Reminders go out on time to everyone, including the tenants you would have got to last, so fewer payments drift late. Proof of payment sits against the right month instead of scrolling away in a chat, so arrears are caught while they are still one month and not a court matter. When you do have to stand in front of the Rental Housing Tribunal, you have a clean record of what was charged, what was paid and when each tenant was asked. Your caretaker can answer who lives in which unit without phoning you.

The one decision that matters

The one decision is whether tenants pay inside the app with a card, or keep paying by EFT while the app only records it. A pay button looks neater, but your tenants already EFT into your account, card fees come straight off your rent, and you still have to match the money on your statement. Go with EFT for now. Give every tenant a fixed payment reference, put your banking details in the reminder message and in their statement screen, and make recording a payment a two tap job for you. You can add a pay link later for the tenants who ask for it, without changing how the rest pay.

What to build first, and what can wait

Build units, tenants, the monthly rent charge, automatic reminders, recording a payment and the tenant's own statement. That alone ends the chasing. Leave the maintenance log, lease documents, deposit interest, utility and prepaid electricity recovery and annual escalation for later, once you trust the rent side. If you build everything at once you will not capture your leases properly, and an app with no leases in it reminds nobody.

How BooDoo builds it

You describe the app in plain words and BooDoo builds it, with a real database and sign in behind it so the owner, the caretaker and each tenant land on different screens and a tenant only ever sees their own rent. The same request gives you a website on its own live address and an Android app you can put on Google Play under your own account, with your own domain connected if you want one. Messaging is added through a ready integration so reminders go out on their own, with WhatsApp buttons that open a chat with you. Change the reminder wording later by describing the change.

How you'll know it works

On the third of the month you open the app, most units already show paid, and you have not typed a single message asking anyone whether they have paid.

Build it

Paste this in and it gets built.

Build me an app for my rental units. I want to load each property and unit, the tenant in it, their rent amount, the day it is due and their lease dates. On the first of every month the app must create that month's rent charge for each tenant and send a polite reminder by WhatsApp and SMS with their own payment reference and my banking details, then follow up a few days later if I have not marked it as paid. I need one screen where I see who has paid, who is short and who is behind. When money lands in my account I mark the payment, attach the proof of payment and the tenant gets a receipt. Each tenant signs in and sees only their own statement, with a WhatsApp button to message me about a leak or a late payment. My caretaker must see tenants and units but no money.