Q: Here
is a question for the digital age. I just received a written notice
from my property manager informing me that from now on, my rent
payments must be made through the PayPal Internet service. I have used
PayPal for services such as Amazon, but wonder if I can be forced to
use it for my rent payments rather than a traditional check. I prefer
to pay by check because a check would be easier for me to trace if
there is a complaint raised about whether I paid my rent on time.
A:
The somewhat complicated rules on forms of rent payment are found in
California Civil Code Section 1962. To begin, the form of rent payment
must be specified in the rental agreement. If you have a lease, a new
method of payment such as Internet payment through a service like
PayPal cannot be added during the term of the lease without your
permission. If you have a month-to-month agreement, a new method of
payment can be added by serving you with a 30-day written change of
terms, if that method is authorized in Section 1962. This statute
includes electronic transfer of funds, but it is unclear whether the
statute allows electronic transfer to an account not connected with a
financial institution.
This statute was last amended in 2001, which means that a financial
institution in 2001 was probably intended to refer to a traditional
bank. We doubt that the Legislature in 2001 even contemplated the
existence of an Internet form of payment such as PayPal. Even if the
statute authorizes electronic transfer through the Internet, there is
still an argument that it is unreasonable to require tenants to use
PayPal as the exclusive means of rental payment. Such a requirement
would be an undue burden on tenants who do not have access to the
Internet or are not eligible for PayPal accounts.
We believe that a landlord's effort to require payment through the
Internet as the exclusive form of payment without an accompanying
procedure that would ensure all tenants could comply is not
enforceable, absent a clearer authorization in Section 1962 to do so.
Rather than risk a notice for failure to pay rent based on a complex
legal analysis, contacting the landlord through a mediation program
would be a safer method to resolve this issue.
©2009 by Project Sentinel, a referral and
mediation service. Send questions to Project Sentinel, 1055
Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road, Suite No. 3, Sunnyvale, CA 94087, or call
(888) 324-7468. To find the fair housing agency serving the area where
you live or have property, call the Housing Discrimination Hotline,
(415) 468-7464.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/01/REEF18BLEL.DTL#ixzz0N8mQh3Qj
FAIR USE NOTICE. This document may contain copyrighted material the use of which may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Tenants Together is making this article available on our website in an effort to advance the understanding of tenant rights issues in California. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.