Client money security is a non-negotiable condition of doing business for rental agents. The 2022 PayProp State of the Rental Industry Survey identifies safety of client funds as the top priority for rental professionals when choosing a new PropTech platform, with system security a close second. As a result, many PayProp customers use this leading rental payment platform’s bank-grade security features as a selling point when marketing to landlords.
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Prevention is best, but spotting pre-existing fraud works too
PayProp does more than just keep hackers out of your clients’ data – it can also unmask fraudsters whose actions went unnoticed before. Here is how M, the owner of a Western Cape rental agency managing around 250 homes, found his office culprit through PayProp’s step-by-step monitoring of system user actions and transactions. Due to the sensitive nature of his story, we are keeping him anonymous throughout.
"How we worked is that my agents would be given a property to rent out. They would advertise it, get the rental agreement and bring that back to the office. The deposit gets paid over to me, and then every month the agent would get their commission. But one of my agents was renting out properties using our name and logos without informing us, and the deposits were paid into his personal account." M, PayProp client
The agent in question had been working for M for several years and had never given him any reason to be suspicious. In fact, he seemed to be a successful and trustworthy employee and member of the community. But when PayProp gave M more visibility over his agents’ activities, it was only a matter of time before the scam came to light.
A more transparent business
M didn’t originally see the need to use PayProp’s security and anti-fraud features. Like many property practitioners, he was simply looking to streamline his agency’s accounting processes to significantly reduce the administrative burden on himself and his team.
"Especially at the end of the year when you have to do tax recons, it was a madhouse. I wanted to take the tension away." M, PayProp client
M also knew PayProp would be a selling point to landlords. Landlords don’t just get paid more quickly with PayProp, they also receive 100% bank-accurate statements based on live bank data, as well as live self-service access to their records through the PayProp Owner app.
Security: an unexpected bonus
What M discovered while going through his records was that some of his properties didn’t have deposits attached to them, a common red flag for fraud. As he explains, he didn’t immediately conclude that one of his employees was stealing from the business. Before bringing in PayProp to automate rental payments, human error meant that deposits could sometimes end up attached to the wrong property.
Nevertheless, M then started to investigate – and when the fraudster had to send his list of properties to the rental administration team to add to the agency’s PayProp platform, it became clear that the numbers didn’t add up. When M confronted him, he admitted what he had been doing. Armed with all this evidence, M was then able to secure a court order to get the money repaid.
Sophisticated but simple
Despite all the extra security measures and transactional controls, M and his agents actually find PayProp much easier to work with than the old systems.
“The admin side is 10 times lighter. Before, on the 25th, everything became mad for two weeks. Now it’s a seamless process. And the funny thing is that I thought some of my agents would have problems adapting to the new system – they’re 65, 70 years old. But they’re enjoying the system.” M, PayProp client
PayProp also gives M something much more precious: peace of mind. He can be sure that his clients’ money is safe and that his own properties are protected. As far as he’s concerned, that makes PayProp 100% worth it.
“The benefits outweigh the costs. If I hadn’t caught the fraudster, he’d have half a million Rand. What’s PayProp’s fee compared to that?” M, PayProp client
