Custom Application Fees

As your portfolio grows, so does your need for flexibility. With this feature, you can: 

• Set a global fee for general applications
• Charge applicants a specific fee based on their desired property
• Charge applicants a specific fee based on their desired unit
• Send application fees to property-specific bank accounts

To get started, navigate to Settings, Application settings, and click on Application fees. Here, you have the option to set a global fee to charge every applicant one fee or add overrides to charge application fees by property.

To set and edit the global fee

If you’ve already set up an application fee in Buildium, you can see the amount you charge in the Global fee tab. Click Edit global fee to adjust this amount.

If you haven’t set up an application fee, you will be able to do so by clicking on Charge a fee in the Global fee tab.

To set property overrides

These policies override the global fee and applicants will be charged the override fee tied to the listed rental. When you first click on the Overrides tab in the Application fee settings page, you will see a pop-up to guide you through the process of setting up fees by property. Click Add override at the bottom, set the amount you’d like to charge, and click on Next: Select properties.

On this screen, you will see a list of your properties and the current application fee charged for each. Select which properties you want the override amount applied to and click Save to go back to the Overrides tab.

Here, under the Property overrides section, you can: 

• See and export a list of properties with different application fees
• Click the more options menu (the three dots to the right of each property) to edit or delete the override
• Select all properties to edit or delete in bulk

To set unit overrides

To enable unit overrides on a multi unit property follow the following steps:

1. Navigate to Settings > Applications Settings > Rental application settings
2. Click "Edit" under the Application Fee section.
3. On the next page click Overrides
4. Click on "Unit"
5. Click "Add override"
6. Enter application fee amount for unit override amount
7. Select the unit/units you wish to have the override fee amount be applied to.

Send application fees to property-specific bank accounts

One bank account doesn't always work for application fees. With this feature, you can direct application fee income to your properties' operating bank accounts and avoid manual transfers, and set a fallback account for general application fees.

To get started, navigate to Settings, Application settings, and click on Application fees. Click Edit in the Banking section to see the option to send application fee income to a single bank account or to each property's operating bank account.

If you select Property operating bank accounts, you will be prompted to answer whether you want to accept general applications. Since general applications aren't tied to a specific unit, applicants will be charged your default fee and you'll need to decide where to send that income. If you choose not to accept general applications, applicants will be required to select a unit. They'll then be charged based on your application fee settings and income will go to that property's operating bank account.

Once you choose whether or not to accept general applications, you will then need to determine which payment methods to accept. If you select EFT or Credit card, the system will check to see if any bank accounts tied to your properties are enabled for ePay. If these accounts are not enabled for ePay, then applicants will not be able to submit fees by EFT or Credit card. Learn more about ePay.

Once you click Save, you will be directed back to the Application fee settings page where you can view your chosen Banking, General application policy, and Payment methods.