ElectricStreets offers 'check-free' rent service for owners.

ElectricStreets, the leading national application service provider of private label Intranets for residential communities, has selected the CheckFree Corporation, the leading provider of financial electronic commerce solutions and services, to facilitate the electronic processing of rent and other payments on its clients' intranet portals.

CheckFree's electronic funds transfer (EFT) service enables ElectricStreets to offer residents the option to pay their rent online by electronic check. They no longer have to write and mail a check each month, instead, they preauthorize their monthly payments to be made automatically. Payments are deducted from their checking, savings or money market account regardless of their financial institution. Every payment is clearly itemized on residents' monthly bank statement.

In turn, property managers receive instant confirmation of payments without waiting for checks to clear; can download monthly payment data into their property management system; run rent collection reports by date; all in a secure and data encrypted environment.

With payments pre-authorized, each property's bad debt and minor delinquency rates are drastically reduced. With EFT processing, billing and mailing costs will virtually disappear, along with the added time and expense associated with depositing checks and handling late payments.

"ElectricStreets is constantly looking to provide the best services to its users," said Larry Bouchard, president and CEO of ElectricStreets. "Selecting CheckFree to support ElectricStreets' electronic funds transfer solution was easy, since the firm offers the most reliable products available on the market."

"Electronic funds transfer is a natural fit for recurring, fixed-amount payments such as monthly rent," said Mark S. Johnson, senior vice president and general manager for CheckFree. "The ability to schedule rent payments electronically enables rental properties to reduce the time and expense spent on monthly paperwork associated with processing checks and tracking late payments. It's a classic win-win -- property managers become more efficient, and consumers benefit from the ease, convenience and flexibility of electronic payments."