SimpleRent.com.auAvis 

would give 0 stars if I could!! I dont use simplerent now thankfully but when our old property was handed over to ray white i knew it wasnt going to be good and they would try to scam us out of extra dollars for rent. Yup! they made us join with simplerent to pay our rent! The extra charges are unfair to tenants and I felt they should pay us back for fees taken when they wouldnt give us a fee free option to pay!!! absolute rort!! so glad to no longer have to pay through them now! absolute scam game!!

My experience with SimpleRent has been frustrating and far more expensive than initially expected.

When setting up a new lease, the system strongly encouraged immediate payment and advised that bank transfers could take several days processing time, despite also stressing that payment was due the same day and the lease was not considered complete until payment was made. In a difficult rental market, that doesn’t feel like much of a practical choice when trying to secure a property.

To avoid delays, I used my debit card, only to then be charged substantial transaction fees because the card was processed as a Mastercard transaction, despite it being linked to my everyday debit account.

While the fees may technically be disclosed somewhere in the process, the overall setup heavily encourages card payment while simultaneously warning that bank transfers may delay completion of the tenancy.

In my situation, I was advised this was the payment system required to finalise the tenancy, so I did not feel there was any practical alternative available.

The ongoing payment system is also restrictive compared to how I’ve successfully managed rent payments for many years. Rent appears to be processed several days before the actual due date, incurs additional fees, and warns of late fees if funds are not available early enough for their processing schedule. That creates budgeting stress, particularly for people whose income does not arrive on fixed dates.

To be fair, support staff have been polite and did explain how the fee structure works once contacted. However, I still feel the system lacks flexibility and transparency around how payment timing and fees are presented to tenants during the sign-up process.
For tenants who carefully manage weekly cash flow, I would strongly recommend fully understanding the fee structure, card charges, processing timing requirements, and early debit arrangements before proceeding.
You will see positive reviews from agencies that benefit from the platform, however from a tenant perspective the experience can feel very different.
You will only find disgruntled users forced to comply with a system that is generated for agency benefits while disregarding tenants rights.

Total fraud
Total crook
Over promise and not deliver at all

I am an agency and they kept charging me monthly subscription fee even after numerous request seeking to terminate and insisting going through QCAT with them!

Finally they stopped but never refund the over charged amount

I’ve been using SimpleRent for about 7 months now and honestly couldn’t recommend them more. The auto-debit feature is a lifesaver; it completely removes the stress of remembering to pay rent manually every fortnight.

While it’s not a free service (which I wasn’t thrilled about at first), the savings I get through SimpleDiscount on groceries actually outweigh the fees I pay, so it balances out well.

Their team has also been great, especially the BDM who helped me change my debit date smoothly and without any hassle.

Overall, it’s been a very positive experience and I’d definitely recommend SimpleRent to others.

I would give it 0 stars if that was an option
1. Flagged by antivirus software for being suspicious
2. Very poor User Experience.... There is a fee for creating an account (which I don't even want to use) The money clearly doesn't go into web development or design.
4. A fee for using a bank transfers to pay rent
5. An even bigger fee if you want to use your visa/mastercard for payment.

Do not use for your bond payments for this reason! Go straight to the RTA gov website for those in QLD.
What a joke

Buggy, misleading, avoid. Potentially illegal, see the intro e-mail:

"I am contacting you to introduce you to some exciting changes to our rental payment process.
We have searched high and low to offer you a rent payment method alternative that you will not only find easy and convenient, but that you will also benefit from. We have teamed up with SimpleRent.com.au, our new rent payment system, which will provide you with savings and rewards, as you pay your rent. This is a set and forget direct debit system that I know you will enjoy.

The costs are as follows:

1. Bank Account Direct Debit $0.95 per transaction (best Value)

2. Recurring Visa/ MasterCard Payments 1.98% (a great way to earn Frequent Flyer points)

Clicking this button below you will be able to set up your RENT PAYMENT OPTIONS.
".

Note that in Victoria, there must be a way to pay rent for free, and any change to the payment method during a rental agreement must be mutually agreed upon — it can't be imposed by one party.

I'm extremely concerned that my real estate agent at Aurora Property shared my personal information (including my name, mobile number, email, and more) with Simplerent without my consent. This unauthorized disclosure led to a call from an overseas worker in the Philippines, revealing that Simplerent has outsourced its operations and doesn't even employ staff in Australia. This raises significant data privacy concerns for me, especially regarding how my information is being collected and handled. Furthermore, Simplerent charges exorbitant fees for rent payments, a process that was previously simple and cost-free using Bpay, the method most tenants utilise. Stand up for yourself and educate yourself on the The Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024.

Absolutely crazy system for making rent payment. Transactions take 3-4 business days so always end up in arrears. Sends unsolicited reminded payments a week before rent is due saying payments are late even after opting out. Direct deposit system transfers almost instantly so don’t understand the reason real estate agents implement this not so simple system.

Was forced to use simplerent for a 3 year tenancy and was plagued with $2 transaction fee every time, a $14 fee if payment was late then a $27 fee to correct the late payment the following week. In addition to all of the fees, it takes your rent payment at random times might be 12.01am on the day its due might be 11.59pm you will never know so you always need to have the rent and all fees available around the day of payment. It takes them so long to process payments that we went into arrears almost every week, it literally takes them like 4 business days to send your payment to the real estate and then has the audacity to charge you fees for their service that a direct deposit could have accomplished in 3 seconds. An absolute joke of a service that I believe is a borderline scam that will steal hundreds of dollars from you in unlawful, unexplained fees and potentially ruin your rental history since they cant process payments in a timely manner. Avoid at all costs!

Can't cancel or adjust rent payment, which is illegal.

$1.50 per payment.

Absolute scam, avoid using if you rent through an agency.

My current agent has just been taken over by ray white, they use SIMPLERENT… on my first transaction I was charged for two months rent - they tried to throw this back at me saying it was user error… I’m a digital designer and have been in ecommerce industry for well over a decade…. The user interface is very clunky and it is very very easy to submit a payment twice. Then the login keeps your bank details in full, which I am totally against, and then on top of this they are wanting to charge a transaction fee for a BPAY payment using a standard direct debit…. Now i understand if you’re using a credit card there is an additional cost but charging and end user to use standard BPAY - I’m investigating this now with the ATO and will further push this in the tenant support system in Victoria… this is I’m sure against the ACCC regulations and ATO regulations… and if simple rent are do this to 1000 users or 100,000 users - they are taking serious advantage of tenants.

This is what I'v found thus far - I will post as much content as possible to support anyone in the same situation... BTW - there are loads of people reaching out to me with the exact same issue.... clearly SIMPLERENT are breaking the rules and creating a new revenue stream - poaching tenants money and I have absolutely no doubt that the real estate agents get a kick back $$$

AS PER TENENATS VIC.ORG

What the law says
The rental provider (landlord), or agent, may be breaking the law if they insist on you using a rental app to pay rent.
Ways to pay rent
Under the law the rental provider must allow you to pay rent:

In a way that does not result in you being charged any extra fees, apart from your usual bank fees
By electronic funds transfer (EFT) and, if you are receiving Centrelink payments, by Centrepay [section 42, regulation 19]
It is against the law – and an offence – if a rental provider does not give you an option to pay rent in a way that does not result in you being charged any extra fees [section 42].

It is also against the law – and an offence – for rental providers, agents, or anyone else, including a third-party service provider such as a rental app, to charge for the first issue of a rent payment card or for establishing or using direct debit facilities for rent payments [section 51].

For more information on paying rent see the heading ‘Rent’ on our page Starting a tenancy.

Note that all the sections in brackets on this page, such as [section 42], refer to Victoria’s Residential Tenancies Act 1997. References in brackets to regulations, such as [regulation 19], are to the Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021. See the bottom of this page for links to all of these.

Prohibited terms
It against the law – and an offence – for a rental provider, or their agent, to include a prohibited term in a rental agreement (lease) [section 26A].

Prohibited terms include any that require you to:

Pay rent in advance in a way that forces you to pay fees, apart from your usual bank fees
Use the services of a third-party service provider (except for an ‘embedded energy network provider’, where power is supplied jointly such as to an apartment block) [section 27B, regulation 11]
If a prohibited term is included in a rental agreement it will be ‘void’ and cannot be enforced by the rental provider [section 26A].

If the rental provider refuses to remove any prohibited terms you can apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), which can order that a term in your rental agreement is ‘invalid’ [section 28, section 472].

For more information see the heading ‘Prohibited terms’ on our page Rental agreements (leases).

FYI - in regards to the "early withdrawals" - I saw this on my account setup also.... I literally wrote to RayWhite and stated to please correct the due dates to the same as per my tenancy agreement - so if you're Calendar month falls on the 15th of each month - make sure that your login has the same dates.... I recommend to EVERYONE for now not to buy in on the auto option - select Pay on the Day or whatever it is called... this is fee free BUT BUT BUT - they keep your full bank account details and won't allow you to delete unless you enter a new bank account and BSB....

I do not agree with saving my account details with any website or app - pretty sure I have a legal right for that too - I think the site/merchant must allow it to be optional within your account... but I will confirm this also

Simplerent is one of the worst companies I've ever had the unfortunate chance to have to use. I've held back from leaving a review, but now seeing them using fake "awards" to promote themselves, people need to be aware of this and stay clear. They just emailed me saying they won an award from "Acquisition International" being the "Property Technology Business of the year" - If you do any kind of research on this company (AI) you will see they are BS.

Terrible. They debit money in our account today and record the money in the agent account many days later. I don't know where my money goes and is used. Why do I have to pay the fee and pay the rent one week in advance. Don't see the usefulness of this platform at all

This company can improve by not scamming more than what we are already paying in rent, there is a huge rental crisis going on at the moment especially with the cost of living. My partner and I have 2 kids one being in kindy 3 days a week and our other who is only 6 weeks old. Take a long hard think of how much more stress this puts on people, $1.60 or how ever much it is you are charging, it adds up!

Do the right thing and make a change for yourselfs as a company and for us renters.

Trying to scam you out of more money, acting like direct debit is a privilege. Entirely unaustralian. Extremely cunning. Absolutely sick people to be stealing from Australians during the cost of living crisis. Karma is real

Would also give 0 stars if I could. Charging a transaction fee on top of rent during inflation is an absolute joke. Hope RTA will enforce stricter rules around this and also hope investors will not go with PMs who are using this system. It's poor management and 0 customer/tenant orientated

Im being coerced to take this rent paying system from the real estate. Ive been paying via direct deposit for 5 years. Theyre sure making alot of stuff ups with my receipts etc and i think this is the reason, to force me to go on simple rent. But after reading the reviews (I think the good ones are fake) and the fact that it costs to pay rent (insane) im going to have to ignore them...ive read on a news page that the accc is trying to ban these rental paying platforms. Also the real estates are supposed to by law give the tenant a free reasonable alternative, not cheques, not money order, these are not reasonable..and not cash either. These do seem like a scam, and somebody is enriching themselves, and likely in addition to the real estate..if i was anyone being forced to do this, you have rights. Look into them.

Ian is a top top guy. Very helpful and friendly and always prompt to respond and helpful.

Tiffany is very experienced and she goes extra miles for her clients . She has good wisdom and knowledge of the industry and she is ready to help you in any situation you are and she will jump in to help you any time . We will highly highly recommend her and we will love to work with her in the future .

Not only is this a very expensive platform to use to pay rent, it is difficult to use and wont process direct debits from all direct debit enabled bank accounts. Instead of flagging the transaction as invalid account the system flags it as insufficient funds and charges a late payment fee for a system built limitation. When I tick yes to indicate my account is enabled for direct debit, I dont expect to be charged a late fee for Simple Rent functionality and capability gaps. We are now in a situation where our property mamager prematurely served a breach notice on us and is harrassing us in a disrespectful and abusive manner as a result of using this platform. So as a tenant I will never use this platform and am incredibly disappointed this was a trigger for a tyrade of abuse from our property manager. As soon as we were aware of the issue 2 days after the rent was due we made alternative arrangememts that day, but it still hasnt cooled my property managers attitude for something that was out of our control.