How to set up a payment plan for a late tenant using AI
Ask the assistant to set up a payment plan for the tenant. It takes what the lease owes now from the ledger, splits it into 2 to 12 equal payments, and queues the plan for your approval. When you accept, the tenant gets the offer and starts it with Accept on their Pay rent screen. Late fees pause while the plan is kept, and a payment that stays short ends it.
When a plan makes sense
A plan helps when a tenant who normally pays has a bad month and can pay you back over time. It does not help when a tenant has stopped communicating or cannot cover current rent too. The tradeoffs and the agreement itself are in payment plan for late rent.
The assistant is useful for the arithmetic and the paperwork. The decision to offer one is yours.
Before offering a plan, ask the assistant for the tenant's ledger and look at the pattern. One late month after years of on-time rent is different from three late months in a row. Also ask whether the tenant has paid the current month: a plan only works if new rent stays current while the old balance is paid down, so a tenant who cannot cover both needs a different conversation.
What you tell the assistant
| Choice | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Number of payments | 2 to 12 | You choose |
| How often | Every month, every two weeks or every week | Every month |
| First payment date | Any date at the property | 7 days from today |
| Pause late fees | Yes or no | Yes, while the plan is kept |
Example a made-up lease owes $1,500 now. You ask for 4 monthly payments from the 15th. The plan is $375 four times. For $1,000 split in 3, each payment is $333.33 and the remainder goes on the last, so the payments are $333.33, $333.33 and $333.34.
Payments are in whole cents, with any remainder on the last one, so the plan always adds up to what is owed.
What happens after you ask
- The assistant queues an approval. Nothing reaches the tenant yet.
- You review it on doorkeeping.com and accept it.
- The tenant is told by email, and starts the plan with Accept on their Pay rent screen by the first payment date. If they do not, the offer expires.
- The tenant pays each payment the usual free way, by bank transfer or Zelle to you, and gets a reminder 3 days before each one.
- Current rent must stay paid too. The plan covers only the old balance.
The plan never changes what is owed. It is a schedule, not forgiveness.
Tell the tenant in your own words what to expect: the dates, the amounts and that current rent is due as usual. A short call or message before the offer arrives makes it far more likely the tenant accepts on time, because the offer expires if they do not.
If the tenant misses a payment
A payment still short 6 days after its date ends the plan. Automatic late fees resume for that lease and the morning brief says so. From there you are back to the choices in a day-by-day late rent schedule: a reminder, a new plan or a notice.
Check your state's cap before you rely on any late fee. Late fee limits by state lists the common patterns.
How DoorKeeping handles it
The plan tool only queues an approval. Rent stays in your own bank account, and anything involving money waits for your approval. Payments go to your own bank, so DoorKeeping records them when they arrive. Every step that changes what a tenant is asked to do waits for your tap.
Sources
- DoorKeeping: Connect Claude or ChatGPT (steps and tools list), read Oct 30, 2026
- Model Context Protocol: Architecture overview (tools, resources, prompts), read Oct 30, 2026
Questions
- Can a tenant be put on a plan without agreeing?
- No. The tenant has to accept the offer on their Pay rent screen by the first payment date, or the offer expires.
- Does a plan stop late fees?
- By default yes, while the plan is kept. If a payment stays short for 6 days after its date, the plan ends and late fees resume.
- How many payments can I split it into?
- Two to twelve, monthly, every two weeks or weekly.
- Does the plan forgive any of the rent?
- No. It never changes what is owed.