For landlords and tenantsLast reviewed Jul 20, 2026
How rent and charges work
RUMA tracks rent on an honor-system basis: the landlord bills, the tenant reports a payment, the landlord confirms. Money never moves through RUMA.
Step by step
- 1The landlord bills charges on the lease — monthly rent (automatic or by hand), deposits, utility shares, or one-off charges.
- 2The tenant pays the way both sides agreed outside RUMA — bank transfer, cash, anything. RUMA does not process, receive, or hold rent; Stripe is used only for the landlord's RUMA subscription.
- 3The tenant reports the payment in their portal: the amount (a partial amount is fine), a comment, and optionally a receipt.
- 4The landlord confirms or declines the report. A confirmed full payment marks the charge Paid and issues a receipt; a confirmed partial payment is recorded with the remainder outstanding.
Good to know
Statuses — Upcoming, Overdue, Paid — reflect what the parties recorded and confirmed, not a bank's confirmation. A reported payment isn't money received until the landlord confirms it.
Utilities: the lease records who pays each utility (landlord, tenant, split, or included in rent). Utility bills are logged per period, and a tenant's share can be billed as its own charge.
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