Creating a rent ledger is an important part of being a Texas landlord. This document will help you keep track of your tenants’ payments and ensure that everyone is up to date on their rent.

This blog post will give you a step-by-step guide on creating a rent ledger for your property.

Key takeaways

• A rent ledger is a document that records all rent payments made by a tenant.
• A rent ledger can be used to keep track of late or missed rent payments and can also be used to calculate late fees on unpaid rent.
• A landlord can create a rent ledger using a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets or by signing up for a free account with Stessa.
• Landlords need to keep accurate records of all rent payments, as they can be helpful in the event of a dispute with a tenant.
• Landlords should provide tenants with a copy of the rent ledger at the beginning of the tenancy and update it regularly.

How to use a rent ledger

A rent ledger is an important tool for Texas landlords. It provides a record of all rent payments made by a tenant and can be used to track late or missed payments. A rent ledger can also help resolve disputes between landlords and tenants about the amount of rent owed.

A rent ledger in Texas generally includes the following information:

• Name of the landlord and tenant
• Address of the rental property
• Date of each rent payment
• Amount of rent paid
• Any late fees or other charges assessed
• Total amount owed by the tenant
• Signature of the landlord or agent receiving the payment

Free rent ledger template

While creating your own rent ledger is possible, why reinvent the wheel if you don’t have to? We’ve put together a free, customizable rent ledger template in Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel that property owners can download for free:

If you’re interest in a customizable rent template ledger, download it here. For quick links, download for Google Sheets or download for Microsoft Excel.

Simply select the appropriate link and download the rental template ledger to your computing device. After you open the spreadsheet, save it by another name so that you always have the original document to go back to.

How to automate your rent ledger

An even better way to keep track of tenant charges, payments, and balances is by signing up for a free Stessa account. The tenant ledger in Stessa automatically keeps track of outstanding tenant balances, partial months (such as prorated rent), and late charges – meaning you don’t have to update a spreadsheet manually.

The tenant ledger feature is designed to be as friction free as possible. Generally speaking, neither monthly rent charges nor rent payments received need to be entered directly into the ledger.

Stessa’s online rent collection feature also makes it easy for tenants to pay on time and automates key tasks like deposits, receipts, and accounting. It’s a win-win and is free for both landlords and tenants.

Texas rent laws for landlords

Texas is considered a landlord-friendly state, meaning that rent and landlord-tenant laws generally favor landlords, provided that the rules are followed. There are no rent control laws or deposit limits, and the state also has a fast eviction process.

You can learn more about landlord-tenant laws for landlords in Texas by visiting the Texas State Law Library online. This legal research guide provides information about landlord and tenant law that is helpful to both landlords and tenants looking for legal information:

• Leases. When a lease can be changed, what rules or restrictions a lease can contain, service animals, and emotional support animals.
• Rent. Rent increases, late fees, and how rent must be paid.
• Repairs. A landlord’s duty to repair certain problems, protections against retaliation for requesting repairs, and what a tenant can do if the landlord doesn’t make the repairs as requested.
• Common problems. Mold, pests, bedbugs, utility shutoffs, and landlord retaliation.
• Evictions. The eviction process, a tenant’s rights during an eviction, and appealing an eviction.
• Security deposits. Requesting refunds for security deposits and what a landlord can deduct.
• Subsidized housing. Information about federally subsidized housing programs and residents’ rights.
• Landlord/tenant forms. Commonly requested forms and form letters for landlord/tenant situations. Download 50+ landlord forms here.

By reading this guide, you will be better equipped to deal with any landlord or tenant issues that may come up, according to the website.

Final thoughts

A rent ledger is a document that lists all of the payments made by a tenant throughout their tenancy. This can be a valuable tool for landlords, as it helps to keep track of rent payments and ensure that tenants are up to date on their obligations. Additionally, a rent ledger can help to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants.

Stessa is a free online platform that helps landlords automate their rent ledgers and online rent collection. With Stessa, landlords can easily track rent payments, send reminder emails to tenants, and generate reports on rental activity. 

Stessa, a Roofstock company, offers free cloud-based software that helps real estate investors maximize profits through smart money management, automated income and expense tracking, personalized reporting, online rent collection, and more. More than 100,000 investors already use Stessa to track over 250,000 properties with more than $60 billion in asset value. 

Sign up for free today and see how Stessa can help you streamline your rental business!