What is a Part Payment

Your rent is calculated either on a weekly or monthly basis. A part payment occurs when the payment received does not match the full weekly or monthly rent amount shown in your ledger. The payment will still be credited to your account, but it will be recorded as a part payment rather than moving your rent “paid to” date forward.

Example of Part Payment

• Weekly rent: $1,000 per week, paid up to 1/8/2025.
• You make a payment of $980 due to a typo.
• Your ledger will still show a rent “paid to” date of 1/8/2025, with a part payment of $980.

Even though the payment was made, the rent date did not advance by one week because the payment was less than the full weekly amount.

How to Clear Part Payments

To clear a part payment, you need to make up the difference between the part payment and the full rent amount. Using the example above:

• Weekly rent: $1,000
• Part payment: $980
• You would need to make an additional $20 payment to bring your account up to date.

Why It’s Bad to Have Part Payments

Part payments can make it appear that you are behind in rent. Using the earlier example, if you paid $980 on 1 August instead of $1,000, your ledger will still show a paid-to date of 1/8/2025 instead of 8/8/2025. The paid-to date only moves forward when the full week’s rent has been paid. This means anyone reviewing your rental ledger — for example, a future property manager or landlord — may think you are consistently in arrears.

Common Reasons for Part Payments

In our experience, the most common cause is rental increases. When you receive a rent increase notice, you are given 60 days’ notice — and it’s easy to forget to adjust your payment when the increase takes effect. This can result in unintentional part payments. A good practice is to set a reminder on the day you receive the notice so that you can update your payment amount when the new rent begins.