Small Portfolio Desk

1–20 unit landlords

Partial payments, credits & balance adjustments on DIY landlord software — short pays, concessions, ledger fixes

Search intent: accept a short rent payment without losing the ledger, grant a landlord credit/concession, fix balances and write-offs, and understand how remaining due interacts with late fees on RentRedi / TurboTenant / Avail. Updated: Sep/Oct 2026 from vendor help centers and product pages — re-check Lease Settings / Payments Actions / Stop Payments labels and plan matrices in a live account.

Affiliate / referral disclosure: This page has no affiliate links yet. Affiliate programs are pending. If we later add referral links, commissions will be disclosed here and will not change the feature tables or fit notes below.

For a 1–20 unit DIY landlord, messy months are normal: a tenant short-pays, you grant a $50 repair concession, or you need to wipe a wrong charge. Among the three DIY tools, TurboTenant wins the named lease-credit object: Payments → Actions → Create Credit with description + tenant email, auto-applies to the next payment (maintenance reimbursement, fee forgiveness, overpayment adjustment — not a cash refund and not a deposit return). RentRedi wins partial-pay controls + charge surgery: tenants can pay less than billed with instant remaining balance; marketing/product supports pay-oldest-first, roommate custom Autopay, pause/block partials, and refunds of partials; landlord credits are charge edits (lower Amount + “Rent - Credit…” description) or Add Payment with method Other for forgiveness. Avail wins the edit-amount / Record Offline lane on free Unlimited: reduce Amount due (one charge or multi-select recurring) with a note, or Record Offline a partial check/cash and let the remaining balance calculate — but help says there is no direct “allow full pay only” switch (Stop Payments blocks all e-payments for that lease). None of these replace counsel advice on accepting a short pay during eviction or on how late fees accrue after a partial.

What this page is (and is not)

Definitions (read this first)

Feature snapshot (verify on vendor pages)

Capability RentRedi TurboTenant Avail
Tenant partial / short pay (online) Yes — tenant edits amount below full charge (app/web). Remaining balance updates for both sides. Product: roommate splits + custom Autopay shares Yes when Lease Settings → Payments allows it (on by default). Tenant edits “Your Payment.” Cannot pay more than charge. Partial cannot be canceled/edited after submit Yes by default — help: designed for split/custom increments. Remaining balance shown after pay / after Record Offline
Landlord can allow / block partials Product/marketing: pause or block specific or partial payments for policy/legal holds; also Block All Payments path in help. Confirm live partials-only vs all-payments controls Yes — lease-level toggle (Edit Lease Settings → Payments). Can enable temporarily then disable. Cannot restrict “back rent only.” When off: tenant must pay full oldest outstanding charge first Help: no direct way to block partials while still allowing full e-pay. Workaround: temporarily Stop Payments / block all electronic payments on that lease (eviction use case — education warns accepting partials can restart proceedings)
Offline / outside partial Add Payment on a charge (check, money order, Section 8, etc.). Can split one check across multiple charges; under-coverage leaves remaining as partial credit toward balance Record offline payment on the charge (distinct from Create Credit). Keep ledger accurate for cash/check/Zelle Record Offline on the charge: amount, method (Cash/Check), notes → system calculates remaining due
Landlord credit / concession Two published patterns: (1) Edit Charge Amount down + description “Rent - Credit(Reason)”; (2) rent forgiveness — Add Payment amount + method Other + note. No dedicated “Create Credit” object like TT Create Credit (Payments → Actions, or from lease Payments). Reduces next rent balance; email to tenant; description field. Scenarios: maintenance reimbursement, overpayment adjustment (not refund), fee forgiveness. Not for security-deposit return Edit Amount due on one charge (or multi-select recurring on desktop) + note in description. Pending/received payments must not exceed the new amount. Recurring discount = batch-edit Amount due
Write-off / zero remaining Lower charge, Other payment for forgiven $, or delete upcoming duplicates carefully. Document reason in description/notes Edit sent charge amount (not below amount already paid via TT); delete unpaid sent charges; or Create Credit / delete late-fee charge. Charges with a TT partial cannot be deleted — edit only Reduce Amount due or settle offline + Record Offline. No published dedicated “write-off” document type — community notes larger refunds often go external (Zelle/check)
Pay oldest / past-due first Product: pay-oldest-charge-first option to keep ledgers tidy Lease setting for past-due priority (separate from partials toggle). When partials off, full oldest charge required first Not a published same-named toggle in the partials article — confirm payment application order in live Payment Settings
Remaining balance + late fees Unpaid remainder stays on the charge; auto late-fee rules still evaluate lateness per your Late Fee Rules (morning apply). Partial ≠ automatic late-fee waive — use credit/Other or edit fee charge Remainder stays visible on Payments + lease. Auto late fees attach to monthly rent charges when overdue — short pay that leaves rent unpaid past your days-late setting can still generate fees. Forgive via Create Credit or delete the late-fee charge Remainder displays after partial/offline. Late-fee automation follows Payment Settings grace — verify whether a partial stops or only reduces fee triggers in your account. Stop Payments is the hard stop for new e-pays
Free vs paid gates (ledger ops) Charge edits, Add Payment, partials, and payment controls sit on the paid flat product (not a separate “credits add-on”). Signature/refund UI labels — confirm live plan Partials toggle + edit/delete charges + Create Credit documented without a Premium callout in Lease Credits help (Jun 2026). Deeper books/reports still sit on paid Accounting — see accounting. Confirm live matrix Unlimited (free): partials by default, Record Offline, Edit Amount due, Stop Payments. Plus not required merely to credit/reduce a charge
Export / switch portability Export/download payment/charge history and notes before cutover. “Other” credits and edited descriptions do not migrate as portable credit objects Credits live on the lease balance; export payment history / accounting CSVs if on paid books. Create Credit state does not transfer as a first-class object to another PMS Export payment schedule / CSV paths you use for books. Offer/Stop Payments flags are Avail-centric — spreadsheet the open balances + credit notes before leaving

Sources (Sep/Oct 2026): RentRedi help — How to Make a Partial Payment (tenant); How to Give a Tenant a Credit (Jun 2025: edit description + Charge Amount); Update a Charge for Rent Forgiveness (Add Payment → Other); How to Record Overpayments and Outside Payments (May 2026: split manual entries; partial as credit toward remaining); Block Payments. RentRedi product — /l/partial-payments (remaining balance, roommate Autopay, oldest-first, pause/block partials, refunds). TurboTenant help — How Partial Payments Work for Your Lease (default on; Lease Settings toggle; no back-rent-only); How can my tenant make a partial rent payment; How Do I Edit & Delete Rent Payment Charges (Jul 2026: partial → edit only, not delete; cannot edit below paid); Lease Credits (Jun 2026: Create Credit, auto-apply next payment, remove credit, not for deposits; offline pay ≠ credit); Rent Payments FAQs (partials restrict). Avail support (indexed) — How to Handle Partial Rent Payments (default allow; no partials-only block; Record Offline); How To Reduce Rent Charges Or Apply Credits (Edit Amount due; multi-select recurring; pending/received constraints); education Stop Accepting Payments / Stop Payments for eviction. Cross-cutting: late fees & autopay, payment fees, accounting. Not found / do not invent: Avail named “Create Credit” object; TT free-tier denial of Create Credit; RR one-click statutory write-off; software that auto-waives late fees whenever any partial posts.

Workflow deep-dive by tool

Free vs paid: who should upgrade for credits & short pays

Worked example: SFH — $1,850 rent, $1,200 short pay, then $50 credit

Single-family rental. October rent charge = $1,850 due the 1st. Tenant pays $1,200 on the 3rd (short $650). On the 8th you agree to a $50 credit for a delayed stove repair. Illustrative scenario numbers only — not product fees. Late-fee rules assumed: grace through the 5th, then a one-time late fee per your lease (confirm live automation).

Step RentRedi TurboTenant Avail
1. Short pay posts Tenant pays $1,200 → charge shows ~$650 remaining. Or landlord Add Payment $1,200 if check With partials on, tenant pays $1,200 → Payments/lease show remaining ~$650. Charge cannot be deleted afterward Tenant pays $1,200 online, or landlord Record Offline $1,200 → remaining ~$650
2. Late-fee risk on remainder If $650 still unpaid after your Late Fee Rules fire, a late fee can still create — partial did not auto-waive. Pause rules or waive fee charge if lease allows Same idea: unpaid rent past your days-late setting can spawn an auto late fee on the monthly rent charge. Delete fee charge or Create Credit if you forgive Grace/late automation still watches unpaid balance per Payment Settings — verify live. Do not assume $1,200 “counts as paid enough”
3. Apply $50 repair credit Edit charge: description “Rent - Credit(stove delay)”; set expected pay to $1,800 or Add Payment $50 method Other with note — pick one method and stick to it so the remaining due becomes ~$600 Payments → Actions → Create Credit $50, description “Stove repair delay.” Credit hits lease balance / next payment; tenant emailed Edit Amount due on October charge (e.g. toward $1,800) + note — only if pending/received totals allow. Or leave charge and document concession on next month if October already constrained
4. Collect the rest Tenant pays remaining (~$600) online; oldest-first if you use that control Tenant pays remaining; credit may already have reduced what Autopay pulls. If using Livble, help says credits are ignored — collect manually Tenant pays remaining balance on the charge; reminders follow the open amount
5. Books / CPA note Export charge + payment notes showing $1,200 cash + $50 Other/credit + remainder cleared Credit line + payment history; if on Accounting, map to income categories carefully (concession vs bad debt) Payment schedule + description notes; CSV/export for year-end per your usual Avail books path

At one door with occasional short pays + goodwill credits, TurboTenant wins if you want a first-class Create Credit + email trail. RentRedi wins if you need partial-pay policy controls and roommate Autopay shares. Avail Unlimited wins if Edit Amount due + Record Offline on free is enough and you accept Stop Payments as the only hard e-pay brake.

Cutover / switch handoff for open balances & credits

Fit notes for 1–20 units

Honest uncertainty callouts

Related

Educational product research only — not legal, collections, eviction, tax, or accounting advice. Accepting a partial payment can affect eviction timelines in many jurisdictions. Confirm current menus, plan gates, late-fee automation, and required notice methods in each vendor’s help center, your live account, and with counsel before you accept a short pay, grant a credit, or write off a balance.