A property management organization needed a modern, low-friction way for tenants to pay rent online—without switching platforms or absorbing high third-party processing fees. We delivered a multi-site WordPress plugin that connected their website to a discounted merchant program and kept property/unit data synchronized with their property management system.

Overview

  • Client: Anonymous
  • Industry: Property Management
  • Project Type: WordPress Plugin with Multiple Integrations
  • Engagement Duration: 2 months (initial build), plus a 1-month follow-on engagement
  • Services Provided: Built a WordPress plugin for rent payments using the client’s discounted merchant program and synchronized payment and property data with the property management system.
  • Key Outcomes: Reduced annual payment processing costs, minimized staff involvement for most rent transactions, and ensured accurate unit information on the website for payments and maintenance requests—automatically pushed back to the property management system.

The Challenge

The client was largely accepting checks in person or by mail. When they explored enabling online payments through their existing property management platform, they found the path forward required switching systems and taking on significant ongoing costs. At the same time, they had access to a bank-negotiated deal for e-check and credit card processing and wanted to route payments through a specific merchant to reduce fees and overhead.

Objectives

  • Integrate with the property management system to keep property information accurate
  • Support WordPress multisite to work across six properties
  • Enable tenant registration
  • Capture and store payment credentials securely at the merchant
  • Support one-time and recurring payments
  • Push payment details and maintenance requests back into the property management system
  • Enable future migration from the initial property management system to a new platform with different APIs

Solution

We built a custom WordPress plugin that allowed tenants to register, select the correct unit/property information, and submit rent payments online using the client’s discounted merchant relationship. The plugin was designed to be compatible with WordPress multisite so it could be deployed consistently across six property websites.

Behind the scenes, the plugin integrated with the property management system to keep unit and tenant information accurate on the website. It also pushed payment records and maintenance requests back into the management system—reducing manual work, ensuring consistent records, and improving operational visibility.

The architecture anticipated change: later, the client transitioned from one property management platform to another, shifting from a single integration to multiple API connections without needing to rebuild the entire payment experience from scratch.

Results

  • The solution ran successfully for several years and was later upgraded to support a new property management system.
  • Ongoing maintenance included minor adjustments and bug fixes, including updates aligned with WordPress platform changes.
  • Over the lifecycle, the client reduced processing costs, lowered labor requirements, and improved the tenant payment experience ahead of competitors.
  • After roughly 7–8 years, the client ultimately moved off the custom approach once the property management platform’s built-in features became sufficiently compelling.

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Note: Client name withheld by request. Implementation details are summarized for confidentiality.