Overview
When you receive an online payment from a tenant, Stripe (the merchant processor) takes about 2 days to process the funds before releasing them to you. Sometimes Stripe can't collect the payment — for example, if the tenant's bank reports insufficient funds, or the tenant initiates a stop payment. When this happens, the payment is reversed on the tenant's lease, and a Returned Payment Fee is applied.
The funds are never actually taken from the tenant's bank, so nothing needs to be "returned" — but Stripe still debits your business's merchant account first for the Return Payment Fee plus any platform fees. DoorLoop then automatically charges that same fee to the tenant's lease. Once the tenant pays it along with their next payment, that amount goes back into your merchant account and zeroes out the cost. If the tenant never pays it, you remain responsible for covering that cost.
Causes of Returned Payments
Returned payments can happen for several reasons, including:
Insufficient funds in the tenant's account
Incorrect or invalid account details provided by the tenant
Bank-related issues, such as tokenization errors or closed accounts
Fee Amounts
Stripe Return Fee: $40
Platform Fees: Additional fees may apply, such as for ACH payments or a percentage for credit card transactions
Custom Fees: You can configure a custom returned payment fee between $0–$100 — see Set Up the Returned Payment Fee
Note: Merchant accounts with a high volume of reversed payments can be flagged by the merchant processor and suspended. If a specific tenant has repeated reversed payments, that should be addressed directly with them.
Tenant Portal Payment Terms Include Returned Payment Fees
When a tenant pays through the tenant portal, they agree that a returned payment fee (plus any platform fees) will be charged to their account if their payment is reversed. This is shown on the payment screen and in the Tenant Portal Terms of Service.
How the Returned Payment Fee Appears on the Lease Ledger
The fee is reflected on the lease ledger as a charge labeled --Split Values--, since the amount includes both the platform fee (which varies by subscription tier) and the processor fee. Click on the charge to see the breakdown between the Return Payment Platform Fee and the Returned Payment Processor Fee.
Tip: Don't delete this charge, even if you don't want the tenant to pay it. Instead, issue a credit to an expense category for returned payment fees. This waives the cost for the tenant while still balancing your bank account and keeping it off the owner's statement.
To review reversed payments on your deposits, or find out why a specific payment was reversed, see Find Out Why a Tenant's Payment was Reversed and Charged a Return Payment Fee.