Many Owners Still Make Payments The Old Fashioned Way – So We Thought We’d Remind Everyone, There Are Other Options Which Can Streamline The Process

Of course everyone is welcome to drop their checks off at the office or in the lockbox by the office or at the front desk. We do have a check scanner and can process your checks pretty painlessly right at the our bookkeeper’s desk. If you prefer to mail your check to the Carol Stream lockbox, you can put it with the stub from your statement, and it goes to the banks where essentially the same thing happens. It’s scanned and deposited.

If you do choose to mail your check, it needs to be sent with the stub. We’ve found that a high rate of missing or delayed payments are caused by the stub not being included. These checks may get set aside (with others from other buildings and entities) as exceptions. Then, they may not be processed until someone can physically review them and determine where they go. SO, mailed payments to the lockbox MUST have the stub.

The statements which include the stubs, are issued monthly. After our accounting process closes out usually around the 17th of the month, we are sent a master statement file to review. This is typically scanned by our bookkeeper for accuracy and then released for posting. Owners who’ve opted for e-statments (to avoid that pesky $2 fee) will receive theirs around the 22nd. Paper statements will be mailed around that time and typically arrive within a week.  IF YOU EVER DON’T GET A STATEMENT – please let us know by sending an e-mail to parktowercondo-mgmt@habitat.com. We have access to a statement archive and can forward them to you.

Now…How can Owners sign up for online payments?

The Habitat online “Rent Cafe” portal is available, and you can access it by clicking the “Payment” link on the above menu. Owners of record can register here to:

•            Make one-time payments

•            Set up recurring payments

•            Review your ledger

•            Submit maintenance requests

The best way to get registered, is to first send an inquiry to our bookkeeper, Danny Bravman at dbravman@habitat.com. He will generate a direct invite for you, and once you receive it you simply follow the instructions and go from there.

Then, going forward, finding this link is easy. Here on the PTCondo Website, just click the “Payment” option on the menu bar, and it will take you to Habitat’s Online payment portal for Park Tower.

Receiving Paper Statements? Want to get rid of that pesky $2 fee? Register for E-statements!

This is relatively easy. You will need information from your statement. Toward the upper right hand corner you will see a message, “To receive future statements electronically visit https://www.estmt.net.” Here is a sample: attached form.  Just below that message it says “Your Registration ID: ####-####-####”. The ‘estmt’ link takes you to the online app Habitat has for Owners to set up and manage e-statements. Once you are there the first time, toward the lower half of the page you will see where it indicates you can “Create An Account”. Here you will enter the “Registration ID” and follow the prompts to set up your e-statement account.

Once registered and receive e-statements you will have access to an archive of the 6 months of your statements.

The $2 fee is charged in arrears. So when you see that on your statement, it was for last month’s mailing. You will see one more charge after you’ve registered, on your first e-statement.

Are there any fees for online Payments?

Not for direct from your bank account payments. Only credit or debit card payments will result in a service charge. The fee is just the chargeback that results from processing credit and debit transactions, since the Association does not finance these through the assessments.

Owners are also welcome to sign up for the Direct Debit program through the Habitat Company. 

For more information and to download the form Click Here. Just print and fill out the form, or you can get a form from the office. Provide it to the Management office with a voided check. We will set you up for automatic bank payments through the Habitat Company. Funds for the TOTAL BALANCE DUE will be taken out each month on the 5th or first business day thereafter. These typically get setup within one business day.

But, you can do essentially the same thing by registering online through the RentCafe portal (as described above), with no form or voided check.

Do not hesitate to contact us for any help or questions you have: parktowercondo-mgmt@habitat.com