Disputes and chargebacks

Who this is for

Landlords and property managers whose tenants pay online. Only the account owner can open disputes. Disputes come only from payments made online; a check or cash payment never has one.

Before you start

• A dispute is opened by the tenant's bank, through Stripe: the tenant said the payment was not authorized, or the bank returned it after it cleared.
• You answer a dispute in Stripe, not in eSamaHomes.

Steps

1. Open Disputes under Rent & Payments in the menu. Filter by Needs Response, Won, Lost or Closed.
2. Click View on a dispute. It shows the tenant, the amount, the reason, the Evidence Due date and the Disputed Invoices.
3. Click Stripe Dashboard and answer the dispute there, before the evidence date.
4. Bill the tenant again by hand if the money is lost: the invoice stays Paid.

Example

A property manager's tenant paid $1,800.00 rent online. The owner had been charged a $180.00 management fee on it, and $100.00 had been set aside for the owner's reserve. The tenant's bank disputes it, and Stripe withdraws the money:

The $100.00 reserve is moved back to operating; it is still the owner's money. The dispute shows Lost. If the bank later rules for you, the reverse is written: + $1,800.00, the fee charged again (− $180.00), and the reserve set aside again.

For a landlord, a lost dispute is one entry: − $1,800.00.

What happens next

• When Stripe withdraws the money, the payment is taken back out of your books and the dispute shows Lost, even while it is still open in Stripe. Stripe usually withdraws the money as soon as a dispute is opened.
• When Stripe returns the money, it is put back in your books and the dispute shows Won.
• The invoice stays Paid either way. On Cash flow, a lost dispute lowers money in, on the Refunds and chargebacks line.
• One account owner is told inside eSamaHomes. No email is sent, and the tenant and the property owner are not told.
• A bank payment returned after it cleared also opens a dispute. For some bank reasons the tenant's saved bank account is blocked, and they must add another. See Bank payments, processing, failed and returned.

If something looks wrong

• Your bank reconciliation is off by Stripe's dispute fee. The fee Stripe charges for a dispute is not recorded in eSamaHomes.
• A dispute is for part of a payment. eSamaHomes takes back the whole payment.
• An owner's balance went below zero. A lost dispute can do that. Diagnostics shows it as Negative Owner Balance.
• "Failed to load disputes". Only the account owner can open this page.