The problem
At $40 to $85 a month, one late renter is not worth a drive across town, and every week you wait, the set keeps working for free. Calling and texting only goes so far.
Plenty of late renters are not refusing to pay. The washer still runs whether the bill is paid or not, so it drops to the bottom of their list, under the bills that switch something off.
The idea
Put a smart plug between the washer and the wall. If a payment is past your grace period and the renter has had written notice, you switch the washer off from your phone. When they pay, you switch it back on. The machine stays in their home and nobody drives anywhere.
The goal is not to take the washer back. It is to make your bill one they pay on time, the same way they pay the power company.
What you need
| Renter has | Use | Cost per unit |
|---|---|---|
| Home WiFi (most renters) | A WiFi smart plug rated 15 amps, UL or ETL listed, with energy monitoring. TP-Link Kasa, Shelly and Sonoff all make one. | $15 to $25, no monthly fee |
| No WiFi | A cellular smart plug. It carries its own data connection. | About $170, plus around $15 a month |
Put it on the washer only. An electric dryer runs on a 240-volt, 30-amp outlet, and a plug-in smart plug will not fit it. You do not need the dryer anyway: a dryer with no washer does not do much.
Set the plug's power-on state to ON. Most plugs have this setting in their app. It means a power cut or a changed WiFi password never leaves a paying renter stuck with a dead washer.
Connect it at delivery, with the renter there. It goes on their WiFi, so they will see you do it. That is the point: nothing about this should be hidden.
Do the paperwork before the plug
This part matters more than the hardware. Put it in your rental agreement, in plain words:
- The washer has a plug that lets you turn its power off remotely.
- It controls power only. It does not record, listen, watch or collect anything else.
- When you will use it: only once a payment is a set number of days past due.
- How much notice you give before you switch it off, and how.
- How quickly power comes back once they pay.
- What happens if the plug is removed or bypassed.
Start with new renters. For someone already renting from you, sign a new agreement with this in it before a plug goes anywhere near their washer.
Why the wording matters. In 2013 the FTC settled with the rent-to-own chain Aaron's over software on rented laptops. The software could lock a laptop remotely, and franchise stores had also used it to take webcam photos and log keystrokes without telling customers. Disclose it up front, and make sure it does power and nothing else.
Rules vary by state, especially if your agreement is rent-to-own rather than a plain month-to-month rental. Have a local attorney read your clause once before you use it. This page is not legal advice.
Using it without it backfiring
- Warn them in steps. Text on the due date. Text again when the grace period ends. Then send a final notice with a time: "The washer will switch off at 6pm tomorrow unless the $70 is paid."
- Check it is idle before you switch it off. A plug with energy monitoring shows how much power the washer is drawing. If it is mid-cycle, wait. A washer cut off mid-cycle leaves a drum of water and wet clothes, and a payment reminder becomes a complaint.
- Turn it back on the moment they pay, and tell them. This works because it is fair in both directions.
- Keep a record. Note the date of each notice, and when power went off and back on.
- Use it for missed payments and nothing else.
What it cannot do
- It is a deterrent, not a lock. Anyone can unplug the smart plug and plug the washer straight into the wall. An outlet lock box, about $15 to $30, makes that harder, and your tamper clause covers the rest.
- It goes offline if their WiFi changes. With power-on set to ON, offline always means the washer still works, which is the right way round.
- It does not replace collecting a set from someone who will not pay at all. It should just make that rarer.
Where we are with it
We are setting this up for our own rentals in North Carolina, starting with the agreement language. If you want the draft clause we are working from, with blanks for your grace period and notice times, reply to the email this came in and we will send it.
If you try this, tell us what happened. What works for one operator in this directory probably works for the rest, and we will share it in the next note.