If your residents choose to use our deposit-free service, they can move into the property without paying a traditional deposit. Instead, they extend a Billing Authorization to Obligo - which is equivalent to your security requirement. This is similar to the pre-authorization process at hotel check-in and allows you to charge them in case of damages, cleaning or missed rent, up to the Billing Authorization amount.

If you submit a charge at move-out, Obligo will initiate your ACH payment within one business day and then collect the owed amount from your resident. 

With a traditional deposit, residents pay a large sum in advance, before there’s any actual reason for charging such an amount. With Obligo, they only pay for damages or missed rent if you submit a charge at move-out.

Deposit-free properties are quicker to lease, easier to manage, and more attractive to residents. Obligo’s deposit-free solution makes the rental process as simple as checking in and out of a hotel, and completely paperless. You will save hours on administrative tasks, and your residents will appreciate keeping the cash to invest, save, travel, or spend as they please.

• The security requirement is usually the same size.

• It gives the resident an incentive to take good care of the apartment, because it’s the resident who is required to pay if there’s a charge.

• It preserves your renter's right to dispute charges directly with you or via a small claims court. 

No. Obligo is not an insurance product or surety bond - we’re the only security deposit alternative whose model utilizes bank-issued Letters of Credit (from Wells Fargo) to provide you with enhanced protection.

At move-in, qualified residents provide Obligo with a pre-authorization to charge their bank or credit card account up to the security requirement. If a charge is submitted for damages or missed rent, our platform immediately initiates ACH payment to the property manager, while residents can repay Obligo in interest free installments.

There are also no claims processes required when using Obligo’s deposit-free service.  

Obligo-powered deposit-free properties are more attractive to renters and help owners stay ahead of their competition. In the event you submit a charge for damages or missed rent, our platform will immediately initiate your ACH payment, up to the full amount of your owner’s security deposit requirement.

Property owners and managers using Obligo’s service enjoy enhanced protection via our Letters of Credit model with Wells Fargo, which covers 100% of the risk of renter non-payment of charges. 

At lease end, our platform will immediately initiate payment to property managers for any charges, up to the Billing Authorization amount. There is no claims process, so the advanced funds are guaranteed to your property. Then, our automated billing process will charge the renter's pre-authorized billing method (a credit card or bank account).

Property owners and managers using Obligo’s service enjoy enhanced protection via our unique Letters of Credit model with Wells Fargo, which covers 100% of the risk of renter non-payment of charges. Contact us to learn more about how we keep owners and managers fully protected.

Yes! Obligo is available nationwide. 

As a financial technology company whose mission is to build trust between renters and property owners, customer data security and privacy are top priorities for Obligo.  Obligo will never sell your (or your renters’) data.  Further, Obligo is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant, which means we have robust infrastructure and processes in place to protect customer information and identify threats, which have been tested over time by independent auditors to ensure Obligo’s compliance with these standards.  You can learn more about SOC 2 here.   

We only work with best-in-class payment service providers, including Dwolla and Stripe, who are also SOC 2 compliant. With an in-house team of cyber intelligence experts, we have built a comprehensive strategy to protect the data and privacy for all of our partners and renters.