Hall Apartment Management/Online Rent Pay

A month ago, the management of our apartment complex instituted an

online rent payment through their Web site. This lasted for one month.

Then we received a notice that "we are incurring fees greater than

expected for each rental payment made by our residents through the

hallapartments.com web site," and that "a convenience charge of $20.00

will appear on the web page when making an e-payment."

This "convenience charge" appears to be grossly excessive, given that it

costs significantly less to process an electronic payment than a payment

made by check. I don't mind a reasonable processing fee, but it should

cover no more than actual costs, not be a windfall profit center for

some financial institution. I'm willing to believe that Hall is passing

on fees they are being charged -- but if so, they should use their

leverage to get the fees reduced, and contact banking regulators in the

states where they do business to make certain that customers are not

charged usurious fees.