Most landlords in Bulgaria still collect rent the same way they did twenty years ago: the tenant sends a bank transfer on the first of the month, and the landlord checks their account a few days later to see if it arrived. When it doesn't, the landlord sends a message. The tenant says they forgot. This repeats every month, for every property, indefinitely.
DomFlat is built to make that process automatic. This post explains exactly how rent payments work on the platform — what happens under the hood, what the tenant experiences, and what the landlord sees.
The short version
When a landlord sets up a lease on DomFlat and enables automatic payments, the tenant receives a one-time request to authorize a SEPA Direct Debit mandate. They enter their IBAN once. After that, rent is collected automatically on the due date each month and transferred directly to the landlord's bank account — without the landlord doing anything.
What is SEPA Direct Debit?
SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) is the payment infrastructure that connects bank accounts across 36 European countries, including Bulgaria. SEPA Direct Debit is a mechanism that allows a business or landlord to collect payments directly from a bank account, with the account holder's prior authorization.
You've almost certainly used it without knowing: it's how most utility companies, insurance providers, and subscription services collect recurring payments across Europe. The landlord initiates the payment; the money moves from the tenant's account automatically.
For rent specifically, it means the landlord never has to chase a payment. The money arrives on the due date. If there's a problem with the collection — insufficient funds, for example — the landlord is notified immediately.
What the tenant does (once)
When a landlord activates SEPA payments for a lease, the tenant receives access to a secure setup page. On that page, they:
- 1Enter their IBAN (the account they want rent collected from)
- 2Read and accept the Direct Debit mandate — which authorizes DomFlat to collect the agreed rent amount on the agreed date each month
- 3Submit. That's it.
The mandate is processed by Stripe, which handles the underlying banking infrastructure. The tenant's IBAN is never stored on DomFlat's servers — it's tokenized by Stripe immediately. After the initial setup, the tenant doesn't need to do anything for payments to happen.
Tenants can cancel their mandate at any time from the tenant portal. When they do, automatic collection stops and the landlord is notified. This is a standard consumer protection built into all SEPA mandates.
What the landlord sees
On the landlord side, the lease page shows the current mandate status:
- Pending — the tenant has been invited to set up the mandate but hasn't completed it yet
- Active — the mandate is in place and payments will be collected automatically
- Cancelled — the mandate has been cancelled (by the tenant or by the landlord)
When a payment is collected, the landlord receives a notification and the payment appears in the lease history. The funds are transferred automatically to the landlord's connected bank account — the landlord doesn't need to log in or take any action.
How the money actually moves
DomFlat uses Stripe Connect to handle the flow of money between tenants and landlords. Here's what happens when rent is due:
- 1Stripe initiates a SEPA Direct Debit collection from the tenant's bank account
- 2The funds arrive in Stripe's system (this typically takes 2–5 business days for SEPA)
- 3Stripe automatically transfers the amount to the landlord's connected bank account
- 4The landlord receives the funds, minus the small processing fee
The landlord does not need to take any action to receive their money. Stripe automatically pays out the collected rent to the bank account the landlord registered during onboarding — typically on a daily or weekly rolling schedule. The money simply arrives in their account. Landlords can view their balance and payout history at any time from Settings → Manage payouts.
Landlords connect their bank account to DomFlat once during onboarding — a process handled entirely by Stripe, which is regulated as a payment institution across the EU. DomFlat never holds funds; the money moves directly from tenant to landlord through Stripe's infrastructure.
What about failed payments?
If a SEPA collection fails — because the tenant's account has insufficient funds, or the account is closed — Stripe notifies DomFlat immediately. The landlord receives a notification. The failed payment is logged in the lease history.
SEPA mandates have built-in consumer protections: tenants can dispute a collection up to 8 weeks after it was made (13 months if they claim they didn't authorize it). In practice, disputes on legitimate authorized mandates are extremely rare — but the protection exists. This is the same consumer protection framework that applies to every SEPA Direct Debit across Europe.
What currencies does it support?
SEPA Direct Debit operates in euros. For leases denominated in BGN (Bulgarian lev), DomFlat converts the rent amount at the current exchange rate at the time of collection. The landlord receives the amount in their preferred currency based on their connected account setup.
Is this available to all landlords?
Automatic rent collection via SEPA is available on DomFlat's paid plans. Landlords on the free tier can track leases and payments manually but cannot enable automatic collection. The setup process takes about five minutes: connect a bank account via Stripe, then enable payments on individual leases.
The practical result
For landlords with multiple properties, the difference is significant. Instead of checking bank statements and sending reminders on the first of every month, payments happen automatically and the landlord is only notified if something goes wrong. For tenants, it removes the friction of remembering to make a transfer — rent is just handled.
The goal isn't to replace the landlord-tenant relationship — it's to remove the part of that relationship that's purely administrative friction, and shouldn't require either party's attention every month.