The Digital Landlord
A practical guide to digitising rent in Uganda — Space Codes, mobile money collections, bank settlements, receipts and arrears, the Ugandan way.
What's inside
Eight chapters, start to settled
From what digital rent actually means to running a portfolio from abroad — each chapter is a self-contained, practical read.
- 1
What "digital rent" actually means
Not an app your tenants must love — a payment identity per unit (the Space Code), mobile money they already use, and records that survive phone changes, staff changes and memory. The three artifacts that replace the cash bag: the payment alert, the settlement confirmation, the verifiable receipt.
- 2
Setting up your property
Properties and spaces; what a Space Code is; assigning tenants (each gets a welcome SMS); custom terms per property — what you call your units and customers. A 20-minute setup walkthrough, ending with the first test payment.
- 3
Getting paid: collections
How tenants pay with the mobile money they already use — FlexiPay, MTN MoMo or Airtel Money; due-date reminders at 7, 3, 1 and 0 days, never duplicated; and what happens the second a payment confirms — receipt to the tenant, alert to you.
- 4
Getting your money: settlements
Realtime vs Lumpsum in plain language; bank account verification — name-matched with the bank before the first payout, human-reviewed if unclear; the double confirmation; and on managed properties, how the manager's commission travels separately while both of you get confirmations.
- 5
Arrears without the awkwardness
Reading the arrears view; one-click balance reminders across a property; per-tenant reminders from the space page; everything recorded on the tenant's notice history — your evidence trail if things ever escalate legally.
- 6
Trust instruments
QR-verifiable receipts — what a scan shows and what it hides; permanent records; observers for spouses and accountants; and why links can't leak your data — they resolve per person.
- 7
Working with a manager
Engagement modes — silent, informed or fully engaged; what changes and what you keep (your bank, your confirmations, your visibility); and the manager's brand on tenant-facing artifacts — why that's good for you too.
- 8
The landlord abroad
Email as the primary channel, observers at home, verifying receipts from anywhere. One honest reminder: settlements land in Ugandan banks — moving money onward is between you and your bank.
Appendices: a setup checklist, samples of the SMS your tenants will receive, and a glossary covering Space Code, settlement, Realtime, Lumpsum and observer.
Key takeaways
If you remember six things
The ideas the whole guide keeps coming back to.
Three artifacts replace the cash bag
The payment alert, the settlement confirmation and the verifiable receipt — together they close every gap where cash used to disappear.
Reminders that never nag twice
Due-date reminders go out at 7, 3, 1 and 0 days — never duplicated — and every reminder is recorded on the tenant's notice history.
Your bank, verified before a shilling moves
Payout accounts are name-matched with the bank before the first settlement, with human review when anything looks unclear.
Observers see everything, touch nothing
Add a spouse or accountant as an observer: notified of every collection, with no login and no access to funds.
Records outlive phones, staff and memory
Receipts are permanent and QR-verifiable; statements and notice trails survive phone changes and personnel changes.
Managers add hands, not blind spots
Working with a manager changes who does the work — not what you see. You keep your bank, your confirmations and your visibility.
Reading from abroad?
Chapter 8 cross-references our diaspora material: email as your primary channel, observers on the ground at home, and receipt verification from anywhere in the world.
Prefer the guided version?
Book a free walkthrough and we'll take you through the whole setup — from first property to first settlement — in about twenty minutes.