Rent Collection · Troubleshooting
Rent Collection: troubleshooting
Fixes for common rent collection problems and error messages. For how it works, see Rent Schedules & Rent Collection; for steps, see Rent Collection: how-to.
Rent Collection only shows overdue rent
Section titled “Rent Collection only shows overdue rent”Why it happens: the organisation panel opens filtered to the Overdue card, from yesterday, including older overdue rent.
How to fix it: click the Overdue card again to clear it, or choose another card, or change Include rent records from.
I marked rent as paid but the totals haven’t changed
Section titled “I marked rent as paid but the totals haven’t changed”Why it happens: the rent record updates straight away, but the summary cards don’t refresh on their own.
How to fix it: reload the page.
Where are the status filter and tenant search?
Section titled “Where are the status filter and tenant search?”Why it happens: the status, Payment reference / Tenant and Any tags filters only appear in the No Grouping view.
How to fix it: choose No Grouping. Grouping goes back to Property when you reload.
I can’t see Rent Collection for a room
Section titled “I can’t see Rent Collection for a room”Why it happens:
- Rent Collection is switched off for the property.
- The room is deactivated, or has no current tenancy.
- Your role doesn’t include Rent Collection.
- The room’s rent is managed outside COHO (the panel says “Rent collection and finance management for this room is handled outside of COHO.”).
How to fix it: turn Rent Collection on in the property’s services, check the room has a current tenancy, or ask an admin for permission.
The panel says I can only manage GoCardless
Section titled “The panel says I can only manage GoCardless”Why it happens: your role has Integrations access but not Rent Collection.
How to fix it: ask an admin for view (or edit) permission for Rent Collection.
I can see rent but none of the buttons
Section titled “I can see rent but none of the buttons”Why it happens: you have view but not edit permission. Logging payments, adding charges, reminders, refunds and imports all need edit permission.
How to fix it: ask an admin for edit permission for Rent Collection.
COHO isn’t creating future rent for a tenancy
Section titled “COHO isn’t creating future rent for a tenancy”Why it happens:
- Automatic generation is off (“Automatic rent generation has been turned OFF for this tenancy”).
- The tenancy is still in its fixed term. COHO only extends rent once a tenancy is periodic; during the fixed term, rent comes from the schedule set up at the start.
- The tenancy isn’t active yet, or has a move-out date.
- A rent change is pending.
- It’s a term-based tenancy, which isn’t generated automatically.
How to fix it: turn automatic generation on in Edit Schedule. If the fixed-term schedule is short, add the missing rent with Edit Schedule or Money due > Rent. New records are added in the background, so they may not appear immediately.
A tenancy shows in Missing rent charges
Section titled “A tenancy shows in Missing rent charges”Why it happens: it has no rent record for a period it should, for example because automatic generation is off, a record was deleted, or the dates changed.
How to fix it: add the rent (Money due > Rent) or fix the schedule. If the gap is fine, click Ignore; this hides it but doesn’t create a charge.
A tenancy is missing rent but isn’t in Missing rent charges
Section titled “A tenancy is missing rent but isn’t in Missing rent charges”Why it happens: the check only covers tenancies that already have at least one rent record, and only the chosen date range (three months back to one month ahead by default).
How to fix it: widen Date from and Date to. If the tenancy has no rent at all, set up its schedule.
Rent shows as overdue the day after it’s due
Section titled “Rent shows as overdue the day after it’s due”Why it happens: the tenancy has no grace period, so rent is overdue as soon as its due date passes.
How to fix it: set a grace period in Edit Schedule > Payments will be overdue immediately – Change. Rent then shows as Due until the grace period ends.
What does “Overdue?” mean?
Section titled “What does “Overdue?” mean?”Why it happens: the rent is past its due date and grace period, nothing has been paid, and nobody has confirmed it’s overdue yet. The tenant sees it as Due.
How to fix it: if it really is late, click View, then Mark overdue, and choose a reason. Sending an overdue reminder also confirms it.
A payment shows as Paid late, but it wasn’t really late
Section titled “A payment shows as Paid late, but it wasn’t really late”Why it happens: the payment date is after the due date plus grace period, or it was logged with the date it was recorded rather than the date it was paid.
How to fix it: click View on the record and Override Paid Late. Next time, tick Override ‘Paid Late’ status to show as paid on time when logging, or use Mark £X paid on time.
% paid on time looks lower than expected
Section titled “% paid on time looks lower than expected”Why it happens: it compares payments with the due date only, ignoring the grace period.
How to fix it: nothing is wrong. Override individual Paid late records if they shouldn’t count.
There are unassigned payments
Section titled “There are unassigned payments”Why it happens: a payment was logged or imported without being linked to a charge, or it was for more than was owed.
How to fix it: open the tenancy (from the dashboard’s Unassigned link or the panel’s warning) and link the payment to the right charge. See Link an unassigned payment.
A payment was counted twice
Section titled “A payment was counted twice”Why it happens: it was logged by hand and also matched from the bank feed in Transactions, or imported twice.
How to fix it: open the rent record, Dissociate the duplicate, then delete the duplicate payment. Payments on an owner settlement can’t be deleted; contact support.
Send a Reminder is missing or won’t send
Section titled “Send a Reminder is missing or won’t send”Why it happens:
- The tenancy has more than one tenant. Reminders only go to a single lead tenant.
- An upcoming-rent reminder was already sent for this charge, or an overdue reminder in the last 24 hours.
- The charge is bad debt, refunded, reversed or redirected, or rent is hidden from the tenant.
- You don’t have edit permission for Rent Collection.
How to fix it: use Credit Control to chase joint tenancies, or wait and try again. Reminders go by email; text reminders aren’t available yet.
The tenant says they didn’t get a receipt
Section titled “The tenant says they didn’t get a receipt”Why it happens: COHO doesn’t send tenants a receipt when you log a payment, refund or credit.
How to fix it: send them a statement (Produce a rent statement) or a message from the Message Centre.
I can’t edit or delete a charge
Section titled “I can’t edit or delete a charge”Why it happens:
- It’s on an owner settlement. Use Reverse instead.
- It was collected through GoCardless (unless the payment failed).
- Payments are linked to it. Dissociate them first.
- It’s a holding deposit that hasn’t been kept, returned or refunded.
- It’s been refunded, kept or reversed, so its amount is fixed.
How to fix it: follow the matching option, or contact support if it’s on a settlement.
I can’t refund a charge
Section titled “I can’t refund a charge”Why it happens: refunds are only for charges paid in full, not bad debt, and not on an owner settlement.
How to fix it: for part-paid charges, adjust with Rent credit or edit the payment. For settled charges, Reverse first, put the payment against a new Money due item, then refund that.
Reassociate isn’t there
Section titled “Reassociate isn’t there”Why it happens: the tenancy has owner settlements, so re-matching every payment could change money already paid out.
How to fix it: link payments one at a time from the rent records instead.
Error messages
Section titled “Error messages”| Message (as shown) | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| “You do not have permission to view rent collection for this organisation” | Your role can’t see Rent Collection | Ask an admin for view permission |
| “You do not have permission to manage rent collection for this organisation” | Your role can’t change rent records | Ask an admin for edit permission |
| “You do not have permission to manage holding fees on the rent schedule for this organisation” | Holding deposits need an extra permission | Ask an admin for the holding fees permission |
| “A rent payment with a negative amount cannot be created” | The amount is below zero | Enter a positive amount; use a refund to give money back |
| “Creating payment association will result in more being associated against a rent due item than the amount due” | You linked more to a charge than it’s for | Reduce the amount linked, or leave the extra unassigned |
| “Rent due item cannot be found which likely means it isn’t payable” | The charge was deleted or changed | Reload and pick another charge |
| “Cannot add a negative rent due item.” | Money due below zero | Use Rent credit to reduce what’s owed |
| “Date due cannot be so long ago.” / “Date due cannot be so far into the future.” | The date is more than 50 years out | Check the date |
| “You cannot reduce the amount to be less than the total payments associated to this record. First remove those assigned payments” | Payments already cover more than the new amount | Dissociate payments first |
| “You cannot change the amount on a rent due item where it has a state of …” | It’s been refunded, kept, redirected or reversed | Leave it, or add a new charge |
| “Cannot set a rent due item to an amount of zero or less” | You tried to edit it to zero | Delete it if it was never due |
| “Cannot delete a rent due item which has payments assigned to it” | Payments are linked | Dissociate them first |
| “Holding deposits must be dealt with (kept or returned/refunded) before rent due records can be removed” | A holding deposit is still open | Keep or return it first |
| “Cannot delete a payment that has a full or partial refund. First cancel the refund on the related rent due item” | The payment was refunded | Cancel Refund first |
| “Payment has financial items that are included in a settlement. You need to delete that settlement first” | The payment is on an owner settlement | Contact support, or use Reverse on the charge |
| “Only a rent due item that is fully paid can be refunded” | Part-paid or unpaid | Use Rent credit, or wait until it’s paid |
| “Cannot refund a bad debt rent due item” | It’s written off | Unset as Bad Debt first if you need to refund |
| “Rent due item is already reversed” | Already undone | Nothing to do |
| “Fully paid monies cannot be marked as bad debt” | Nothing is owed | Nothing to do |
| “Cannot mark a reversed rent due record as paid” | It’s reversed | Add a new charge if needed |
| “Cannot send a rent due notification on a tenancy with multiple tenants. Try the credit control tool which supports this.” | Joint tenancy | Use Credit Control |
| “Cannot send another upcoming rent notification” | A reminder for this charge was already sent | Wait until it’s due or overdue |
| “Cannot send another rent overdue notification with 24 hours” | An overdue reminder went in the last 24 hours | Try again tomorrow |
| “No records found in the file or format issue” / “No columns found in the header row” | The import file is empty or missing headings | Use the template from Guidance & Import Template |
| “No date columns found with a supported format: yyyy/MM/dd, yyyy-MM-dd, or yyyy/M/dd” | Dates are in another format (e.g. dd/mm/yyyy) | Reformat the dates |
| “A negative value of … as provided. All values must be positive numbers” | The file has a negative amount | Use positive amounts; use type credit for credits |
| “File provided contains a Type row with value ‘…’ which is not a valid option” | Unknown Type | Use payment, credit, rent, other, deposit or arrears |
| “Payment method of type ‘…’ not recognised” | Unknown PaymentMethod | Use one of the methods listed in the template |
| “No tenancy(ies) loaded for rent collection import” | The tenancy numbers didn’t match | Use the tenancy numbers from the template |