Wall Street Journal, August 25, 2024, Pay Your Rent, Get 2% Cash Back: Landlords Join Craze For Rewards
Traditional concessions include a month or two of free rent or a discount on utilities, but monthly rewards offer a new format. Some rental-rewards companies, like Stake, offer cash back. With Piñata, people accrue and cash in points for home goods, gift cards and other products from merchants including Amazon, CVS, Target and Walmart. Many companies say renters can count rental payments toward their credit scores.
A return on rent is better than nothing, but these prizes are relatively tiny compared with the cost of rent. They’re also generally worth less than the more conventional incentives landlords offer.