Security
How your money moves.
In plain language: where a rent payment goes, what Houzito can and cannot see, and what happens when a payment fails or is disputed.
The path of a payment
Tenant to landlord, through Stripe. Never through Houzito.
Houzito sends the request for payment and keeps the record. Stripe, a regulated payment processor, moves the money.
- 01
The tenant pays
The tenant pays on a checkout page hosted by Stripe, by bank account or card. The payment details are typed into Stripe, not into Houzito.
- 02
A charge on the landlord's own account
Every payment is a direct charge on the landlord's own Stripe account. The money settles there, not in an account Houzito controls.
- 03
Stripe pays out
Stripe sends the payout to the landlord's bank account. Houzito never holds the money at any point along the way.
What Houzito sees
Enough to keep the books. Never your credentials.
- Houzito never sees bank login details. Bank accounts are connected through Stripe.
- Houzito never sees or stores full card numbers. Card details go straight to Stripe.
- What Houzito keeps is the record: amounts, dates, statuses and receipts, so both sides can see what was paid and when.
Identity
Stripe verifies who gets paid.
Before a landlord can receive payouts, Stripe verifies their identity and bank account, as US financial rules require. That check happens with Stripe, and Houzito does not store the documents used for it.
When a payment goes wrong
Failed and disputed payments, handled in the open.
- A bank payment can fail days after it was made, for example for insufficient funds. If it does, Stripe takes the amount back from the landlord's account and Houzito reopens the invoice so it can be paid again.
- If a tenant disputes a card payment with their bank, Stripe debits the disputed amount from the landlord's account while the bank reviews it. Houzito marks the payment as disputed, and if the dispute is lost, reopens the invoice.
- Either way, the landlord sees the invoice go back to unpaid, instead of a balance that quietly stops adding up.
Files and documents
Private by default.
- Receipts, lease documents, maintenance photos and other files are stored privately, never at a public address.
- Each time someone opens a file, Houzito checks that they are allowed to see it, then serves it through a signed link that expires within minutes.
E-signature
Signatures tied to the exact document.
When a lease is sent for signature, Houzito records a SHA-256 fingerprint of the document. Before collecting each signature it checks the fingerprint again, and refuses to collect a signature on a document that has changed. Each signature records the typed name, the consent to sign electronically, the time, the IP address and the browser.
What we don't claim
No badges we haven't earned.
Houzito does not have a SOC 2 report or any other compliance certification today, and nothing on this site should be read as claiming one. Card and bank details are handled by Stripe, which is certified as a PCI DSS Level 1 service provider.
Responsible disclosure
Found a vulnerability? Tell us first.
If you believe you have found a security issue in Houzito, email us the details and the steps to reproduce it. Please give us reasonable time to fix it before disclosing it publicly, and do not access other people's data or disrupt the service while testing. We will acknowledge your report and keep you informed.
Keep reading
See what the processing costs.
Houzito adds no fee to rent. The pricing page shows exactly what a tenant pays and what you receive.