Earlier this year Bilt Rewards launched. Bilt is really two things: a platform for paying rent & a credit card. Bilt has made a number of positive changes and are as follows:
Card changes
- Card earns at the following rates:
- 1x on rent payments with no fees (on up to $50,000 in rent payments every year) and all other purchases
- 2x points on travel (when booked directly with an airline, hotel, car rental or cruise
company) - Â 3x points on dining
- You must make a minimum of five purchases per month to earn rewards
Loyalty changes
- Earn Interest on Points (Silver, Gold, Platinum). This is based on the FDIC national savings rate.
- Bilt’s Homeownership Concierge (Gold, Platinum). If you use your points towards home loan down payment you get a dedicated concierge to guide you through the process
- Bonus Points on New Leases or Renewals (Silver, Gold, Platinum). Up to 50% bonus points on top of points issued by landlords to
members for signing for new tenant leases and lease renewal. - Complimentary Bilt Collection Gift. When you reach Platinum status you get a complimentary gift from the Bilt collection.
- Status is now earned at the following tiers:
- Blue: base status
- Silver: 25,000 points earned
- Gold: 50,000 points earned
- Platinum: 100,000 points earned
Rewards changes
- IHG has been added as a 1:1 transfer partner
Our Verdict
The IHG addition is a bit of a nothing as the other transfer partners are significantly better. Simplifying elite status and earning rates is a good idea as before the program was far too convoluted. My main issue with Bilt still remains unresolved as there is no guarantee that your rent payment will arrive on time and that has been an issue with other similar rent payment systems in the past. Bilt has just raised $60 million
I filled out the application weeks ago and haven’t received a response back yet. When I attempt to go to where it says review application, it doesn’t do anything. I’ve even tried to do a whole new application and it won’t allow me to. Idk what to do.
Call the Wells Fargo Credit Card reconsideration line: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/credit-cards/credit-card-reconsideration-line-telephone-numbers/#Wells_Fargo_Credit_Card_Reconsideration even though you weren’t denied. You should call anytime you aren’t instantly approved. How to prepare: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/tips-for-reconsideration-phone-calls/
I was checking out Biltrewards and it seems currently one can sign up only when invited.
Does it mean invited by Bilt directly or is there a referral scheme?
Any referral bonus they offer?
Skip the Bilt waitlist with code FM4BILT
Whose referral code is this?
Frequent Miler
Is this for any rental property or their own catalog of properties?
There are four situations:
1. You don’t have the credit card, and your property is NOT on the list below: no benefits.
2. You don’t have the credit card, but your property is on the list below: You get a fixed 250 points per rent payment.
3. You sign up for the credit card, but your property is NOT on the list below: you can pay rent with the card and get 1x back. Bilt will mail your landlord a check.
4. You sign up for the credit card, and your property is on the list below: you pay rent directly online and get 1x back.
One open question from me is how they handle variable rent (my water/sewer/trash bill is added to rent).
AMLI Residential
Avalon Bay Communities
Blackstone
Camden Property Trust
Cushman & Wakefield
Equity Residential
GID-Windsor Communities
Highmark Residential
Lennar Multifamily
LivCor
The Moinian Group
Morgan Properties
Related Companies
SL Green Realty Corp.
Starwood Capital Group
Trammell Crow Residential
Veritas Investments
thanks for the information.
Whats the value of 1pt? thats the question. Anyone have info on this?
With 9 different transfer partners, the value of the point is really up to who you transfer to and your individual redemption. If you want to use points to cover the downpayment of a home, they are worth up to 1.5 cents each.
I think this could be valuable if there’s no minimum spend requirement on the 5 monthly transactions.
There is no minimum spend amount, but obviously with 2X and 3X categories we hope you keep the card in your wallet all the time.
How does the DoorDash credit on the Bilt card work? Is it $10 per month spread out over 12 months, and is there a spending requirement?
Looks like it is $5 off x 2 orders per month. There is probably a minimum or for delivery only. If you can get 2% or 2.5% for your rent payment, less a small fee for a debit card payment, that is obviously the way to go. If your landlord does not offer any low cost way to pay by credit card, 1% is better than nothing, will just have to make 5 small transactions per month to get the benefit. I would not try too hard to do any extra charging to make their silver tier, getting .06% interest on your points won’t be worth much. But if your rent is $2,000 per month, why not charge a few bucks a month and you might get $2 in interest lol
It’s the MasterCard benifit that all MasterCard cc have. $5 discount on first 2 orders, not combinable with other promo codes. Big meh
It’s only for “world elite” MasterCards. Not all Mastercard cards.
Overall, positive changes. A flat 1x on all rent spending (so long as you make 5 transactions per month) will make it much easier for a current tenant to justify getting this card.
My biggest questions are:
1) Does the “Homeownership Concierge” for Gold and Platinum statuses only imply that redeeming points towards a down payment on a home will only be applicable if you qualify for Gold or Platinum status? (If so, that’s a huge disadvantage.)
2) Are there any additional ways to earn extra point multipliers? Ex: Would a Gold or Platinum member get 2x+ on rent spend or a different category? (Putting everyone at 1x on rent spend is easy to administer, but doesn’t reward the higher spenders as much.)
1) No, anyone can redeem points towards a home purchase
2) Bilt Alliance landlords will be award points for renewing a lease, referring a friend, maintenance failures and plenty of other uses that will be up to building management to administer. This is probably the easiest way to earn additional big points.
So I guess I’ll ask the obvious question….can I pay my friend/SO for “rent” and get 1x? Maybe this is discussed somewhere I missed.
Your friend/SO will now have a record of Rental income they would need to report on their taxes.
Is your friend/SO a registered landlord?
What is a registered landlord? I’ve never heard of a landlord registration. Maybe in major cities.
I don’t know for sure, but it seems possible, because Bilt cuts a check to landlords outside of their system.
If the address where you want to mail the check is not to a leasing office at an apartment complex that shows up in a quick google map search, and/or it is not payable to a company, you will probably have to provide a written lease and other documentation.
No, we will ask to review the lease in most cases.
Anyone know off hand if by Rent that also can be Mortgage?
They clarify that it can’t be used for mortgage payments, “YET” so it’s likely coming down the road but not available currently
Interesting, where did you see that? I saw on the FAQs that it says “right now” BILT is focused on helping renters build toward homeownership, but I didn’t see the word “yet.” Obviously the wordings have similar implications, but I’m wondering if I’ve missed another place it’s mentioned.
Thank you for the answer! Great to hear.
It cannot be a mortgage. Commercial rent is also excluded at this time.
@Richard My parents own my house outright and I cut them a check every month until I pay off what they paid for it. Is this an acceptable use of the rent pay feature?