A rent receipt is a short, signed note from the landlord that says who paid, how much, for which home and rental period, and how. Give one for every payment, especially cash, and keep your copy.
What goes on a rent receipt
New York's receipt law lists four things a receipt must show: the date, the amount, the property and the period the rent covers, and the signature and title of the person who took the money. Use that as your minimum, whatever state you're in.
Three more lines prevent most arguments: how the rent was paid (with the check or reference number), any balance still owed, and a receipt number. The maker adds all three.
Is a rent receipt required by law?
In some states, yes, and mostly when the rent is paid in cash. Other states may have their own rules, so check yours.
| State | When a receipt is required | Law |
|---|---|---|
| New York | Every payment in cash or anything other than the tenant's personal check. For a personal check, when the tenant asks in writing. Cash receipt records kept at least 3 years. | Real Property Law § 235-e |
| Maryland | When the tenant pays cash or asks for a receipt. In Anne Arundel County, every payment not made by check. | Real Property § 8-205 |
| Washington | Every cash payment the landlord accepts. Other payments, when the tenant asks. | RCW 59.18.063 |
| Minnesota | Cash rent: right away in person, within 3 business days otherwise. | Minn. Stat. § 504B.118 |
| Connecticut | Cash payments, with the date, amount and purpose. | Gen. Stat. § 47a-3a |
| California | When the person paying asks. A general rule for any debt, not only rent. | Civil Code § 1499 |
So can a landlord refuse a receipt for cash rent? Not in the first five states in the table. A Washington landlord can say no to cash, but once they take it, they owe a receipt. This is general information about these six states, not legal advice.
Partial payments: one receipt for each
A receipt matters most when the rent comes in pieces. Say Jordan owes $1,450 for October and pays $1,000 in cash on October 3, in Minnesota. Jordan gets a receipt that day showing $1,000 paid and $450 still owed. When the other $450 arrives on October 10, that's a second receipt with a balance of $0. Nobody has to remember a conversation.
To make the second one, change the receipt number, the date and the amount in the maker, and set the balance to 0.
How the maker works
The receipt updates as you type and prints on one page with nothing else on it. For a PDF, choose "Save as PDF" in your browser's print window. The English version also writes the amount out in words, the way a check does. Amounts can run from $0.01 to $1,000,000, with up to two decimals. The maker doesn't save what you type.
When you're collecting rent from fifty units
One receipt takes a minute. Chasing fifty units for rent every month, with reminders and follow-ups, is a real job. If your team runs on Microsoft Teams or Slack, Dash drafts those reminders and follow-ups from your property management system, such as AppFolio, and every message waits for a person to approve it before it goes out. See how it works for property management teams, or compare the AI agents property managers use.