When a rental invoice stays Open or Overdue when you expected it to be paid, a payment has failed: card declined, insufficient funds, a revoked pre-authorized debit mandate, or simply a pre-authorized payment still processing. This article helps you diagnose the cause and take the right action.
Who this article is for
Diagnosing a failed payment needs access to invoices and payment methods. Every role can view them. Issuing a refund, changing the payment method, or unblocking access requires the Owner or Manager role.
How an automatic billing cycle works
For a rental on automatic billing:
1. On the renewal date, Stripe generates an invoice for the rent.
2. Stripe immediately attempts the charge on the customer's default payment method.
3. Success: the invoice moves to Paid, the customer gets a receipt, and access is restored if it was suspended.
4. Failure: the invoice stays Open, a failure timestamp is recorded, the customer gets a failure email, access may be suspended, and Stripe may retry depending on your Stripe Connect account's settings.
The failure timestamp on the invoice triggers the late fee grace period and, depending on the configured provider, access suspension at the gate.
Diagnosing an invoice that isn't Paid
Step 1 — Identify the invoice
Step 1.
Open the customer's record.
Step 2.
Go to the Invoices section.
Step 3.
Find the invoice in question (number, amount, date) and open its record.
Step 2 — Check the local status
On the invoice list, the Open and Overdue tabs filter directly to the invoices that need attention:
The invoice list filtered to Open: each invoice shows the customer, the unit, and the status badge.
On the invoice's own record:
Status in the Summary section (Open, Overdue, Paid). Recent activity shows payment attempts and their outcomes. Payments lists the payments actually applied (card, PAD, offline).
An Open invoice's record: the status badge sits at the top next to the invoice number, with the history in Recent activity.
Step 3 — Check the payment method
If the invoice is Open after a failure:
Step 1.
Go to the customer's record, Payment method section.
Step 2.
Confirm there's a valid default payment method (card or PAD).
Step 3.
If the card expired or the PAD was revoked, the record may show no default method. See the Payment methods and automatic billing article to add or change a card.
The rental record's Billing panel also shows the current payment method and the next invoice date:
A rental's Billing panel: this is where the payment method, frequency, and next invoice date live.
Step 4 — Check in Stripe
For cases where Stortech says Open but the customer insists they paid:
Check the matching Invoice object in the connected account's Stripe dashboard. Check the exact decline code (card declined, insufficient funds, etc.). For a PAD payment, the object may show processing for 1 to 5 business days; that's normal.
Step 5 — Check gate access
Step 1.
On the rental record, go to the Activity tab.
Step 2.
If access was suspended, the history mentions it with the date.
Step 3.
Access is only restored automatically once every other rental invoice for that customer is paid.
A debit that succeeded, then was taken back by the bank
A special case, and the most confusing one: the pre-authorized debit settled normally, the invoice moved to Paid, then a few days later the customer's bank takes the amount back. You then receive a dispute notice.
This is not the same thing as a declined payment. A debit without sufficient funds is normally declined before it settles: it shows up as a simple failed payment, with no fee and no notice. Here, the money really had left the customer's account, and the bank took it back afterwards. A return after settlement necessarily goes through the dispute procedure, with the fees that come with it.
That simple decline now reads precisely: Insufficient funds in the customer's bank account (pre-authorized debit). If you see this wording, it is not a card: ask about the tenant's bank account, not their card. The card wording stays a separate category, and a failure that doesn't name a payment method still shows the old card wording — so that is not proof it was a card.
What this changes for you
The amount is taken back from your account, and the payment provider adds a dispute fee on top. So you are debited more than the rent.
The rent is still owed by the tenant. The reversal cancels the collection, not the debt.
This type of return cannot be disputed. No evidence can be submitted and the case closes as soon as it opens. Don't waste time building a case: there is nothing to win.
The word "dispute" does not mean the tenant complained. The notice uses the same vocabulary whatever the reason, including for a simple lack of funds. The reason recorded on the case is more reliable than the word "dispute" itself.
What to do
Step 1.
Read the reason recorded on the case. "Insufficient funds" and "unauthorized payment" don't call for the same conversation with the tenant.
Step 2.
Call the tenant. It's the only way to know whether they contacted their bank or their account was simply overdrawn, and it's useful for what follows either way.
Step 3.
Agree on how the reclaimed rent will be collected: a new debit, a card, or an offline payment that you then record on the invoice.
Step 4.
Decide whether you charge your declined-payment fee, according to your facility's policy.
Step 5.
Look at the next due date before it arrives. If next month's debit is already scheduled on the same bank account, it will go out as planned. Change the payment method, or switch the rental to manual billing, if you don't want to go through the same thing again.
If a return of this kind hits several tenants at the same time, tell support: it is often the sign of something other than an isolated case.
Safe actions (no approval needed)
Explain the situation to the customer (PAD delay, card declined, etc.).
Ask the customer to update their payment method via their portal.
Resend the portal link if the customer can't log in. See the article Customer can't log in.
Wait for Stripe's next automatic retry.
Actions that require approval
Refund an already-paid invoice (the Refund button on the record).
Cancel or archive an unpaid invoice — goes through support.
Waive an already-issued late fee. See the article Late fees.
Manually edit an invoice amount or status — goes through support.
Reactivate gate access while unpaid invoices remain.
Common issues
Invoice Open after a card failure. What to do?
What to check: what payment method is on the customer's record? Has the card expired?
What to do: ask the customer to update their card via their portal.
Invoice Open after a PAD failure, and the reason names the bank account. What does that mean?
What to check: PAD failures now name the rail. “Insufficient funds in the customer's bank account (pre-authorized debit)” means the account the mandate draws from, not a card.
What to do: ask the tenant about that bank account, not their card. A PAD failure that carries no payment method still shows the older card-worded reason — that wording alone is not proof it was a card.
Invoice Open with a recent PAD payment. Is that normal?
What to check: add 1 to 5 business days to the PAD timeline.
What to do: wait for confirmation. See the article Pre-authorized debit (ACSS / PAD).
Stripe shows Paid but Stortech says Open. What to do?
What to check: does Recent activity show the webhook arriving? Did the Inngest runs go through?
What to do: the webhook may have failed or still be processing. Contact support for a replay if needed.
Access wasn't restored after payment. Why?
What to check: is any other rental invoice for that customer still unpaid?
What to do: if every invoice is paid but access stays blocked, contact support.
The customer paid cash or by cheque. How do I mark the invoice Paid manually?
What to check: was the offline payment actually received?
What to do: record the payment from the invoice record. See Recording an offline payment on an invoice. If in doubt, contact support to avoid a double payment.
The customer says they paid twice. What to do?
What to check: does the Stripe dashboard show both payments?
What to do: issue a refund via the Refund button on the invoice (if the same invoice was paid twice) or via the Stripe dashboard (if the payments landed on different invoices).
Frequently asked questions
Why is the customer's invoice Open when they have a payment method on file? — Stripe attempted the charge and it failed: expired card, insufficient funds, revoked mandate, or another decline code. Check the invoice's Recent activity for the exact code.
The customer pays by pre-authorized debit. The invoice has been pending for several days. Is that normal? — Yes, up to 5 business days for confirmation. PAD is slower than a card. See the article Pre-authorized debit (ACSS / PAD).
Stripe says the invoice is paid, but Stortech says it's Open. Why? — The Stripe webhook may have failed or still be processing. Check recent Inngest runs; if the webhook failed, contact support for a replay.
The customer's gate access is blocked after a failed payment. How do I restore it? — Once the payment succeeds, access is restored automatically, provided no other rental invoice for that customer is unpaid.
How do I retry a failed payment? — Stripe retries automatically per your settings. To force a retry, ask the customer to pay manually via their portal, or click Retry payment from the invoice record if available.
The customer says they paid twice. What do I do? — Check the Stripe dashboard: if the invoice was paid twice, issue a refund via the Refund button on the invoice. If the payments were applied to different invoices, contact support.