Question 1

What is hut21 and what problems does it solve?

Accepted Answer

hut21 is property management software for modern real estate in Kenya and East Africa. It eliminates manual spreadsheet tracking and paper receipt books by automating M-PESA rent reconciliation, providing digital tenant onboarding with legally compliant guarantor tracking, calculating opt-in late fees, tracking sub-meter utilities, and generating real-time rental P&L reports.

Question 2

How does hut21 automate M-PESA rent collection in Kenya?

Accepted Answer

hut21 integrates directly with Safaricom M-PESA Daraja APIs for both C2B Paybill and STK push payments. When a tenant pays rent, the platform matches the transaction to the lease ledger in sub-200 milliseconds, marks the rent invoice as paid, and sends an automated SMS receipt via Africa's Talking.

Question 3

Does hut21 support tenant guarantor records compliant with Kenyan rental practices?

Accepted Answer

Yes. hut21 captures complete guarantor records during self-service digital onboarding, including guarantor full legal name, phone number, National ID or passport number, relationship to the tenant, and employer details.

Question 4

Are late fees mandatory or can landlords customize them?

Accepted Answer

Late fees on hut21 are strictly opt-in per lease. Landlords choose whether to enable penalties, select between a percentage fee (e.g. 5%) or a fixed penalty (e.g. KES 1,000), set customizable grace period days, or disable late fees completely.

Question 5

Can landlords generate KRA-compliant financial reports?

Accepted Answer

Yes. hut21 tracks all gross rental revenues, operating expenditures, maintenance receipts, and agent commissions, allowing landlords to export Net Operating Income (NOI) statements ready for filing Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) rental income tax returns.

Question 6

Can tenants submit maintenance requests without logging in?

Accepted Answer

Yes. hut21 provides a quick public reporting portal at https://hut21.com/report where tenants can submit maintenance requests with photos and descriptions, which are routed immediately to property managers and caretakers.