Q: How Much Does It Cost To Use Guardian Inspection Payments For My Credit Card Processing Needs?
A: Our standard rates are 1.7% for debit transactions, 2.69% for traditional credit cards, 3.29% for corporate cards, and some high-tier rewards cards. Each transaction has a $0.30 transaction fee. All of these fees can be passed on to your client by adding a “convenience fee” or “transaction fee” to your invoice in ISN.
Guardian has NO monthly fees, NO annual fees, and NO PCI compliance fees, and we guarantee to beat your current rate! We offer custom pricing based on volume, and we also provide ACH and surcharging pricing.
Q: How Much Does It Cost To Offer FlexFund?
A: The cost of a FlexFund transaction is $50, however, Guardian and ISN will provide you with a recommended fee structure to help you offset this. A representative can go through these details with you, and we recommend you take a look at this video below!*
*Note: Consumer finance laws do not allow businesses to charge their customers a fee for deferring payment. Charging a fee to pay over time makes you a lender and requires a license to do so. Therefore, in order to offer FlexFund legally, your business needs to offer FlexFund for free on every inspection and then build the FlexFund fee into the cost of all of your inspections.
Q: When Do I Get Paid When Offering FlexFund?
A: Once the inspection is completed, Guardian sends home inspectors the funds the following business day. Inspectors should see the funds reflected in their account within 1-2 business days.
Q: When Offering FlexFund, Am I Required To Offer It On Every Inspection, Or Can I Choose On a per-inspection basis?
A: You will have the opportunity to select which inspections are eligible for FlexFund based on your business requirements. We are staffing our team to support companies fully integrating FlexFund into their business by providing this option with every standard inspection. We believe that together we have the opportunity to change the way customers pay for inspections, and in turn, will drive more business to our inspection community. We may decide to add additional options as we learn and grow with this product.
Q: How Do I Deactivate FlexFund In ISN?
A: To deactivate FlexFund and restore all your ISN system settings to their original configuration, you must first submit this form, after which a Guardian representative will contact you to complete the process.
Q: What happens if the client doesn’t purchase the home?
A: When your customer completes the FlexFund agreement, they will be providing credit card information and agreeing to let Guardian bill their credit card if we have not received funds from the closing within five days after the closing date. A charge of $0.01 will be placed on their credit card to confirm validity. We will always work with customers who have had their closing pushed back for any reason. However, if we do not hear from a customer and have not received payment from the title/ escrow/ attorney within five days of the original closing date, we will process their credit card for the total amount of the inspection.
Q: How will Guardian acquire a credit card from the client as a backup payment method?
A: When the customer chooses FlexFund, we ask them to provide credit card information as a backup payment source if the home sale does not close. In that process, we will ask pertinent questions regarding billing addresses and security codes. Guardian takes on all liability around payments so that if there is a problem with the credit card, it will be Guardian's responsibility to collect payment from the customer.
Q: What Information Will I Need To Collect About The Title Company?
A: We will need the title company or attorney name, contact name of the escrow officer or attorney, address, email address, and phone number. ISN will store title company data similar to a client/agent so that you will not need to search for the info every time.
Q: What happens if a client doesn’t know their title company?
A: There is an option on the FlexFund agreement where you can enter your closing company information or, if you don’t have it, you can check the box that says you don’t have it and we will reach out to your real estate agent to get that information.
Q: What happens if a client changes their title company?
A: If we become aware that the title company listed initially is no longer handling the closing, we will reach out to the customer, letting them know that we need the new title company information before the original closing date or we will be charging the credit card on file five days after the original closing date.
Q: For States Where The Attorney Picks The Title Company, Is It Acceptable To Input Attorney Information Rather Than The Title Company Information?
A: Yes! We know that in these situations, this will be much more convenient for the home inspector. Guardian Financial will contact the attorney for the relevant title company information.
Q: To Utilize The New FlexFund Feature, Do I Need To Use ISN And Guardian?
A: Yes. This FlexFund product is offered exclusively to Guardian Financial and ISN inspectors. Competitors in your area that do not use ISN or Guardian Financial will not have this risk-free product available. The report lock feature will continue to operate in your ISN the same way it does when you accept credit card transactions.
Q: How Will The Inspection Report Be Released To The Client Without Showing As “Paid.”
A: Once we have received the FlexFund agreement signed by the customer, which will include the credit card authorization, the inspection will be marked as authorized, and the report would be released. Similar to an authorized credit card transaction. If we did not receive the title company information, we would reach out to the customer to gather that information.
Q: What reporting will be available to me?
A: Each transaction will have color-coded icons indicating the transaction’s status in the same way that a credit card processing transaction flows through ISN. You will also receive a FlexFund batch report similar to the current credit card processing batch report. This report will correlate to the deposits made to your bank account.
Q: Does ISN Have Preloaded Email And SMS Events Related To FlexFund?
A: Yes! At the initial launch of the product, there will be a limited number of preloaded email templates. As the product matures, we will be adding additional email templates and SMS events.
Q: What is Guardian Financial’s process for collecting payment from my clients?
A: Guardian handles all aspects of collecting payment from the title company or customer if the transaction does not make it to title. In all situations, we are representing ourselves as Guardian and not the home inspector. The agreement/ invoice that ISN generates is sent to the designated title company for payment. If Guardian is made aware of a canceled transaction or goes past 60 days from the time of inspection, Guardian will bill the credit card that the customer provided when signing the agreement. At the same time, we bill the credit card; we will attempt to reach the customer to let them know we have billed their credit card. We recognize the importance of treating the home inspector’s client fairly and with respect. We anticipate that most transactions that do not make it to title will be paid with the credit card on file and that only a small percentage should have to be collected through an actual collections process.
Q: Can Guardian Financial delay payment beyond 60 days?
A: No. Currently, all FlexFund transactions will be required to fund within 60 days of the time of inspection. That being said, we will work with individual customers who have their closing pushed back and need additional time.
Q: What if the client gives incorrect credit card information or changes their credit card?
A: This will be Guardians’ responsibility to monitor and collect correct credit card information. The system will recognize whether valid credit card information has been entered.
Q: What if the client issues a chargeback with their bank?
A: We’ll handle it directly with the bank. There is nothing that you will need to do. Guardian Financial is taking on all of the risks.
Q: Is FlexFund Available For All Inspection Types?
A: No. Currently, FlexFund will only work with standard home inspections. In the future, we hope to add functionality for additional types of inspections that require more extended closing time frames.
Q: Is this available in Canada?
A: Currently, this option is not available, but our team is actively working to incorporate it in the future.
Q: Does Guardian Financial share data with Porch or any other 3rd party vendor?
A: No. Your data and your client’s data are secure via our CardPointe gateway.
I’m interested! How do I sign up?
Ready to onboard? If you’re already an ISN user, all you need to do is reach out to a member of the Guardian team to turn the FlexFund feature on!
Give us a call at 1-800-608-7363, email us at sales@inspectionpayments.com, or fill out the form
If you are not an ISN user, we recommend reaching out to a member of their team to provide you with all of the amazing features that ISN offers to help run your inspection business. Once you are an ISN member, the FlexFund feature can be turned on for you. ISN Contact: 1-800-608-7363
Want more options?
Need more help?
If you have any questions about this process please let us know! You can reach us by chat, email at help@inspectionsupport.com, or phone at (800) 700-8112.