Stessa Review (2026): Owner, Thread Bank and the 3.49% APY
Quick Answer
Stessa is landlord software owned by Roofstock, and the bank accounts inside it are issued by Thread Bank of Rogersville, Tennessee, the same bank and the same middleware company (Unit Finance Inc.) that sit behind Baselane. As of October 10, 2026: JLL announced the sale of Stessa to Roofstock on March 3, 2021, and Stessa, Inc. is listed in JLL's 10-K subsidiary exhibits for fiscal years 2017 to 2020 and not in the one for 2021. Stessa's own privacy policy names Stessa Inc. among the Roofstock companies. Stessa itself files nothing with the SEC. The headline “up to 3.49% APY” is a formula in the Thread agreement, the Fed's target-range midpoint minus 30 basis points times 0.96, and it applies only to Pro ($28 a month on an annual plan, $336 a year) with $250,000 or more; the free plan pays 0.57% to 2.02%. With the Fed range at 3.75% to 4.00% we reproduced all ten published rates (our arithmetic). The CFPB database returns 0 complaints for Stessa, Roofstock or Thread Bank, and Trustpilot shows 3.5 from 26 reviews. This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.
Key Takeaways
- Ownership trail: JLL's March 3, 2021 release says “Roofstock will purchase Stessa from JLL”. Stessa, Inc. appears in the Exhibit 21.1 subsidiary lists of JLL's 10-Ks for fiscal 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, and does not appear in the one filed February 28, 2022. Roofstock's About page lists Stessa among its acquisitions, and Roofstock merged with Mynd in 2024 (company claim).
- Same bank as Baselane: Stessa's footnote says “Banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC”, and the Thread agreement for the Stessa program names Unit Finance Inc. as a service provider, word for word what Baselane's agreement says. Thread had $1,110,596,000 of assets on June 30, 2026 (FDIC data) and was under FDIC consent order FDIC-24-0022b from May 21, 2024 to December 22, 2025, an order that names neither company.
- The 3.49% APY needs two things at once: the Pro plan ($336 a year) and a balance of $250,000 or more. On the free Essentials plan the five tiers pay 0.57%, 0.93%, 1.29%, 1.66% and 2.02% APY. All ten rates come from one formula, (Fed midpoint minus 0.30) times a tier factor of 0.16 to 0.96, so a quarter-point Fed move changes the top Pro tier by 0.24 points (our arithmetic).
- Stessa's own pricing page disagrees with itself: the plan cards say “Up to 1.88% APY” and “Up to 3.24% APY”, the table and footnote say 2.02% and 3.49%. The older figures are exactly what the formula gives at the previous Fed range of 3.50% to 3.75% (our arithmetic), so the cards look stale rather than different.
- Against Baselane's free Core plan, Stessa Pro pays more interest after its fee only from the $250,000 band: $8,389 against $7,200 a year on $250,000 (our arithmetic). At $20,000, Baselane's posted 1.94% earns $388; Stessa Essentials earns $186.
- Rent collection: Stessa says landlords never pay fees; tenants pay nothing for ACH into a Stessa Cash Management account, $2 for ACH into an outside bank and 3% on cards. Baselane lists 3.49% on cards and $2 on ACH. Both say ACH rent can take up to 5 business days unless you pay for the faster plan.
- Complaints and scores: 0 CFPB complaints match Stessa, Roofstock, Thread Bank or Baselane on October 9, 2026, against 29,228 for a consumer-bank control, and business accounts are largely outside that database. Trustpilot shows Stessa at 3.5 from 26 reviews (50% five-star, 38% one-star), a small sample.
CSV · 169 rows
Stessa in primary records: ownership, Thread Bank agreement terms, the APY formula, pricing, fees and complaint counts
169 sourced rows: JLL and Roofstock ownership records, a fund's marks on Roofstock stock, the Thread Bank agreement terms for Stessa, all ten APY tiers and their formula, Thread Bank's FDIC data and consent order, Stessa and Baselane pricing, fees and limits, CFPB counts and Trustpilot aggregates.
Who owns Stessa: from JLL to Roofstock
Stessa is a software business, not an investment, and it files nothing with the SEC: a company search for “stessa” on EDGAR returns “No matching companies”. The ownership trail is therefore in other companies' records.
| Date | What the record says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Fiscal 2017 to 2020 | Stessa, Inc. is listed once in Exhibit 21.1 (subsidiaries) of each JLL Form 10-K: filed February 23, 2018, February 26, 2019, February 27, 2020 and February 18, 2021 | SEC EDGAR, JLL 10-K exhibits (our count) |
| March 3, 2021 | JLL announced a deal with Roofstock that included a minority investment in Roofstock, and said: “Roofstock will purchase Stessa from JLL”. The release says JLL acquired Stessa in 2018 and that Stessa had more than 170,000 properties on its platform (company claim) | JLL press release |
| Fiscal 2021 | Stessa, Inc. is not in Exhibit 21.1 of the 10-K filed February 28, 2022 | SEC EDGAR, JLL 10-K exhibit (our count) |
| October 10, 2026 | Stessa's privacy policy covers “the Roofstock companies”, a list that includes Roofstock, Inc., Roofstock One, Inc. and Stessa Inc.; Roofstock's About page lists Stessa among its acquisitions and says Roofstock and Mynd merged in 2024 | stessa.com and roofstock.com (company documents) |
That makes Stessa one of the Roofstock companies, and on October 10, 2026 the old Roofstock marketplace address returned a redirect to stessa.com; our Roofstock review covers that change and Roofstock's own filings. What those filings show about the parent is thin: Roofstock, Inc.'s last EDGAR filing is a Form D/A dated April 17, 2019, reporting $50,000,000 sold to 29 investors. The only periodic valuation of Roofstock stock we found is in a registered fund's report. At June 30, 2026 The Private Shares Fund's schedule of investments showed Roofstock, Inc. common stock at a cost of $6,130,637 and a fair value of $494,929, and Roofstock Series E preferred at $9,999,990 and $6,162,428. That is 91.9% and 38.4% below cost, 58.7% below on the two lines together (our arithmetic). It is one fund's own fair-value estimate of a private company, not a market price and not a statement about Stessa's accounts, but it is the one outside number on the parent.
Why a landlord should care: your rent roll, your bank link and your books sit with a company whose owner is private and whose reported stock marks are far below what that fund paid. That is not a sign Stessa will fail; it is a reason to keep your own export (the pricing table lists “Full data export” on every plan).
Who holds the cash: Stessa Cash Management runs on Thread Bank
Stessa's banking page says: “Stessa is a financial technology company and is not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC.” The legal documents sit on Thread's own servers, in a folder named “roofstock”. Thread's disclosures for the program, last updated May 7, 2026, say Stessa, Inc. is the “Program Partner” responsible for assisting the bank with administration of the program, and the agreement (last updated March 2, 2026) names Unit Finance Inc. as a service provider. Baselane's agreement uses the same sentence about Unit.
| Question | Stessa Cash Management | Baselane |
|---|---|---|
| Issuing bank | Thread Bank, Rogersville, Tennessee | Thread Bank, Rogersville, Tennessee |
| Middleware named in the agreement | Unit Finance Inc. | Unit Finance Inc. |
| FDIC claim | Up to $3,000,000 through Thread's sweep, $250,000 per program bank | Same wording |
| Program banks on Thread's list | 27 as of November 7, 2025, Thread included (our count); 12 banks make $3,000,000 (our arithmetic) | Same list |
| If an insured bank fails | Thread: “There is no specific time period during which the FDIC must make insurance payments available” | Same disclosure |
| Bank can restrict or close the account | “with or without notice”; cancelling your enrollment in the Stessa app closes the account | “with or without notice” |
| Time limit to sue or arbitrate | 2 years after the claim arises | 2 years after the claim arises |
| Arbitration | Mandatory; opt out in writing within 60 days of opening | Mandatory; same 60-day opt-out |
So the bank-side risks in our Baselane review apply to a Stessa Cash Management account in the same way, and we do not repeat them at length. In short: Thread Bank had $1,110,596,000 of assets and $1,000,034,000 of deposits on June 30, 2026, up from $417,178,000 of assets at December 31, 2022 (FDIC BankFind). On May 21, 2024 the FDIC issued consent order FDIC-24-0022b, which the bank accepted “without admitting or denying any charges”, and which required the board to “review and approve risk tolerance thresholds” for fintech partners and to keep an exit plan; the FDIC terminated it by order dated December 22, 2025, 580 days later (our arithmetic). The order does not name Stessa. Whether any given partner was reviewed is not in the document.
One difference matters in daily use. The Stessa account is not a standalone bank login: its agreement says cancelling enrollment in the app closes the account, so the books, the rent collection and the money are tied together. Export before you leave.
The 3.49% APY is a formula: what it takes to earn it
Stessa advertises “up to 3.49% APY”. The Thread disclosures explain the mechanism: the interest rate is “the midpoint of the federal funds rate target range minus 30 basis points, multiplied by” a factor that depends on your plan and your balance tier. The tier is set by the previous month's aggregate month-end balance under one login, and Thread says the plan and tier are “in our sole discretion”, based on factors that include balance, the number of rental properties and the number and value of active tenancies. Interest compounds monthly. The Fed's September 16, 2026 statement set the range at 3-3/4 to 4 percent, a midpoint of 3.875%, so the base is 3.575% (our arithmetic).
| Previous month-end balance | Factor, Essentials or Manage | Published APY, Essentials or Manage | Factor, Pro | Published APY, Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0 to $9,999.99 | 0.16 | 0.57% | 0.40 | 1.44% |
| $10,000 to $49,999.99 | 0.26 | 0.93% | 0.60 | 2.17% |
| $50,000 to $99,999.99 | 0.36 | 1.29% | 0.70 | 2.53% |
| $100,000 to $249,999.99 | 0.46 | 1.66% | 0.80 | 2.90% |
| $250,000 or more | 0.56 | 2.02% | 0.96 | 3.49% |
Applying the factors to 3.575% gives 0.572%, 0.930%, 1.287%, 1.645% and 2.002% for the first column and 1.430%, 2.145%, 2.503%, 2.860% and 3.432% for Pro; compounded monthly they match every APY in the table (our arithmetic). Stessa's footnote says the rates are “effective as of 09/17/2026” and “variable”. Three consequences follow.
- The headline needs Pro and $250,000. A landlord with $20,000 on the free plan is in the 0.93% row. Pro at the same balance is 2.17%.
- A Fed move hits the top tier hardest. Each tier moves by its factor times the change in the midpoint: 0.24 points for the top Pro tier and 0.14 for the top Essentials tier per quarter point, against 0.25 points on every Baselane tier (our arithmetic).
- The pricing page shows two sets of numbers. The plan cards read “Up to 1.88% APY on cash balances” (Essentials) and “Up to 3.24% APY on cash balances” (Pro), while the table beneath says 2.02% and 3.49%. At the previous range of 3.50% to 3.75%, midpoint 3.625%, the formula gives 1.88% and 3.24% (our arithmetic), so the cards were not updated after the September 16 move. We saw both on October 10, 2026.
What Stessa costs: plans, and when Pro pays for itself
Stessa's pricing page (October 10, 2026) lists three plans, all with unlimited properties, and says terms “are subject to change, including pricing”.
| Plan | Annual plan | Month to month | Per year (our arithmetic) | What the page lists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essentials | Free | Free | $0 | Basic reports, rent collection, up to 5 receipt scans a month, state lease templates at $15 each, basic support |
| Manage | $12 a month | $15 a month | $144 or $180 | Schedule E report, accelerated rent payments, unlimited lease agreements, 60+ legal forms, one eSignature a month, priority chat |
| Pro | $28 a month | $35 a month | $336 or $420 | Everything in Manage, unlimited portfolios, all advanced reports, budgeting, unlimited receipt scanning, seven eSignatures a month, live phone support, the higher APY tiers |
Stessa's Terms of Service say that, unless a written offer provides otherwise, “all purchases are final and non-refundable” and you must dispute a charge within 90 days. Cancelling Pro stops future charges; access continues to the end of the paid period and then defaults to Essentials.
On interest alone, Pro earns its $336 once the APY gap over Essentials is worth that much. In the $10,000 to $99,999 bands the gap is 1.24 points (2.17% against 0.93%, 2.53% against 1.29%), so Pro breaks even at about $27,100 (336 divided by 0.0124, our arithmetic). Against Baselane, whose Core plan is free, the picture changes with the balance. All figures below are a full year at the tier shown, using the published Stessa APYs and Baselane's APYs posted as of 9/16/2026 (our arithmetic).
| Balance | Stessa Essentials | Stessa Pro, after $336 fee | Baselane Core | Baselane Core with rent collected there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $20,000 | $186 | $98 | $388 | $458 |
| $40,000 | $372 | $532 | $916 | $1,060 |
| $60,000 | $774 | $1,182 | $1,728 | $1,728 |
| $150,000 | $2,490 | $4,014 | $4,320 | $4,320 |
| $300,000 | $6,060 | $10,134 | $8,640 | $8,640 |
Stessa Pro comes out ahead of free Baselane only in the top band: at $250,000, $8,725 of interest less the $336 fee is $8,389, against $7,200 at 2.88% (our arithmetic). Two limits on this table. Baselane pays interest only on savings balances and sets its tier on checking plus savings, and it adds a rent bonus only if you collect rent through it; Stessa sets its tier on the previous month-end balance. And a landlord choosing software is not choosing an interest rate: Pro also buys reports, forms and phone support that Baselane prices differently (its Smart plan is $20 a month, $240 a year).
Stessa vs Baselane, from each company's own terms
Both are landlord bookkeeping apps with a Thread Bank account attached. Everything below is what each company's published pricing page, help center or Thread agreement says on October 10, 2026; none of it is a test of the products.
| Item | Stessa | Baselane |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | Roofstock (Stessa, Inc.) | Skylight Financial Services Inc. (Baselane), per its site footer |
| Free plan | Essentials: unlimited properties, basic reports, rent collection | Core: banking, bookkeeping, rent collection, Schedule E reports |
| Paid plans (annual) | Manage $12 a month; Pro $28 a month | Smart $20 a month |
| Schedule E report | Manage and above | Core, free |
| Savings rate formula | (Midpoint minus 30 bp) times 0.16 to 0.96 | Midpoint minus 268 to 103 bp (minus 233 to 126 with rent collected) |
| Top posted APY | 3.49% (Pro, $250,000 or more) | 2.88% ($50,000 or more, no plan fee) |
| Outbound wire | $5 | $15, waived at $50,000 combined balance |
| Overdraft fee | None charged; account can still go negative | None charged; account can still go negative |
| Tenant card payment | 3% | 3.49% |
| Tenant ACH | Free into a Stessa account; $2 into an outside bank | $2 (pricing table: 2 to $5); waived for deposits into Baselane |
| ACH rent timing | Up to 5 business days; faster on paid plans | 5 business days on Core; 2 on Smart |
| ACH out to a connected bank, day limit | $8,000 (Tier 1) to $25,000 (Tier 5) | $25,000 (Standard tier) |
| Debit card purchases, day limit | $2,000 (Tier 1) to $15,000 (Tier 5) | $5,000 (Standard tier) |
| Who sets your account tier | Thread, “in our sole discretion”, from balance and rental activity | Baselane, “solely at Baselane's discretion”, for higher-limit tiers |
| Trustpilot (third party) | 3.5 from 26 reviews | 4.8 from 546 reviews |
| CFPB complaints (October 9, 2026) | 0 | 0 |
Read the table for what is different, not for a winner. Stessa's wire and card fees are lower and its top rate is higher, but only at the top of both the plan ladder and the balance ladder. Baselane's free plan includes the Schedule E report and pays the same 2.88% to anyone above $50,000, with a fixed gap to the Fed. Stessa's limits start lower and rise by tier; Baselane's start higher and rise at its discretion. Trustpilot scores are not comparable on these samples: 26 reviews against 546, each a self-selected group, and Trustpilot says it does not “fact-check reviews”. For the bank-side detail on Baselane, see our Baselane review.
Complaints, filings and what we could not find
The CFPB complaint database, last indexed October 9, 2026, returns 0 complaints for Stessa, 0 for Roofstock, 0 for Mynd and 0 for Thread Bank, against 29,228 for “Chime”, a control that shows the search works. The database is built around consumer financial products and these are business accounts, so zero is weak evidence either way. Stessa's own Terms (effective August 9, 2023) send disputes to binding AAA arbitration with a class-action waiver, under California law with San Francisco County courts; the bank agreement has its own arbitration clause with the 60-day opt-out noted above. We searched EDGAR company names and the CFPB database; we did not search state regulators' orders, and the one court-docket search we ran returned mostly unrelated cases, so we do not rely on it. That is a limit of what we searched, not a clean bill.
Two things we did not find: any audited financial statements for Stessa or Roofstock, and any Stessa user numbers newer than the 2021 claim of more than 170,000 properties. The Trustpilot profile for Stessa is claimed by the company, and 26 reviews are too few for us to draw a conclusion.
What a landlord can do with this
- Decide what you are buying. If you only want bookkeeping, the free plans of both companies cover it; the bank account is optional. If you want the savings rate, do the arithmetic above with your own balance before you pay for Pro.
- Ask Thread which banks hold your money. The sweep disclosure says you can designate a program bank as ineligible; write to customerservice@thread.bank. The list was dated November 7, 2025.
- Keep a second bank. Both agreements let Thread restrict or close an account with or without notice, and Stessa's closes if you cancel the app enrollment. Many landlords keep the mortgage payment and reserves elsewhere. That is a design choice, not a finding about Stessa.
- Test rent with one unit. ACH rent can take up to 5 business days; time it against your mortgage due date.
- Export your books. The pricing table lists a full data export on every plan; do it quarterly.
- Run the property before the bank. Whether a rental works is a numbers question first; our DealCheck review and rental property calculator guide are where we would start. If you are financing a rental, Stessa now quotes a DSCR lender; see our LendingOne review for that lender's record.
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FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources, read on October 10, 2026: stessa.com pricing (static and rendered), banking, rent collection, privacy and terms pages, the Stessa help center articles on rent collection, and stessa.com's banking agreements page; the Thread Bank Business Deposit Account Agreement (last updated March 2, 2026), Disclosures for the Stessa program (May 7, 2026), the Thread sweep disclosure and program-bank list (November 7, 2025); baselane.com pricing and APY pages and the Baselane deposit and savings agreements; JLL's March 2021 press release and JLL Form 10-K Exhibit 21.1 for fiscal 2017 to 2021 (SEC EDGAR); Roofstock's About and news pages; SEC EDGAR filings of Roofstock, Inc. (CIK 1643176, Form D/A 0001643176-19-000001) and The Private Shares Fund N-CSRS for June 30, 2026 (0001213900-26-097906); FDIC BankFind data for Thread Bank, CERT 9499, FDIC consent order FDIC-24-0022b and the order terminating it; the FOMC statement of September 16, 2026; the CFPB consumer complaint database; Trustpilot profiles for Stessa and Baselane. Stessa, Baselane and Roofstock are not affiliates of CrowdfundedWealth. This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.
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