Understanding the many different kinds of deposits tenants pay

By Tenant

There seems to be so many horror stories circulating about deposits. But most of them can be traced back to a lack of education on the different deposits asked prior to moving in. So I’ve compiled a list of all deposits, what they are and whether they are refundable or not.

I hope this helps you.

• Security deposit – the security deposit is the money you pay your landlord that serves to protect the landlord in case the tenant destroys the property or violates the terms of the lease agreement. The security deposit can be used to pay for the damages, back rent, key replacement, and cleaning and so on. All these will be itemized upon moving out. The only time that you can use this deposit as your last month’s rent is if there is a part of your lease agreement that says so. And yes, the security deposit is always refundable.

• Application fee – this is the money that you will be asked to pay upon the submission of your application form. If your application is approved, then the money may be applied toward your security deposit. But this fee will be refunded to you if your application is not approved.

• Pet deposit – this is something that animal lovers like myself would have to bear as long as we are renting. This is additional money that we will need to pay in advance because our landlords are already expecting that our pets will incur some damages to their property.

• Holding deposit – this is the fee paid if you want the apartment but you cannot move in just yet. If you pay and shell out some money for it before moving in, then your landlord would know that you are serious about keeping the place and they will not lose money because of you. Remember, when you promised to move in and you got approved, the landlords may have closed their doors on a handful of other prospects. If you don’t move in, then you cannot get the holding deposit back.

There are a host of other fees too but they come into effect once you’ve already moved in. Yes, moving in can get very expensive that is why it is important that you be very selective on the apartment. You don’t want to be moving every other month or so. That will definitely get you in debt with all the early termination charges and the costs of securing another place.

Now disputes also arise when dealing with money so for these issues, you can file a complaint and let mediation help. RPA has that option and this is the link to their complaint form: http://www.rentalprotectionagency.com/complaint_center.php

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