Shouldn't be a issue since landlords never lie to keep deposits right?
As someone who is likely going to be stuck renting for the foreseeable future, I agree. I'll happily pay my deposit to some sort of escrow that the landlord has zero access to until it's proven by a neutral third party, with no financial interest in the property, who has seen the property before and after renting.
Who’s going to pay this neutral third party to come see the property twice and allocate the deposit between the tenant and landlord?
Either the landlord or a split between the parties
A split between the parties might help avoid conflict of interests
Where I live it’s up to the landlord to dispute the return of the government-held bond and prove their case to the tribunal. If they do not dispute within two weeks after the tenant claims it, or are unsuccessful in proving damage, the government automatically releases the bond back to the tenant.
Realistically the viewing could be replaced by the landlord taking a series of before and after photographs that are approved by the tenant. A $2000 deposit held in just a CD would generate $100 in a year, which is enough to cover a good bit of any random additional costs
That's if everything goes well. What if the tenant does not approve the photos?
Last time we rented we put the deposit into a savings account. The landlords got the book needed to access it and we were the people needed to access it. That way we also collected interest on the deposit (which I think is technically mandatory in Germany).
And good thing we did that because we did have some trouble after we moved out.
My honest opinion? By the city. Yeah i know that introduces another layer of issues, but there needs to be some sort of integrity in place so there's no conflict of interest coughutahlegislaturecough
The escrow company gets to invest the deposit. They can use a portion of those funds to determine who receives the payout.
In Brazil, tge escrow is keep by an insurance company, for the landlord to keep its need a judicial order, and at the end you receive it back adjusted by inflation.
When I was in Belgium I had to open a specific bank account for it. The money was then blocked on this account.
To release the money both me and the landlord had to find an agreement and sign the release documents. If we could not find an agreement then we would have to go to a judge to decide who gets what.
And at the end you get the deposit back+interests.
I liked this solution, it felt fair for both parties.
They have a deposit protection scheme in the UK where neither the landlord nor the tenant have full control of the amount. It's very useful. Much better than the landlord having the money in his possession.
This was a big change when we moved to the UK. It makes sense to have a third party involve with photos of everything before you rent. Should be standard really.
It's a requirement in Australia for it to be paid to the government bond agency. Typical method of paying it is a cheque payable only to the bond authority. Once you hand back the keys at the end of the lease you can apply directly to the bond agency for it to be refunded to you and the landlord needs to formally object to claim any of the bond.
That sounds like a way more reasonable system! As far as I'm aware it's not super common here (Netherlands) for landlords to not pay back the deposit but it is entirely in their hands :(
Well, still plenty of dogdy landlords who take advantage of people who don't know about that requirement and either take it for themselves or push renters towards "resolving disputes between themselves" and not involving the bond authority at end of lease time.
Wait, this ISN'T how it works where you live?
Where I live (in Victoria, Australia), the bond is held in trust by the residential tenancies bond authority. At the end of the lease the landlord can try make a claim, but you can take them to VCAT (a small claims tribunal) to argue against it, and until either all parties agree, or the court orders it, the bond doesn't get paid out to anyone.
Our laws are far from good, and still favour owners too much, but damn. Just trusting them to pay you out of their own pocket?
Just trusting them to pay you out of their own pocket?
actually the opposite! everyone here just expects to never see their deposit ever again
😬
Just trusting them to pay you out of their own pocket?
Assuming US, it actually depends on the state (may be all states, but I can only speak of those I've lived in). The law is that the money must go into a separate interest bearing account and that is the money that is to be returned. So the money isn't supposed be their own pocket.
In Germany, it is possible to ''make a deposit'' with the bank, so the landlord gets only the confirmation (Bürgschaft). Furthermore, it is also a thing to pay that deposit in rates (installments), not to burden the new tennant immediatelly.
I think it works a lot like insurance: you pay a smidge every month, but you also get no money back at the end, so... not really a deposit. However, it does satisfy the landlord and the deposit is legally provided, so... to give up one or two coffee's every month (for a couple of years) is worth it at the rough beginnings.
For comparisson, you pay some 20 € monthly instead of 3500 € on hands of the landlord. You are moving, you are already burdened with the costs and expenses, so instead of having a financial blow on top of all the misery, you simply walk into the bank, make ''Bürgschaft'' (depost confirmation), agree to pay 20 € monthly, beginning from next month... and you exhale. It is a practical guarantee that the bank wil cover your deposit.
You give that ''Bürgschaft'' (deposit confirmation) to your landlord and all is good. If your landlord later, turns out to be an a..hole, he has to claim the deposit with the bank. If you contest landlords claims (bank will 100% contact you in that case), then it is a direct war between him/her and the bank... and good luck with that. To you it is all the same anyway, as you pay (paid) monthly installment (rate).
If there are no disputes and you are moving out earlier, then you can simply cancel the ''Bürgschaft'' contract (based on canceled rent agreement) and you don't have to pay anymore.
The downside is - no money back.
It is not really a hype thing here, but I've done it and it worked OK; (no disputes though).
You can demand itemized receipts for everything they want to take from the deposit, at least I’m California
Above $125.
In Canada your landlord is required to pay back your deposit with interest, so if you gave them a $1000 deposit and stayed for 10 years and interest is at 5% they would be giving you back about $1600.
Very few actually do this and most of the time interest is so low nobody bothers to fight for it.
In NZ if the bond is not lodged with the tenancy tribunal within a couple of weeks, the LL is in serious trouble.
Meanwhile in America, my old ll tried to tell me I couldn't have my deposit back because "it's summer and the bank is on vacation"
I mean, the court will definitely be involved if i don't get my deposit plus interest back.
I had to sue for my security deposit once. It's very common in the US for landlords to fraudulently keep some or all of the security deposit.
How annoying was that? My last landlord claimed some pretty indefensible justifications for keeping our deposit (among other things, $300 to "sweep and vacuum the attic") but I'm not convinced that I'll actually wind up ahead if I'm missing work to go to court.
It was during the pandemic, so the courtroom was a teleconference. For $300, it's not worth the stress (unless you can also claim statutory/punitive damages). But it is worth knowing you've deprived a leech of committing theft, if that appeals to you.
Small claims court is not too hard and doesn't require a lawyer, but do try to find some free legal advice before your court date. Housing issues usually have free legal advice in most jurisdictions.
In my state they have to give you an itemized statement of damages and/or return your deposit within ~~30~~ 45 days or you're entitled to ~~tripple~~ double the amount.
This is actually how it works in some places in Canada. It's a very effective system.
I mean apartments should be run by the state but baby steps I guess
In Norway your deposit is payed into a special account in your name and both parties have to agree to it's release or settle in court. If the landlord takes some for repairs to abnormal damage (can't charge for "normal wear and tear") they have to provide proof that they used it for that (receipts etc).
Check your local laws and ordinances, your landlords may be required to provide itemized expenses to you within a certain time frame. Where I am, it's within 30 days.
Ah yes... Lords of land... The greatest of leeches.
In Canada, most provinces do this already.
... what kind of deposits? 😮
Security deposits are a type of refundable fee where a tenant pays a specific amount (often many hundreds of dollars) to a landlord to "ensure" that they don't damage a residence while living there. If the residence is damaged, the landlord keeps the deposit. The term is derived from contract law where "security" just means a way to make sure that a party to a contract meets their contractual obligations.
There are many instances where a landlord illegally keeps the deposit over damage that was either already existing or minimal (also referred to as "wear and tear" damage, which is expected when you live somewhere long-term), so OP is calling for the courts to determine the extent of damage to prevent landlords from taking advantage of tenants.
In some jurisdictions (like the one I live in), security deposits and most other related deposits such as key deposits (i.e., a refundable fee paid to obtain a key to the residence) are completely illegal in order to eliminate the possibility entirely.
Thank you for the explanation.
You're welcome. Hopefully you don't have to deal with security deposits any time soon. :3
Sorry, still new migrant. Just wanted to say I have never seen the descriptions of the emojis before! I was getting some of them SO wrong! 😱
Check unclaimed funds with states you've lived in. No shit. I did it last year and found like 1500 bucks just in deposits past landlords said I didn't deserve. The landlords might be shady but their accountants aren't.