Renters, Get Back All of Your Security Deposit
As students head off to colleges all around the country, off campus housing will be the chosen form of living for many.Off campus living is usually cheaper than living on campus. Most students save up the money from working a part time job and with big dreams, look for “the apartment”. It’s a common practice, finding the right apartment, paying a renters deposit, signing the lease and moving in. It’s usually very quick and that’s the first problem. So quick that many renters don’t even read over the lease to know exactly what they are bound to. Parent’s often aren’t always available when kids go off to college to help them with all the paper work of renting and often forget themselves all the things that can happen when a lease is involved! It’s really a sad scenario because sometimes a simple misunderstanding can end up in full blown legal litigation!
Tip#1 Read Your Lease!
Never, Never, Never sign any kind of a contract without reviewing it first. You never know what the terms may be and by signing your name, whether you read it or not, you are liable. It’s not going to work in court if six months after you move in you find a cheaper place, decide to break your lease and find out that by terminating the lease early you loose your renters deposit. When you tell the judge, “I didn’t read the lease”, he is not gonna care! It’s up to you to protect your own interests in the renting world.
Tip#2 If You Don’t Understand………Ask Your Landlord!
When you read the lease, read carefully and if there is anything that you don’t quite understand, ask the landlord. Here’s a good example, lets say your lease says you are responsible for any damages but “normal wear and tear are expected.” Wear and tear means a lot to different people.
If you don’t get the understanding of “wear and tear” straight with the landlord, well you could be out of your renters deposit over a repair that you believed would be covered by normal wear and tear. Get it straight.
Tip#3 Always Take Photos!
No matter who you are renting from, even if it’s Uncle Charlie on mom’s side who was a look out for St. Peter at the gates of heaven, take photos of the apartment before you move in and when you move out. This gives you a bit of insurance because you are able to prove what things were like before and after you in case there are any questions asked after the fact. If you don’t have a camera, borrow one from somebody because these photos could mean the difference of either losing or getting all of your renters deposit back.
Tip#4 Don’t Skip Town!
If you have a one year lease agreement with your landlord, you clean the house when you leave, you cut the yard, make sure there aren’t any damages and just leave the property. Don’t expect the landlord to hand over the renters deposit, you abandoned the property and landlords need to know when there’s no one watching their property. Even though the property is back into move-in condition, you can’t break a lease and expect to get all of your renters deposit back. Talk to the landlord, tell them why you need to break the lease and ask about your renters deposit. Usually a landlord will give a good tenant a break.
Tip#5 Pay Your Rent On Time!
This goes along really with read your lease but some leases read along somewhere in the fine print that if you are late on the rent, you’re in default of the lease. The landlord can practically do anything to you from kicking you out to keeping your renters deposit too. Paying your rent on time earns brownie points with the landlord too.
Tip#6 Clean, Clean,Clean!
If there was any way to a landlords heart, man this is it. Clean the apartment thoroughly! Landlords hate to clean up after tenants and usually the tenant who can clean an apartment into good shape gets all of their renters deposit back. Shampooing carpets, mopping, cleaning that ring around the tub out and making sure that every surface looks as good as new will practically guarantee that renters deposit goes back in your pocket! Not only that, but if it’s possible that you may need to rent from this landlord again in the future, next time the landlord may even let you slide on a renters deposit. Cleaning up after yourself may not sound like much but in the rental world it’s priceless. It would be beneficial to have a check list from the landlord, some even expect air vents to be cleaned!
Getting all of your renters deposit back really isn’t so hard once you think about it. Just be sure to read what you sign, take photos of the place, repair any damage incurred by yourself or visitors, don’t take anything that doesn’t belong to you, communicate with your landlord, pay your rent on time and be responsible. Off campus living may be the right choice for many college students but pay attention, even though you have a reason to be excited it’s good to calm down to see what’s in front of you. The landlord will appreciate a good tenant and in turn will reimburse you for every penny you payed on your renters deposit, giving you a good reference to boot.
