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When you’re searching for rental houses, keep in mind that you’ll have to come up with additional sums of money besides the first month’s rent. Most if not all landlords will expect first month’s rent, last month’s rent, and a security deposit for their rental houses. It’s the same for apartment rentals or any other rental property – commercial or residential. Security deposits are utilized to allow landlords to protect themselves in cases of non-payment of rent as well as any damage caused to the rental houses or other rental properties. However, before moving into a rental house, don’t just blindly pay the security deposit. You need to take the following precautions before you sign the rental contract and pay that extra amount of money.

Before signing any rental contract, interview the landlord about general repair policies as it can have a direct effect on getting your deposit back or not. If the landlord states that he takes care of any needed repairs within a week or two (excluding emergency repairs), then he’ll less likely charge you at the end of the rental period for any problems, etc. On the other hand, if says that you can either fix any problems yourself or call in your own repairmen and that you’ll get reimbursed, be weary. He may never reimburse you and if you don’t repair the item, he might take it off your security deposit.

In addition, ask the landlord if you can speak with other tenants at his other rental houses. It will give you a real feel if he repairs items timely and doesn’t blame his tenants for any problems that might arise.

Even if the landlord seems extremely accommodating during the interview, make sure to thoroughly check the rental agreement. The agreement should specify the exact amount of security deposit requested as well as what the security deposit can cover (i.e. non-payment of rent and damaged property) and what it can’t cover (i.e. normal wear and tear such as dirty carpets and repainting). The rental contract should also mention when the security deposit will be returned (i.e. 30 days after vacating the property). If the contract fails to mention these points, then either request that the landlord add it to the contract or find another rental house.