Are holding fees refundable?
Deposits are not refundable in all circumstances. In addition, a deposit only guarantees that the landlord will not rent the device to a third party for a holding period. If you don’t meet these requirements or simply change your mind, the rental company can rent the device to someone else. It’s better to lose a holding deposit and not have the money than signing a lease for something that isn’t going to work for you.
If the landlord is friendly, they can agree to a partial refund if they can rent again for the same moving period. In the best case scenario, the potential tenant who has paid a deposit will move in at some point. In this case, the money will be returned to the tenant or contributed to the deposit. Tenants who want to dispute a landlord’s request for an agency fee may be able to argue that it is a type of security deposit.
If you don’t move in and don’t pay, the landlord cannot rent until he takes eviction measures for non-payment of the rent or agrees a cancellation fee with you. In Seattle, landlords don’t have to charge more than 1 month’s rent for deposit and non-refundable fees. If state law supports this position and non-refundable security deposits are not allowed in your state, the landlord should not be allowed to withhold a placement fee. Landlords may not collect deposits from more than one potential tenant at a time.
Collecting a deposit could help tenants in highly competitive rental markets by taking a unit off the market and working with their schedule. In contrast to a regular rental deposit, a security deposit is not required by law to be kept within the framework of a deposit guarantee scheme. The landlord may also choose to no longer hold the device for a Section 8 tenant if the housing inspection has not taken place within 10 days after the fee or deposit was collected. A tenant is entitled to a full refund of their security deposit if a landlord or realtor imposes a requirement that violates the tenant fee ban.
Some landlords or landlords may have unfair conditions for holding deposits, including the fact that they are non-refundable. As a landlord, you need to carefully determine your potential costs to determine a security deposit that makes sense for both you and your potential tenant. In the end, the decision whether to collect a deposit is entirely up to you as the owner of a rental property. From the property manager or landlord’s perspective, they want to make sure the potential candidate is legitimate before they agree not to show the property to other applicants.
Alternatively, deposits are upfront contracts that involve the landlord and the potential tenant to ensure that both parties don’t waste each other’s time during the rental process.
