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The $50 is a token amount which doesn't really mean anything. The things covered by a normal security deposit can equally be covered by a small claims lawsuit and judgment. If you have good credit, you presumably want to protect that credit, and therefore won't ever let the case get to court, but will settle it before then. People looking for apartments tend to be new employees who might have exhausted their savings between jobs. So it might make sense to find ways to accept them as tenants even when they don't have the money for a security deposit. But my personal preference is to wait for a tenant who can afford 2 months security deposit.
If you leave thousands of dollars worth of damage and only had a $100 deposit, you're going to find yourself in court owing some dough to your landlord.
Of course it means something. That's guaranteed money that your LL is able to recoup to cover damages. Without it, they're going to have to sue you, and if you're the kind of tenant to leave a place trashed in the first place, odds are good you're judgement proof and not worth the time, no matter how much damage you left behind.
There is no documentation for service animals. The tenant's word is it. They call it a service animal and the dog must be accepted, and no pet deposit allowed.
There is a doctor's letter for emotional support animals and the landlord can ask to see that, but not for a service animal.
You can definitely request paperwork for both service animals and emotional support animals.
Under the Federal Fair Housing Act and the ADA, landlord's can require written documentation from a health care provider that the subject tenant is disabled (although they can't ask what specific disability they suffer from), and they can require similar written documentation that a service animal is needed.
With an emotional support animal, you can require the same written documentation that you would of a service animal, plus you don't have to allow the animal in the common areas of your building, unlike you would with a service animal.
The Fair Housing laws require that the person writing these documents of necessity be someone who is in a position to know about the tenants disability. So if they give you a letter from some random company, and their website advertises that they'll write anyone a letter in exchange for a fee, then you could deny based off of that. Be prepared to prove that point in court, though.
Of course it means something. That's guaranteed money that your LL is able to recoup to cover damages. Without it, they're going to have to sue you, and if you're the kind of tenant to leave a place trashed in the first place, odds are good you're judgement proof and not worth the time, no matter how much damage you left behind.
Again, the amount doesn't matter.
If you're paying 1k a month in rent and have a 1k deposit, but leave 2k in damages, you'll be sued. If you're paying 2.5k in rent and have a 2.5k deposit, but leave 4k in damages, you'll be sued. Ive seen it happen with low rent and high rents...the deposit is not a guarantee that your tenant is worthy of anything
You need to do your due diligence when choosing your tenants...have high expectations and hold to them.
One month's rent is usually the norm out here in California. Some complexes will offer reduced rates based on credit. And I've seen the greedy types that charge first and last month's rent AND a deposit!
How is that "greedy"? The last month's rent pays for the last month's rent. It's not an extra deposit or anything the landlord gets to keep.
If you're paying 1k a month in rent and have a 1k deposit, but leave 2k in damages, you'll be sued. If you're paying 2.5k in rent and have a 2.5k deposit, but leave 4k in damages, you'll be sued. Ive seen it happen with low rent and high rents...the deposit is not a guarantee that your tenant is worthy of anything
You need to do your due diligence when choosing your tenants...have high expectations and hold to them.
You're moving the goalposts with your examples by scaling the damages beyond the deposit amount and only choosing hypotheticals which work in your favor, which isn't a fair argument.
It's completely silly to say that the amount of security deposit doesn't matter.
I can sit here and throw out hypothetical situations like "Yeah but even if the security deposit is a million dollars, they could cause infinity plus one dollars of damage!" all day long, but the incredibly simple fact is that the higher the security deposit, the less likely you'll need to sue anyone. The fact that you can come up with individual counter examples does not invalidate that basic point.
What if the deposit was $2,500 and they caused $2,000 in damages? Are you seriously contending that that scenario is exactly the same as if the deposit was $50?
I think the deposit is more for "feel good" than anything.
If a 1br apartment rents for $1000 in Dallas, but $3000 in Los Angeles, why would the deposit amount change if it's only for damage? It's not like $1000 worth of damage would cost you $3000 in LA.
Seems like a deposit is more for rent recovery than anything. If I were a landlord, I'd have the thought in my mind "what happens if this person stops paying rent". At least they have one month of rent covered through the deposit.
I just don't see the point of charging only $50 for a deposit. But I suspect that my theory is correct in that it's for the last month of water usage.
I have traditionally paid 1 months rent as deposit. In my last place, I paid about half that, but $200 was a "cleaning fee" so I only had $250 to lose. That said, I have seen a lot of corporate run places around here that offer $100 one time fees to tenants with good credit instead of the deposit.
I paid 1&1/3 months rent at the current place, but the third is the pet deposit.
One place we looked at wanted two months deposit (really three; they wanted the last months rent at lease signing as well, meaning fronting four months rent) stating "It was my mom's place." They seemed obsessively worried about the property worrying about anything casting a shadow over it. It wasn't nice enough to warrant tying up nearly $5K in cash. Two months later it was still vacant.
I have a feeling that n the Bay Area it would have been snapped right up.
I think the deposit is more for "feel good" than anything.
............It's not like $1000 worth of damage would cost you $3000 in LA.........
Deposit does cover some loss of rent, but the real purpose of a nice big deposit is to motivate the tenant to clean when they move out, because they have a lot of money to lose if they don't clean. If it costs $50 to leave it for the landlord to clean, that is quite different if it is going to cost them $3,000 to leave it for the landlord to clean.
Some people will let their kids fling red koolaid around for $50 but they will worry about stains if they know they will lose their $3000 deposit.
Most people will make more effort to recover $3000 than they will to recover $50. Tenants want that $3000 deposit back.
Yes, it might easily cost $3000 more to do repairs in Los Angeles than it costs in Podunk, Nowhere. Cost of living has a large effect on how much workmen charge and the expensive cities charge more for building permits.
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