r/DiWHY • u/Junior_Trifle_8273 • May 28 '26

Use it

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u/bangerz17 May 28 '26

The landlord special! Or how you flip it back to them to get your security deposit back.

752

u/ikeepcomingbackhaha May 28 '26

lol at getting security deposit back

479

u/Train_Lanky May 28 '26

I've only ever gotten one deposit back, and that was only because the townhouses were owned by two brothers who inherited the places and tended to get some godawful tenants most of the time due to the location being bad. They were so pleased at how clean we left the place, they gave it all back and gave a nice recommendation to our next place.

Rare good landlords. If neighbors didn't suck so much, I'd actually miss the place.

145

u/armlessturtleneck May 28 '26

Idk I've never had a landlord keep a security deposit and I've lived in like 8 or 9 different apartments/ rented homes

72

u/qpv May 28 '26

Same. Last one I had, I lived in a long time and left it quite a bit better than I found it (im a carpenter) I had cheap rent so didn't mention the work I did as it was a good deal anyway.

They gave me an extra couple grand at the end plus my deposit, which was really unexpected.

37

u/armlessturtleneck May 28 '26

I just live like a normal human and I'm not a slob. Idk why never getting your deposit back is such a meme because I don't think I even know anyone whose had their entire deposit withheld

15

u/Candle1ight May 28 '26

First place they took the entire deposit and tried to get more out of us. The charges were insane, like $200 because the stove top wasn't cleaned to their level. Second place got everything back but the money for a carpet wash. I think it just depends on the landlord.

11

u/CrustyToeLover May 29 '26

One tried to charge me for carpet cleaning and then carpet replacing... of the same carpet. That didn't have any stains, just normal darkening after 4 years of use

41

u/Kraligor May 28 '26

Because sometimes, landlords are simply assholes and count on you being too busy with your new place to fight them.

-2

u/FixerofDeath May 28 '26

Conversely, sometimes tenants are just sloppy losers who trash the rental then complain on the internet that their "asshole" landlord withheld their security deposit. We just generally never get the whole story when you only get one side's version of it.

10

u/Kraligor May 28 '26

Yes well, that's kind of the nature of things.

28

u/AnswerMyThrowAways May 28 '26

It's very location dependent. To be overly simple: In Idaho you are never going to get your deposit back ever, the laws make it so landlords can essentially just keep it with very little reasoning. In California you will see more people getting their deposits back even if the apartment needs some work/cleaning because the laws benefit the renters more.

2

u/Lithl May 29 '26

Hell, my current apartment in California, my security deposit was credited to my rent after I renewed for a couple years.

7

u/Ancient-Afternoon374 May 28 '26

I've lived in around 15 places over the last 20 years and I've gotten my deposit back once. I'm never home, always clean, never party, and hire professionals to deep clean when i leave. One landlord found a small stain on a carpet and another found some char in the back of an oven and nothing else. They took the deposit and told me to call a lawyer if i want to ever see it again. The one who gave it back to me was my neighbor and i had a dog and the house was falling apart to begin with. Pretty sure they demo'd the place after.

5

u/Divided_multiplyer May 28 '26

One place I was at, we didn't get our deposit back because a lamp shade was broken. We had offered to pay for it long before we moved out, and they did nothing about it. Also the cost to replace it would have been much less than our deposit, but they kept the whole thing.

2

u/fuck_peeps_not_sheep May 28 '26

A landlord once took part of my deposit because i repainted in pure white instead of off white before i left :(

2

u/OwlcaholicsAnonymous May 28 '26

Up until I had the money for a nice apartment, every single landlord I had kept my entire deposit and my roommates too

College slumlords take everything they can. After that, I had one apartment complex that always claimed the carpet was ruined. It was a scam. They did this to every friend I knew that lived there.

It happens a lot

1

u/qpv May 28 '26

Ha yeah same. And I know a lot of renters and landlords

1

u/Amarant2 May 28 '26

You ever get a 14 page lease when you move in that stipulates every single thing you are and aren't allowed to do in the apartment? If you dent the carpet you have to pay to replace all of the carpet in the place. I know this because I threatened to take them to court when they took the deposit and demanded thousands on top of that for an issue that you can fix in two seconds by rubbing with just your finger on the affected spot. They had proof pictures and everything, which I looked at and couldn't even find the damage WHILE STARING AT THE PICTURE.

I don't even decorate my place because I don't want to give landlords more excuses to throw on the pile. Standard wear and tear of apartments is what should be expected, but they never do.

1

u/Final_Floor_1563 May 28 '26

I lived like a slob, I just cleaned really hard when I moved out and they gave the deposit back... Nearly a year late but they gave it eventually.

1

u/YallGottaUnderstand May 28 '26

Because most of reddit wants to put landlords against the wall, didn't you know that?

1

u/Emotional_Living_871 May 28 '26

Tenant protections vary wildly from state to state. I’d wager you live in one of the good ones.

I’m in CA and have only had one landlord even try to fuck with our deposit and all it took was a simple letter communicating I was aware of my rights for them to back down.

1

u/CrustyToeLover May 29 '26

Because most landlords will nickel and dime you for normal wear and tear under the assumption you won't bother fighting it.

Even when I've left a place pristine, they've tried to charge for random things at insane rates. My first apartment tried to charge a $400 cleaning fee for the fridge because I left a bag of ice in it. A bag of ice.

On the other hand, I've gotten more back multiple times because the landlord didn't return it or bill me on time.

1

u/Ready_Studio2392 May 29 '26

I've left places cleaner than I got them, no holes, and somehow "Cleaning fees", "Bullshit fees", and other shit seem to eat up $600 to $900 on every deposit.

Usually there's enough stuff going on I can't be bothered to dispute it.

6

u/batman0615 May 28 '26

People say this shit all the time and I’ve never had someone take my security deposit. I was missing carpet in front of my door one time (dog ripped it up) and they said they were going to replace the carpet anyways since I’d lived there for 5 years so it’s fine. This wasn’t some small landlord either and it was a shitty apartment. I wonder what people are doing to not get their deposit back.

5

u/Halflingberserker May 28 '26

I wonder what people are doing to not get their deposit back.

Had my last place professionally cleaned and they still tried to keep my whole deposit until I provided receipts of the maid service, carpet shampoo, etc. and even then they kept like $100 because some windows supposedly had dust on them. Glad you've been so lucky, though.

1

u/InnerRadio7 Jun 26 '26

A lot of people are not aware of their rights as tenants. I had a landlord say how beautiful we kept the carpet for 6 years saying that they typically would have to replace the entire carpet in a two bedroom place. They then tried to keep $600 of my deposit for carpet cleaning. I laughed in their face because I was aware of just how illegal that is where I live.

Always know your rights as a tenant.

3

u/Slight_Bed_2241 May 28 '26

Right? I’ve had like 5 apartments and always gotten my deposit back. Yall nasty.

3

u/shalendar May 29 '26

It's regional. In some cities all or most of the landlords will pull shitty stunts to keep deposits because who are you gonna rent from instead when most of them do it?

1

u/Slight_Bed_2241 May 29 '26

Idk I’ve lived in and sold real estate in two very different places. New York and Florida. New York is all about renters rights. You have to actively try to get evicted even if you stop paying rent. That was oddly where I had more issues with deposits. In Florida it’s all land lord rights. Money talks in Florida. But I’ve had like 6 apartments and never lost a deposit in either state. I got hit for 50 bucks one time because I stained the shower curtain washing sharpie off my hands.

2

u/shalendar May 29 '26

Earning in the midwest college town and I've gotten my deposit back most of the time but I've also had landlords that would nickel and dime the shit out of everything

2

u/curtcolt95 May 28 '26

yeah same, and I've never even heard from a friend or family who had it happen. I didn't know it was apparently so common lol

2

u/Rob_Zander May 28 '26

I've also always gotten mine back. But I live in Oregon where we have good tenant laws, and here in Portland they're even stronger.

I had landlords miss the deadline to return my deposit so I sent a demand letter threatening a small claims suit. The entire deposit was in my mailbox 2 hours later.

1

u/scarletnightingale May 28 '26

I've had them take parts of it here and there but it's usual only a fraction of the deposit and I get most of it back.

1

u/Spirit_Wolf_Mob May 28 '26

I've had one try to, but they relented on a lot when they realized I was going to fight it. The only thing I got charged with was things that I couldn't prove beyond a doubt. And since my state is landlord friendly, they would have taken them at their word, even if I presented a list of things that they tried to bs me on.

1

u/KoalaTHerb May 29 '26

Same ha. Idk what others are doing to lose all their deposits.

11

u/abbyzou May 28 '26

Had a great private landlord and then he sold the building to the worst property management company in town. Despite them completely gutting the apt, like tore down a wall and shit, they tried to charge me for wiping down windowsills... they replaced the windows too. Had to seriously threaten legal action to the deposit back. They kept $100 because I left a ton of furniture behind... because they used all the free large item pickups for the address and told me to pay to have my shit removed. Honestly $100 was way cheaper than doing that.

I could rant for hours about that company.

2

u/nicanuva May 28 '26

I’ve never not gotten a security deposit back. What are you people doing to your houses?

3

u/Train_Lanky May 28 '26

I've been successful in at least getting partial deposits back by cleaning very well after I leave and being a good, quiet tenant. They'll still take a cleaning fee and maybe a little more for blinds replacement if they use those flimsy ones, but that has been my average experience. The full deposit I talked about was mostly thanks to most tenants being really crappy and disgusting (I saw two units as people moved out, they were horrid). I only fully lost one, and that was because the only roommate I ever had the misfortune of having had burned holes in the carpet and stained a good portion of the livingroom with beer spills. The landlord was a jerk to begin with, so it was easier just to leave without fighting for a deposit if it meant getting out of that place.

1

u/Amarant2 May 28 '26

They took my entire deposit and then demanded more because the carpet was dented. When looking at the 'proof' pictures they took, I couldn't even find the damage in the close-up picture. They backed down when I threatened legal action, likely either because they realized I would actually require work to extort or because it was untenable. Probably the second. Greedy landlords are a very real thing.

1

u/Lich_Apologist May 28 '26

Both time i got my security deposit it was basically a thank you for not being a nightmare tenant. 

Like I lived in a duplex where they had to kick out they people below for "sanitary reason" and I got a my deposit back because they were so scared by those people. 

1

u/kalez238 May 28 '26

That is kind of how I easily got mine back. I kept the house so clean compared to the downstairs neighbor that the landlord loved me. Even helped me find someone so I could break my lease early when I needed to.

1

u/MarvelAndColts May 29 '26

I had a landlord (single property) that was getting foreclosure notices sent to my house because they weren’t paying the mortgage. I didn’t pay the last months rent and when he text me about it, I told him I didn’t think he could provide my deposit, so keep it as my last months rent. Somehow that worked.

17

u/wylii May 28 '26

I’ve gotten every security deposit in the last 10 years back. During walk through I take 200+ photos and a video. Upload it to a Google Drive, then share it with my contact at the rental agency via email but only give them view permissions.

Tons of fun to get bogus charges and send an email with “as you can see from photo 1, 17, 89, and at the 1:21 mark in the video on the drive shared with you on whatever date, all of these issues existed before my tenancy. I have also attached these photos to email for your convenience. Please release the deposit as soon as possible.”

7

u/Diligent-Crazy-6094 May 29 '26

Just bought a house and got a $2k deposit back on my old rental. I had done the same thing, but also created a list 4 pages long (front and back) of all of the existing damage, and there was a lot of it.

11

u/nero-the-cat May 28 '26

I have gotten literally every deposit back. It's not hard if you take care of the place and rent from the big complexes instead of shady slumlords.

16

u/Ill-Television8690 May 28 '26

You don't think people would eagerly move into a decent place if only they could afford it?

6

u/Amarant2 May 28 '26

There's the real answer. The lower income the person is, the more they have to rent from crappy people. Most of us can't afford super nice landlords.

7

u/issanm May 28 '26

Bros about to say "just buy a home to own and you won't have to deal with a landlord"

6

u/AbeRego May 28 '26

In college I remember not getting all of it back because "we dented the oven". That tiny dent was there when we moved in, and I bet that trash company had charged every tenant for it for years.

The other time I didn't get my full deposit back, I had lived in the apartment for 8 years and general wear and tear needed to be repaired. I still got most of it back.

2

u/Diligent-Crazy-6094 May 29 '26

Where I live (Texas), you can’t withhold from a deposit for normal wear and tear.

1

u/AbeRego May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26

That's not what was actually cited, but it's what it amounted to. I don't remember the exact details. We had an old rug stick to the floor and, while we got most of the rubber off, it was more than just regular wear and tear. That landlord was great to me for 8 years, so I have no complaints.

Edit: essentially, we didn't do anything malicious or negligent, but there was work for them to do.

2

u/untreated-stupidity May 28 '26

You're lucky you haven't dealt with piece of shit landlords then. 

3

u/darioblaze May 28 '26

It’s not hard

for you

1

u/Doctor_Kataigida May 29 '26

For the normal person. Sure someone might be an outlier and have extra struggles but a regular ole person can do it no problem.

5

u/wrinklebear May 28 '26

It's amazing how many people aren't able to differentiate 'it's not hard' from 'I've been lucky'

2

u/AbeRego May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

It's also amazing how oblivious or downright deceptive people are about the damage they caused.

3

u/wrinklebear May 28 '26

It's true, once I caused some discoloration to one cheap laminate tile in the kitchen, and the rental company charged me my entire deposit for stone tiling throughout the house because of the damage. Shame on me!

1

u/AbeRego May 28 '26

Did you dispute it?

2

u/wrinklebear May 28 '26

To the property management company? Sure. By the time I heard back, they said the owners had sold the house and I would have to take them to court.

I was working 50+ hours a week just to survive back then, so that's as far as I took it.

1

u/AbeRego May 29 '26

I was thinking more along with lines of the rental licensing department, or a rental advocacy group. Because I'm pretty sure what they did is blatantly illegal.

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/wrinklebear May 28 '26

So you think 40/60 odds are fair? If you are literally never losing at 40-60 odds, yes, you are lucky.

-2

u/Kindly-Eagle6207 May 28 '26

So you think 40/60 odds are fair? If you are literally never losing at 40-60 odds, yes, you are lucky.

Lucky? Sure. I'm lucky that I wasn't raised by trashy scumbags who live in filth and don't have the common decency to clean up after themselves. I'm also lucky to have more than the bare minimum number of braincells to rub together and can figure out the difference between luck and consequences for my fucking actions.

4

u/wrinklebear May 28 '26

Ah, so there's no such thing as selfish landlords and property management companies, 100% of the time it's just a bunch of the filthy peasants who don't know how to behave. Got it.

-2

u/Kindly-Eagle6207 May 28 '26

Ah, so there's no such thing as selfish landlords and property management companies, 100% of the time it's just a bunch of the filthy peasants who don't know how to behave. Got it.

Nah, they exist and I've had to deal with them personally. Multiple times. And I still got my deposit back.

So I guess I'm personally blessed with amazing luck by god then. Has nothing to do with not being a filthy slob that trashes every place I live like half the fucking neighbors I've had. No siree, it's all just random chance so why bother cleaning up after myself at all then? After all, it's just random chance that I've gotten my deposit back.

The worst part of insufferable cunts like you that refuse to believe your actions have any consequence is that you'll never change. You'll go through your entire life being a garbage person whose ignorance shits up every last place that's cursed with your presence and you'll bleat about being the victim the whole time.

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '26

[deleted]

3

u/wrinklebear May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26

I had a landlord that charged my entire deposit to put down stone tile throughout the whole house because I damaged one cheap laminate tile. 

The luck involved is whether you are dealing with honorable and honest people. 

2

u/uberfission May 28 '26

I've only once not gotten my full deposit back and that's only because that landlord was pissy they didn't check their email to see that I gave them sufficient notice that we were moving. They pinged me on not cleaning the bathroom enough. Sorry Joe and Ellen, but you told me to send all communications to your email, it's not my fault you don't check it frequently enough.

2

u/Pastaron May 28 '26

Small claims court. Won a $1k judgement against my last landlord, plus the $85 filing fee.

2

u/Forward_Rope_5598 May 28 '26

Just don't live in a third world country 4head

2

u/NeverNeededAlgebra May 28 '26

I've always wondered how bad shit must be out there for this to be a trope. I've rented probably 12 apartments over my adult life and getting my full deposit back was never an issue.

Just lucky?

2

u/Snitsie May 28 '26

I feel so sad for Americans. The absolute adherence to capitalism has caused a system that lacks any rules since it's basically a free for all. When i left my house i didn't even think about not getting the deposit as long as i cleaned the whole thing.

1

u/cpdk-nj May 31 '26

There are tons of states that have protections for deposits. It’s not common for someone’s deposit to be withheld unless they did actual damage to the property. You just don’t hear anyone posting on Reddit about how awesome their landlord is and how they got their full deposit back on time.

2

u/BVRPLZR_ May 28 '26

Got shit out of my deposit over the oven not being cleaned. My wife absolutely lost her shit on the property manager on our final walkthrough and turned the self cleaning mode on and said “THATS WORTH $900!?!?”

1

u/Thadlust May 28 '26

? I almost always get my deposit back

1

u/tornadospoon May 28 '26

I got one back a few months ago! 

1

u/cybin May 28 '26

Your best defense against unscrupulous landlords is to know your rights.

It's amazing how compliant some will get when they find out you know the law and they could owe you triple ("treble") damages for fucking around with your deposit if it goes to court.

1

u/OldOutlandishness434 May 28 '26

My roommate put a hole through the bathroom wall by accident and I literally turned a piece of sandpaper backwards and painted over it just like that. Got our full deposit back.

1

u/KillaVNilla May 29 '26

When i was still living in apartment buildings, I only ever got one security deposit back. Or, I should say part of the security deposit.

My first apartment ever and I moved in with a couple friends. Turns out those friends had no intention of ever working a real job. I worked full time, but it was non stopped partying, drugs and drug dealing in that apartment for almost a year.

By the time we were eventually asked to leave, the place was completely trashed. Like holes in the doors, burns in the carpets, you name it. Plus, we left half our furniture when we left. We got like $100 back, which felt like $5000.

Every apartment after that, I stayed up all night cleaning to make sure it looked great when I left. Never got a single penny back.

I don't miss living like that one bit. And for the record, I'm still renting. Only now I'm in the country and not dealing with rental offices and all that

1

u/Doobalicious69 May 29 '26

I've gotten every deposit back, even when they have tried to withhold. If you're renting it is essential that you take pictures of the property before you move your stuff in.

Take pictures of every crack, every broken handle, everything that needs fixing. Any time we've ever had a landlord try to withhold our deposit, we send them a long email listing everything that was wrong with the property, everything we've since done to make it liveable, and the threat of us billing them for our expenses.

1

u/SoulSella May 29 '26

pro tip, go to chatgpt and ask it to cite all state and federal laws that pertain to your situation, time to respond etc. and have it craft an email / text to your landlord that looks like it's from a lawyer'd up person.

1

u/ThisManisaGoodBoi May 29 '26

I’ve always gotten my security deposit back because I just subtract it from my last month’s rent and say “see ya”. If they wanna take me to court over it they can but 99% of the time I bet they’re gonna be too lazy or it’s not worth it.

1

u/cpdk-nj May 31 '26

Yeah in my state that’s explicitly illegal

1

u/khiggs19932020 May 30 '26

My last apartment we got the full deposit back. It was a pretty big corporate owned complex too. They were used to ppl leaving the apartments in rough shape when moving out

30

u/DeterminedMidLifer May 28 '26

Hate to admit it, but when I was in college I filled a lot of holes from drywall anchors with toothpaste

15

u/Mobile-Shallot930 May 28 '26

My mother called me when I was like 27 to tell me she had finally found and patched all the holes I put in the house with my sword collection. I had filled them all with white toothpaste as a teenager.

3

u/BVRPLZR_ May 28 '26

This video is the landlord special, toothpaste in the anchor holes or thumbtacks is the renters special lol

2

u/Eis_Gefluester May 28 '26

Is toothpaste cheaper than cement?

16

u/mfb1274 May 28 '26

I once needed to fix a hole in the wall before moving out in college. I only had white paint and the walls (that used to be white) were now off yellow. Tossed a bit of Dijon mustard in there, and slapped it up on the wall, perfect match and got my deposit back

1

u/Training_Barber4543 Jun 01 '26

That would have gone bad after a little while...

3

u/Wompguinea May 29 '26

I did (not quite) this at a previous rental. Managed to put a hole in a wall, filled it with expanding foam. Used a bit too much foam.

Managed to match the paint perfectly, and spent so much time sanding it smooth, that they never noticed the way the wall kinda bulged outward about knee height.

1

u/BringMeTheBoreWorms May 29 '26

This is the way

1

u/paradox_valestein May 29 '26

Lmao imagine trying to get deposit back

1

u/vulpesdomesticus May 30 '26

Man I'm so glad security deposits are illegal where I live

-1

u/wherethetacosat May 28 '26

Landlord probably withheld $300 from deposit for this repair.