[Caerus]

The piece that I see ALWAYS neglected is maintenance. I rent and pay nothing additional to maintain the place. Washing machine breaks - landlord fixes it. Carpets wearing out (minus things that are obviously my fault) - landlord replaces it.

Everyone I talk to who owns is constantly upgrading or replacing or fixing something in their house. It seems, on average, home maintenance is about 66-75% of my rent check; and that isn't money they get back. It just prevents their home price from falling.

[walshemj]

the landlord then retains your deposit for "spurious" cleaning or do US landlords not do this nasty little scam.

[xamuel]

Just write the deposit off and if you get any back, consider it a blessing. It's odd that you give it so much weight when it's usually less than a single month's rent.

[andyking]

In Britain these days, the deposit is held by an independent agency, not the landlord or letting agent. They have to give a good reason to have money deducted - and you can then dispute this if it is spurious.

I recently moved, and the landlord (who was broke) was trying to keep money for all sorts of non-existent faults, most of which were due to his shoddy DIY work before I moved in. I raised a dispute and eventually got the vast majority of the money back. Just make sure you keep pictures of the state of the house before you move your stuff in.

[_delirium]

It varies a lot; in California the legal maximum is two months' rent, and it's fairly common for landlords to demand the maximum. That can be a significant hit unless you stay in the same place for years.

[rdouble]

It depends on the landlord.