[gregpilling]

As a landlord with 6 rentals, I would say that this is a good letter.

Videoing the apartment is a good idea too (one I think I will do myself!) to record the state it is before and when you move out.

I usually don't have to claim anything out of a deposit when a tenant moves out, with the exception of the really crazy tenants. Crazy like poo smeared walls and leaving the living room filled with garbage all over the floor, etc. Careful tenant screening is the cure for this problem in the long run.

[tptacek]

Every. Single. Landlord. I've leased from has treated the security deposit as a "13th month's rent". The last two places we rented, we even hired our own cleaning service when we moved out. We still got dinged things like $500 to mow the lawn.

[_delirium]

I've also had that experience frequently (when I lived in the U.S.), but oddly had very good experiences with large national "corporate" landlords. I'm not usually a fan of dealing with huge national companies over smaller local businesses, but in this area my experiences are more positive with the big ones. When I lived in a Post [1] apartment complex, everything was very professional and above-board, and I got my deposit back in full, quickly. There was a walk-through at move-out with one of the leasing office's employees; the employee said everything looked fine, we both signed the inspection papers, and they returned my deposit the next week. I had even made nail holes in the wall to hang pictures, but their policy (stated at move-in) was that repainting and filling of holes less than dime-sized are routine maintenance for tenants who live there >1 yr.

The only other experience as smooth as that was with an individual landlord (no management company), who by luck happened to be very easy to work with. I paid rent on time and didn't trash the place, and he left me alone and didn't try to take my deposit. This was in a college town, though, so I think I was an exceptionally good tenant compared to what he was used to.

[1] http://www.postproperties.com/

[bigtunacan]

Every. Single. Landlord. I've leased from has returned my security deposit in full without any hassles.

[tptacek]

Congratulations. You have better luck than I did, and than my renter friends did. Maybe it's the time period. We bought a house in 2004 (and again in 2005) and haven't rented since.

[bigtunacan]

We also bought a house in '04 and have lived there since; so I would have been renting at the same time period.

People are people; some honest, some dishonest, but geography could have something to do with it as well. We have rented solely in Iowa, and in general I have found that a higher percentage of people (certainly not all) in this region place great value on honesty and personal integrity.

[x0x0]

when you videotape, video that day's newspaper to establish dates