[_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/