Security Deposits
Joint and Several Liability
Often several students will rent a house or apartment. If everyone in the house signs a lease together you should be aware of a concept known as "joint and several liability." Most rental agreements have a joint and several liability clause. What this language does is makes every signer of the rental agreement responsible for the entire amounts due and owing. This means that if your roommates desert you, or damage their rooms beyond repair, your landlord can sue all of you, or perhaps just you and you may be liable for the entire amount.
This can become a bigger problem in "group home" situations. Initially, a number of people sign a lease, but then people sequence through the house. Some move out, new people move in -- and then some of the people who originally signed the lease are no longer there. Under the joint and several liability clause, if legal disputes arise or back rent is owed, the house's landlord can pursue all the original signers of the lease for remedy, or the landlord may choose to concentrate on the one or two left in the house.
Protect your security deposit by clearly understanding the landlord's terms and conditions regarding the deposit, and its return when the time comes.
Often the security deposit is the first major exchange of
money between a new tenant and a landlord. To protect this deposit, you
must clearly understand the landlord's terms and conditions regarding
the deposit, and its return when the time comes.
The landlord is required to state the terms and conditions regarding the security deposit on the lease or on your receipt for the deposit.
If you live in the District of Columbia
When you move out of the apartment, the landlord has 45 days to
return your deposit or to notify you in writing if he or she intends to
apply the money toward damages in the apartment. If your landlord does
this, s/he then has 30 days from the day s/he notified you to return
whatever money is left over and provide you an itemized statement of
the repair costs.
The DC Housing Regulations also authorizes the landlord to make an
inspection of the apartment three days before or after your tenancy
ends, but must notify you in writing of the inspection at least 10 days
before it occurs.
Your security deposit accrues interest and the law dictates that the
interest rate on the deposit be equal to the passbook interest rate for
the escrow account holding the deposit, or that it shall accrue at a
rate not less than 5 percent per year.
If you live in Virginia
A landlord cannot ask for a security deposit of more than two month's rent.
Within 45 days after you move out of the apartment, your security
deposit must be given to you. If there are any deductions, you must be
given a written list with the amount of any deductions, damages, and/or
charges.
Security Deposits in Shared Housing
The security deposit can be a special problem in shared housing.
Landlords are seldom willing to inspect whenever one person leaves a
group lodging. They often hold the total security deposit until all
original lease signers have vacated. Therefore, tenants need to reach
their own agreement about how they will handle the return of individual
shares of the deposit.
Protect your security deposit by clearly
understanding the landlord's terms and conditions regarding the
deposit, and its return when the time comes.
