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In a previous blog post, I described to you my first experience renting. I had a roommate that was an old friend of mine who was subleasing from me. We didn’t have a writhe lease agreement, just an informal verbal understanding. I was going on faith that he would pay me his ½ of the rent and utilities each month. As I learned, I was wrong not to have a written lease to enforce as problems arose over the next several months.
When my friend moved in, I was naïve not to collect any form of security deposit. Again, I was going on trust that there wouldn’t be any significant issues. In addition to my roommate’s challenge with paying me his share of the rent and utilities, he brought with him another surprise…
As background, my roommate had his own room with a separate door to enter and exit the house. He used the sliding door constantly and excessively to the point that by the time he moved out, the door had been damaged beyond normal wear and tear.
Lesson: Always collect a security deposit to protect unforeseen renter issues
Because I hadn’t collected a security deposit from him, my options were very limited in terms of recovery when he did move out. In addition, as a tenant myself, I could have been held liable by the property owner for excessive damage even though it was my roommate who was responsible for the excessive damage. Thankfully, in this case that didn’t happen to me. But it served as a stern reminder that along with a written lease, I should have collected a security deposit as ways to protect myself.
