When I rent a house I have to leave a £1000 deposit sitting in the letting agent's bank account, in case I skip the rent or throw the television out of the window. How irksome. I'd like my resting money to be put to better use.
So, how about during a 12 month rental period, the tenant's deposit is held in a 12 month guaranteed saving bond. At the end of the twelve months the interest from the saving bond could be put towards the Ethical Letting Agent's big project for the year - maybe a clinic in Africa or a homeless programme closer to home.
Another alternative would be (in the UK) investing all tenant deposits into a Premium Bonds account, with any winnings again being used to fund useful projects.
It would be good business in a world where many people chose ethical products over their competitors.-- Fishrat, Sep 06 2006 Baked in California http://www.sftu.org/deposit.htmlCurrent rate is 1.7% interest on deposits. [Klaatu, Sep 06 2006] In my experience, it is actually the landlord who gets to hold the deposit. They also almost always find some blag to get out of actually paying it back to you.
I would like to see some sort of escrow-style service hold the deposit. When you leave, both parties have to represent to the impartial escrow service why the respectively want to keep the deposit or why they deserve it back. The descision is then made impartially by this group.
Also, why not just give us the interest back when we leave and let us decide if we want to gift it or keep it?
btw: sp - tenants-- webfishrune, Sep 06 2006 The thing is, when someone pays you a deposit, it doesn't just sit in an account labelled 'Deposits-do not touch' it is more than likely going to get rolled up in the Landlord's regular swamplike mess of incomings and outgoings, covering a shortfall here, providing the means to buy a silly gadget there.
In the case of Agencies, the deposit might be used just as any other form of incoming cashflow.
As to the purpose and usage of said deposit, after a tenure is complete, there's normally the requirement to contract in professional cleaning staff and to replace furniture/fixtures/fittings etc - all of these costs are normally recouped from the deposit - in addition to acting as insurance against any telly throwing or rent skipping activities.-- zen_tom, Sep 06 2006 I like the idea of an impartial party involved in the decision of the deposit's return.
I don't know if these still exist, but at one time there were apartments that would take some of your rent money and put it away for you so you could use it as a down payment on a house (they returned it when your lease was up).-- Zimmy, Sep 06 2006 In California, all deposits are subject to interest which must be paid when the deposit is returned. <link> In addition, there is no such thing as a "non-refundable deposit".-- Klaatu, Sep 06 2006 random, halfbakery