Deposit on a Condo

[chris_samui]

I am going to rent a condo from a real estate agency, and I have to pay a deposit, as is usual.

What can I ask the agency to give me as guaranty so I will get back my deposit when leaving, can I ask a copy of a ID card of the person in charge, or another document.

I had bad experience in the past getting a deposit back, that's why this question.

[blackcab]

You will not get that guarantee from anyone. Your deposit is given to cover damage, unpaid rent and unpaid utilities. It is illogical to ask a landlord or an agent to guarantee to give the deposit back to you. If they did that, what is the point in collecting it at all?

If you agree to being given your deposit back minus the above, then your guarantee is your contract. If the agency doesn't honour the contact you will have to sue them in court. That's the same situation for everyone when one party does not honour a contract.

You can ask for an ID card, but my advice would be if you are not happy then choose somewhere else. There are lots of places to choose from.

[chris_samui]

I understand that the deposit is to cover all what you mentioned, but even if you leave the place I perfect condition, pay the rent in time, etc... then sometimes have the problem also. I am not the only one. There are many agents indeed, but you never know in front.

[thaitero]

Well, Do a google search for real estate firm you are going to use to see if there are many negative comments,,That should give you some idea..

[chris_samui]

They make mostly their positive comments. Maybe you are in real estate also?

Never mind

[Pinot]

Not a chance of that happening. You might be able to dispute a Visa/Mastercard charge.

[trogers]

You will not get that guarantee from anyone. Your deposit is given to cover damage, unpaid rent and unpaid utilities. It is illogical to ask a landlord or an agent to guarantee to give the deposit back to you. If they did that, what is the point in collecting it at all?

If you agree to being given your deposit back minus the above, then your guarantee is your contract. If the agency doesn't honour the contact you will have to sue them in court. That's the same situation for everyone when one party does not honour a contract.

You can ask for an ID card, but my advice would be if you are not happy then choose somewhere else. There are lots of places to choose from.

The somewhere else is probably a hotel that needs only your credit card.

[dean008]

May I suggest you spend as much time as you need to photograph any damage (if any) in the condo, and then email it to the agent, at least then you will have some proof that the damage was there before you moved in.

[i claudius]

The agent does not hold the deposite,the owner does ,if they do not give it back it is between you and the owner,not the agent

[WorkingTourist]

Other than ask for a receipt and document/report all defects when you move into the condo, there is little you can do.

But if they refuse to give you back the deposit, surely they must state a reason. I am curious about your past experience. Did they claim that they never received it? Or that you had damaged the condo?

The only problem I have had (having rented a handful of places) was a place that wanted to subtract inflated cleaning fees from my deposit, even though I made sure the condo was left in the same condition as when I moved in (after a bit of back and forth, they agreed to forego this cleaning fee).