I’ve jumped between apartments quite a bit over the past 7 years. My first time renting I was naive, I didn’t take pictures when moving in and I expected that if left the place in a fairly good condition I would get my deposit back. Many apartments (and a couple of lawyers) later, and I’ve wised up to the fact that you have to fight for your rental deposit.

Landlords often see the deposit as just another source of income.

According to a survey by Rent.com, 1 out of every 4 renters in the United States have lost a security deposit. In addition, 36% of these renters weren’t even given a reason as to why their deposit was withheld. Landlords will often rely on the fact that there’s nothing the renter can or will do about a non-returned deposit. In most cases, getting a lawyer or going to court will be more hassle and money than the deposit is worth.

With my last apartment, my wife and I were shocked to receive a letter months after moving out stating that, not only were we not getting our $1,000+ deposit back, but that we also owed over $100. Thankfully my wife is a university student, so we had access to free legal assistance. When our lawyer reached out to the landlord, the landlord did a complete 180 and determined that they actually owed us money. A landlord isn’t about to waste time in court, and when confronted about their shady practices they will typically backoff.

So what can you do to protect yourself (and your money)?

📸 Photograph everything

One of the best things you can do is to take a picture of everything when you move in. Before you even bring in the first box, go room-by-room snapping as many pictures as you can. Store these photos somewhere safe, categorize them by room, and add notes when you can. Dropbox can be helpful for this, or you can go the extra mile and use something like DepositKeep which helps you store photos, prove when they were taken and walks you through each item to photograph.

Here are some things to pay attention to when snapping photos:

Chipped paint, holes and nails in the wall

Condition of the stovetop and other appliances

Carpet condition in each room and on the stairs

Window frames and under the window sill

Condition of blinds (make sure the blinds open and close without issue)

Inside of cabinets (especially under sinks)

Bathtub and the caulking around it

Inside and outside of the toilet

Light fixtures, switches, and outlets (note when anything doesn’t work as it should)

It’s also a great idea to take photos of everything when you move out as well. This helps if your landlord comes at you months after you’ve left (such as what happened to my wife and I).

📝 Document when something breaks

The first month of moving into our new apartment we woke up to find our kitchen flooded. The neighbor’s water heater had busted and leaked through the wall all night. When things like this happen, it’s important to take pictures, record when you contacted maintenance, and also document what (if anything) maintenance did to remedy the problem. In our case, maintenance didn’t address the issue for two days, and thus our carpet and wall sustained water damage. On the plus side, we can prove that we are not at fault for the damage when we move out.

📃 Review your lease and safely store a copy

Make sure you understand everything in your lease before signing. Landlords will often try to get you for breaking contract, so be sure you know what you can and cannot do. It’s important to safely store a copy of your lease as well, you might need it even after you move out. When we got a lawyer to fight for our deposit, the lease was one of the first things the lawyer asked for.

🏠 Don’t make substantial changes to the apartment

The truth is your apartment doesn’t belong to you and you really shouldn’t make changes to it. Definitely don’t do anything major to the structure or interior, but also refrain from doing things like painting the walls, or switching out the thermostat. Upgrading your ancient thermostat to a Nest might be tempting, but maintenance might refuse to help when you have heating/cooling issues if they see it (which happened to us), and might even report you to the main office.

🔧 Don’t let the small things go unfixed

Take advantage of maintenance whenever something breaks, no matter how small. A very common thing I’ve noticed in apartments is that the trimming below cabinets tends to fall off. It’s better to have maintenance fix the small issues for free rather than have the repair cost come out of your deposit.

By following the above and utilizing tools like DepositKeep, you can increase the chances that you’ll see your deposit again. Of course it’s also up to you to maintain the condition of your apartment and thoroughly clean it when moving out. Always make sure to find reviews for apartment complexes before signing the lease, and bring up anything questionable you find with the landlord.