Can a landlord ask for first and last month rent plus security?

Answer 1

It depends on the jurisdiction. Your best bet is to check with a local legal aid or tenant's rights organization to see if it's allowed in your particular location. In some places, the situation you've mentioned is perfectly fine; in others, anything above the first month's rent is considered a security deposit (regardless of what the rental agreement calls It) and is subject to restrictions on "reasonable" security deposit amounts.

In practice, it may not matter much.

California, for example, allows landlords renting an unfurnished property to collect a security deposit of two months' rent, but not more than that, no matter what it's called: security deposit, last month's rent, pet deposit, key fee, cleaning fee, all of these are regarded by the state as a security deposit and cannot total more than two months' rent (with the exception that the landlord may charge a "screening fee"; the amount may not be more than the landlord's actual out-of-pocket expenses, such as obtaining a credit report, and is subject to a statutory maximum dollar limit as well -- this is NOT part of the security deposit). So, that puts you on the hook for about $50, plus first month's rent, plus two months' rent equivalent as a security deposit, maximum; a total of just over 3 months' rent.

In contrast, Massachusetts allows landlords to collect first month's rent, last month's rent, and a security deposit and treats them all separately ... but limits the security deposit to one month's rent instead. So you'd still have to come up with three months' rent (plus the cost of a new lock and key, which MA law also explicitly allows) to move in, it would just be broken down slightly differently.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

You don't specify what jurisdiction you're in, but in general: yes, the landlord is entitled to require this. There are usually limits on the amount that can be charged as a security deposit (often one month's rent), but as long as the last month's rent is clearly labelled as such and not as part of the security deposit, it doesn't usually count toward that limit.

In some places (CA being one example), anything the landlord collects up front above the first month's rent is treated as being a security deposit, no matter what the rental agreement actually calls it, but the limit on the security deposit is TWO months' rent (3 for furnished properties), so in practice you're still coming up with up to three months' rent in order to move in, it's just broken down differently ... a distinction that winds up being largely irrelevant to your wallet.

You can try asking the landlord to waive the last month's rent, or allow you to pay it in installments, or any other method that both of you can agree to. If the landlord isn't willing to negotiate, you would either need to cough it up or "vote with your feet" and find a different landlord to rent from.

Because rental laws can (and do) differ from state to state (sometimes even city to city), it may be worth checking with a local tenant's rights organization or legal aid office just to be sure that your location doesn't have different rules.

Answer 4

There doesn't appear to be any law against such requests in ME -- although that may be due to the fact that there are limits to how large a security deposit landlords are allowed to collect.