What a deposit is actually for
Two months' rent changes hands and nobody writes down what it is for. It is not a fee, it is not the last month's rent, and the difference decides who is right when somebody moves out.
A deposit is money the tenant still owns, held by the owner as security against things the tenant might owe later. Every argument about deposits in this city comes from one side of that sentence being dropped.
2 monthsThe usual residential deposit in Udaipur. Three is common near the colleges.
What it is not
It is not a fee. A fee is money that changes hands and stays there. If any part of a deposit is not returnable under any circumstances, that part is a fee and should be written down as one, with a name.
It is not the last month's rent either, and the habit of treating it as such is where a lot of the bad feeling starts. An owner planning to deduct for a repainted wall and a tenant planning not to pay the final month are both spending the same money.
What may come out of it
Three things, and the shorter the list the fewer the arguments:
- Rent that was not paid.
- Bills that were not paid — electricity, above all.
- Damage beyond ordinary wear.
The third is the one that needs a definition, and "ordinary wear" is doing all the work. A wall that has faded in four years is wear. A wall with a hole in it is damage. Nobody disputes those two; the disputes live in between, and the only thing that settles them is a photograph from the day the keys changed hands.
When it should come back
Say a number of days in the agreement. "Immediately" is not a number and "after settlement of dues" is not a date. Fifteen to thirty days after the keys are returned is what people in this city actually manage, and writing it down converts a delay from a grievance into a breach.