Hi BP,

I've seen a few matters of opinions on this in the forums and would love a concise answer to how this should be done. The verbiage of my lease agreement from Apartments.com says that "Resident agrees to pay a Security Deposit equal to $___ on/or before signing of this
Lease. 

1) Why would you want to exchange monies ever without a written agreement in place? What ensures the landlord upholds his/her end of the bargain if the landlord hasn't signed anything?

2) Asking a tenant for money before having a signed agreement seems sketchy. Have you had a tenant refuse to pay until the lease is signed?

3) What are the down sides to not collecting the deposit until signature? Some allude that if a signature is given and the deposit doesn't come the landlord can't lease to another tenant without legal action?

A long time ago when I was a renter I do not remember ever exchanging money without a signature. It seems like a better approach would be to have a clause that says if deposit is not received in full in 3 days this agreement is null and void or something...