Is a deposit to hold an apartment refundable by law?

[Steven Maduro]

I live in Georgia
I am not sure this issue is covered in the hand book I figured I would float it here

I had a unit for rent in the first week of july say july 2, man came and said he wanted it immediately
he had a good job drove a nice car was well put together. he had income verification statements

He made a partial deposit of 300 no paper work just a receipt
he was supposed to move in on the 15th of july
on the 15th he came with another 200 which was the rest of the deposit but he said he didnt want to move in until august

this didnt make me happy and as he stated there was nothing in writing
forcing him to a july 15th move in date

now he states he doesent want to move in at all
and wants his deposit back.

I basically held this apartment for 30 days and now he does not want it,

there was no written agreement but the rental application does state

The following deposits are required:

- security deposit of the first month's rent of 550.00 payable upon move inThe deposit will be returned to the Applicant if the Premises are not rented to the Applicant.

when I wrote this I was under the impression that it meant if for some reason I decided not to rent the unit
but upon reading it
It seems like it states he is entitled to his deposit back.

Did I just mess my self up?

[Jeff Bridges]

The potential "tenant" came to you on the day of move in and said, "look, here is the rest of the deposit, but I'm going to move in next month and prevent you from earning a months income because it's not convenient to my move-out date." That's the same thing as moving in at that time and asking for a month of free rent.... Essentially, the deposit is used to hold the property so that no one else would be able to rent it, but they broke that contract since they are asking to hold it for another 30 days, which was not part of your verbal contract. Unfortunately, you did not have the tenant sign a "deposit to hold" contract or a full rental contract which would have written terms of how the deposit would be handled such as citing that it would be forfeited if move-in or lease signing did not occur before X date. Since you didn't sign any paperwork, I can't advise on how to best proceed with that. It might help to explain to him that it is an unreasonable burden for you to hold the unit for a full month until he moved in without rent when there were other applicants ready to move-in and pay rent immediately. a deposit does not entitle an unlimited hold time for the unit and shouldnt have the expectation. You need to highlight that he was being unreasonable in preventing you from earning that months rent and that you have to pay a mortgage bill. What you actually do with his deposit is your decision, even though I believe you deserve to keep that deposit to cover him breaking the contract for the deposit, which was move-in on x date....

next time read this document below on how to handle accepting deposits and lease signing. I always accept deposit in money order and then first months rent at lease signing, which should be stipulated date after deposit acceptance... There are forms for the deposit to hold form so you have a deposit contract with written date requirements.
http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/01/04/how-to-rent-your-house/

[Kyle N.]

Right on Jeff Bridges! I am always up front with prospective tenants that security deposits are non-refundable prior to moving in (and after the become refundable assuming no damage to the apartment). The key is having it in writing.