Yup, it counts.If you theoretically had a hard money lender that did NOT secure it by the real estate and record it with the county you MIGHT be able to sneak it through, but such a hypothetical hard money lender would probably be out of business in about 0.236 seconds.

I am completing a rehab project in NC and I looking for a home security company to monitor during the marketing to close.

We simply took it to a title company that I regularly worked with and it went through no problems.

Did not give us full payment for the security deposit and said previous landlord had taken it from them so they couldn’t pay it.

For a regular rental that someone got a steal on and just bought way below market then yes I agree with you on this approach.

Just for reference, on a commercial scenario, a good company can do a turn-key 100k jobs with no problem, but the question is, how secured is the client, how long can we get our money back, and at what profit margin?

I know a LOT of agents in Palm Beach County but they all deal with end consumers and people who are just looking to buy or rent a home at regular market prices.

There are certain loopholes in securing a second FHA loan, if you prove after a year that your job moved you over 100 miles is the most common. 

So that tenant will be paying 3 ways (Security deposit, First Month's rent, and Agent fee).

I had a rent payment and a security deposit caught in their mess.