<story><title>Rents for the rich are going down, rents for the poor are going up. Why?</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/22/rents-rich-are-plummeting-rents-poor-are-rising-why/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>gnicholas</author><text>Interestingly, if landlords were allowed to use larger security deposits, some would choose to do this instead of raising the monthly rent. My friend is looking to rent out an ADU, and the first idea was to have a sizable security deposit in order to filter applicants who fully intended on paying rent from those who would be more likely to use the eviction moratorium.&lt;p&gt;But apparently California tightened the rules around security deposits in 2020, which actually exacerbates this problem. Landlords used to be able to ask for up to two month’s rent as a security deposit, but now they can only ask for one month&amp;#x27;s rent.&lt;p&gt;This leads to upward pressure on rents, as landlords adjust the only lever they have left. I wonder if applicants can&amp;#x2F;do offer to prepay several month&amp;#x27;s rent, to signal that they are serious long-term tenants who have the ability and interest in paying rent (even if they legally could avoid payment).</text></item><item><author>outside1234</author><text>It is a huge risk right now to take on someone that is poor as a renter because of the moratorium.  It is completely unsurprising to me that landlords have priced this risk factor in.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>offtop5</author><text>That&amp;#x27;s horrible to hear, I was only able to get my first apartment in California since I could offer a double deposit.&lt;p&gt;Chicago on the other hand has fantastic housing supply and so many rules on security deposits, most buildings just don&amp;#x27;t do it. Access to housing permeates every aspect of a culture, people are significantly nicer when they can afford a place to live.&lt;p&gt;Has your friend been able to get out of California ?</text></comment>
<story><title>Rents for the rich are going down, rents for the poor are going up. Why?</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/22/rents-rich-are-plummeting-rents-poor-are-rising-why/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>gnicholas</author><text>Interestingly, if landlords were allowed to use larger security deposits, some would choose to do this instead of raising the monthly rent. My friend is looking to rent out an ADU, and the first idea was to have a sizable security deposit in order to filter applicants who fully intended on paying rent from those who would be more likely to use the eviction moratorium.&lt;p&gt;But apparently California tightened the rules around security deposits in 2020, which actually exacerbates this problem. Landlords used to be able to ask for up to two month’s rent as a security deposit, but now they can only ask for one month&amp;#x27;s rent.&lt;p&gt;This leads to upward pressure on rents, as landlords adjust the only lever they have left. I wonder if applicants can&amp;#x2F;do offer to prepay several month&amp;#x27;s rent, to signal that they are serious long-term tenants who have the ability and interest in paying rent (even if they legally could avoid payment).</text></item><item><author>outside1234</author><text>It is a huge risk right now to take on someone that is poor as a renter because of the moratorium.  It is completely unsurprising to me that landlords have priced this risk factor in.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>silvestrov</author><text>wow, that&amp;#x27;s not much in case the apartment is damaged.&lt;p&gt;Denmark allows for 3 months deposit plus 3 months rents upfront, so you have to be able to come up with 6 months rent total to get an apartment.&lt;p&gt;(market here is very hot, so rental apartments have no problem getting 6 months rent)&lt;p&gt;When you &amp;quot;quit&amp;quot; living in the apartment, you can use the 3 months prepaid rent, so you don&amp;#x27;t have to pay rent the last 3 months.</text></comment>