also called holding fee tenancy · reservation deposit rental · reservation fee
Money paid before a tenancy starts to reserve a property while references and contracts are completed, separate from the main security deposit.
A holding deposit is money you pay before a tenancy actually starts, to reserve a place while references and contracts get sorted, and it is separate from the main security deposit that comes later. Its refund rules are different from the protected tenancy deposit, and that difference is where remote renters get caught. Paying it from abroad sight-unseen means you can lose it if the paperwork falls through or you back out.
You wire a holding deposit from another country to lock in a flat you have not seen, then the referencing stalls or you change your mind. Because the holding deposit plays by its own refund rules, that money may be gone, unlike the later tenancy deposit you assumed it worked like.
Remote renters often wire a holding deposit from abroad and then lose it if paperwork fails or they walk away. The rules for refunds differ from the protected tenancy deposit that comes later.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
These are the upfront payments a landlord or agent asks for, which are easy to confuse.
A deposit is the refundable sum held against damage or unpaid rent, a holding deposit reserves the place while checks are done, and rent in advance is paying several months before you move in.
First and last month bundles actual rent with the deposit idea, key money is a non-refundable gift to the landlord common in Japan, an agency fee pays the letting agent, and arras and fianza are the Spanish and Latin American words for a reservation payment and the rental deposit.
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