If you are renting through a realtor, the realtor might ask you to place a security deposit in an escrow account when you are placing an offer on an apartment. Be wary of this type of a situation.
If you place your funds in an escrow account, they are typically your funds to be put towards the move in cost of that or any other apartment. However, if you do not rent through your realtor, you might loose that money. This weekend, a realtor told me verbally that I can receive that money back, however, when I researched the company on the internet, there were a great number of negative reviews that stated that the potential renters submitted a deposit on a place, however, the place was rented out to someone else before their realtor were able to submit their offer. The renters were told that they could find any other place through their realtor and use the money in the escrow account towards the next apartment they found. However, the realtor fell off the map after that.
I can't reach my realtor now either. Thankfully, we did not submit a check. Supposedly, it is a rule of their company that if you do not rent through them, after a certain time, the funds in the escrow account are taken as their payment for "looking." Of course, not every company is there to scam you, however, even large and known companies such as the one I dealt with this weekend can have unpleasant rules. Be wary of anything you sign and read up on the company before you do any business.
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