There are companies in college towns that make their money by renting apartments to college kids and keeping their security deposits when the kids move out – no matter what. It is an incredibly slimy practice because the firms prey on the kids who can least afford to absorb the expense or fight back. Sidebar: This happened when I was in college, but unfortunately for the apartment complex owner, one of the victims’ fathers was a high-powered class-action attorney in LA. Needless to say, he formed a “class of aggrieved former tenants,” and he ended up owning the entire 400-unit complex. Sometimes, trial lawyers are a good thing. I am sharing the story about the slimy apartment owners because we once had a borrower with collections from one of them on his credit report. The firm not only kept his deposit, but they hit him with additional charges for utter nonsense, and the borrower refused to pay on principle. The slimy firm promptly reported the collections, and the borrower’s credit score fell below 600. The borrower was able to get a loan, but he had to write a very strong letter of explanation and still had to pay off the collections – as painful as it was (he could have litigated, too, but that would have been more expensive).Read More