Last Month's Rent vs Security Deposit

[Jason Heard]

I know what the differences are with last month's rent vs security deposit.  But I've heard some other investors say they use last month's rent for the sole purpose of not having to place a security deposit in a trust account (in GA).  That sounds like a good reason to me, but is it worth it?  Pros and cons...

[Barry Herbst]

Hi Jason,

Always take a security deposit. This is your form of defense/insurance in case the tenant damages your property, doesn't pay rent, doesn't move out, etc etc. If you discover in the screening process that the prospective tenant has poor credit, you should take extra security and have them pre-pay additional rent. Hopefully this helps.

Best,

Barry