How do you handle returning security deposits to your tenants as a landlord? It's one of those

issues that's bound to create some conflict, both from the tenant standpoint and the landlord's

standpoint. So in today's episode of Ask Coach, I'm going to try to tackle that question.

We're getting started right now.

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Ask Coach edition of the Real Estate and Financial Independence podcast.

My name is Chad Carson. You can call me Coach Carson as well. And in this show, we talk about real estate investing, financial independence, and doing more of what matters.

I got a question recently from someone about security deposits. They are a new landlord,

and they wanted to know, are there any best practices or suggestions that I have for how to

return a security deposit to your tenant? Now, the first thing I'll say is that I am a landlord,

done a lot of turnover with security deposits and with tenants. But one of the important things to know is that

every single state has their own version of what's called landlord tenant laws.

And there's a big difference between certain states. I'm in the state of South Carolina.

So I understand some of the

best practices here and the requirements here might be completely different in other states.

But there are some business practices that I want to talk about that I think will help you

wherever you are. The goal in my mind, at least, is not to have conflict. If you have a conflict

with your tenant, and I've had situations in the past

as a new investor where I didn't do this very well, so this is kind of me learning from failing

and not doing it correctly all the time. But if you have a conflict where nobody's on the same page

and you're having communication issues with the tenant, that is a problem on your part as a landlord.

So the goal here, I'm going to give you a few steps that I would suggest that will help

you be a better communicator and have everything clear and on the table.

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