Most tenancies come with a security deposit, set by the landlord per unit. Rentor collects it, receipts it, and keeps a clear record of it against your tenancy — so there's never an argument about whether it was paid.

The deposit banner

If any of your deposit is still unpaid, the Rent & Payments page shows a highlighted card: "Security deposit outstanding", with the exact amount still due — "Paid deposits are receipted and held against your tenancy."

The amount is always calculated for you: the unit's deposit minus whatever you've already paid. You never have to work it out, and if you've paid part of it before, only the remainder shows.

Paying it

1. On the banner, choose "Pay via M-Pesa", "Card" or "Bank" — the same methods as rent.
2. For M-Pesa, approve the prompt on your phone with your PIN. For card or bank, complete the secure checkout you're taken to.
3. The screen shows progress while the payment confirms. Once it does, the banner updates — and disappears entirely when the deposit is fully paid.

As with rent, if card and bank are greyed out your landlord hasn't enabled them yet — pay via M-Pesa.

Every deposit payment gets a numbered receipt, just like rent, in your "Transaction history". Both you and your landlord are notified when it lands.

Where you can see it

Your deposit shows on the Documents page, on your lease card — alongside your monthly rent and notice period — so the figure you agreed is always one tap away. See Signing your lease.

Protecting your deposit

The deposit exists to cover damage beyond normal wear — which is exactly why the move-in and move-out inspection checklists matter so much:

• At move-in, you and the landlord record the condition of every room, with photos, and both sign it.
• At move-out, you do the same again and compare.

A signed move-in report is your best evidence that a crack, stain or broken fitting was already there when you arrived. Do it in your first week — it takes twenty minutes and can save you real money later. Full guide: Documents & inspection checklists.

When your tenancy eventually ends, the two signed reports are what a fair deposit settlement is built on — see Moving out.

Getting it back when you leave

The moment your tenancy ends — whether the landlord closed it or the notice period simply ran out — the whole deposit becomes money owed back to you, automatically. Your landlord doesn't have to remember to raise it, and there is nothing for you to apply for. It opens by itself, for the full amount, and you're both notified.

Find it under Refunds in your side menu. The card shows the amount, who owes it, what it's for, and where it has got to.

Rentor can't send it for you

Deposits are held by your landlord in their own account — Rentor never held the money, so it can't push it back to you. What Rentor does is keep the record: the amount, the reason, whether it was sent, and whether it arrived. Your landlord pays you directly — M-Pesa, bank transfer or cash, however you agree — and records it here.

Deductions, in writing

If your landlord is keeping part of the deposit — damage beyond wear, an unpaid bill, a missing key — they use Withhold part of it and must state what it is for and how much. You see the full arithmetic on your card:

Deposit KES 50,000, less:

Repainting the bedroom wall − KES 5,000

Final water bill − KES 1,200

That itemised list is the point: "you're getting 43,800 instead of 50,000" with no breakdown is not something you can agree or disagree with. Deductions can never exceed the deposit, and they can only be recorded before your landlord says the money is sent — once they've claimed to have paid you, the figure you're being asked to confirm can't be quietly reduced underneath you. If the deductions use up the whole deposit, the refund closes at zero and you're told why.

Disagree with a deduction? Raise it with your landlord first — with the two signed inspection reports and the deduction's stated reason in front of you, it's usually a short conversation.

Confirming it arrived — and the 14 days

When your landlord marks the deposit as refunded, they can attach a reference or proof, and your card changes to "They say it's sent". Two buttons then belong to you:

1. "Yes, it arrived" — the money is in. The refund closes and your landlord's record is settled.
2. "It hasn't arrived" — say what you checked, and Rentor looks at it alongside whatever evidence they attached.

If you never answer, silence counts as agreement after 14 days and the refund settles itself. That cuts both ways and is meant to: a landlord who genuinely paid can't be marked as owing money for life by someone who stopped reading their notifications — and equally, saying money never arrived when it did is a false statement about money, and it costs you trust score the same way a viewing no-show does. Answer honestly and promptly and neither applies to you.

While a deposit is unreturned

An unsettled refund shows on the landlord's public standing — how many are open and how long they have been open, never the amounts. It's reputational, never a punishment: their listings keep working, because cutting off the income they'd repay you from only makes repayment less likely.