Get your security deposit back with this clever kitchen cabinet hack
Security deposits can be tricky for renters.
A security deposit is the money a renter must pay a landlord when they sign a lease. When the renter moves out, assuming they met the requirements in the contracts and didn’t damage the space at all, they get that money back.
Of course, different landlords can have different definitions of what constitutes “damage” — and some have been outright accused of trying to scam renters — so some renters have gotten creative to avoid forfeiting their deposit.
For instance, TikTok user Rayaa (@rayaa_8) shared a video of how one renter tried to get around paying for some damage to the bottom of a kitchen cabinet.
How much is a security deposit?
According to some contracts, security deposits can be as much as a full month and a half of rent, costing thousands of dollars.
And putting down a security deposit locks a renter into the possibility of losing the money based on the landlord’s stipulations of what constitutes “damage” to the space.
For instance, things like not paying the rent or damaging the home or apartment beyond “normal wear and tear” could lead a renter to be forced to forfeit their security deposit.
Renters often struggle with what they feel are outlandish prices, even for things like move-out fees. For instance, one TikTok user, Payton (@paytopotatoe), shared that her landlord threatened to charge her and her family $25 for each dirty stove burner when they moved out.
The oven burners were already four years old, so instead of being charged $100 for something out of her control, Payton bought an entire four-pack of new burners for only $28 and replaced them herself.
What’s the renter hack for cabinets?
Like Payton, Rayaa’s video — set to the infamous “who’s gonna know?” audio — depicted a clever “hack” meant to save a renter from paying a landlord.
In the video, a person used contact paper with a wood grain design to cover up the real cabinet, which was damaged at the bottom.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the cabinets were already damaged when the renter moved in, and they feared they’d get charged for damage they didn’t do or if the renter really did damage the cabinet.
Regardless, commenters were impressed at how well the contact paper worked.
“At first I thought they’d know, but nobody’s gonna know,” remarked @hnscc102.
“This is the first video I’ve seen where nobody’s gonna know,” admitted @mattynewy.
“Seen it, and I still wouldn’t know,” added @frank.castle83.
“That’s how the landlord would fix it anyways lmao,” @shannonvitrealis pointed out.
Others remarked that they had done similar hacks successfully on their own home items.
“I literally just used black wood grain contact paper on my son’s wooden dresser that I didn’t feel like painting and it looks awesome,” said @sal07itc.
“Literally just found out this is covering all the cabinet doors in my apartment,” reported @warhorse.
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