Your money, actually protected.
On most sites your security deposit goes straight to the landlord, and if something goes wrong, you're on your own. Sharelet freezes it safely, returns it automatically, and gives you a fair path if you ever disagree.
The way it usually works isn't protection
The big listing sites don't hold your deposit at all. When it goes wrong, their advice is essentially: take photos, write to your landlord, ask nicely for it back within a week, and if that fails, call a government agency. That's not protection. That's a to-do list handed to you at the worst possible time.
Sharelet does that work for you, automatically, and takes the money out of the landlord's hands in the first place.
Sharelet vs. the usual way
Other sites
Sharelet
How the protection works
Four things happen automatically, so you never have to chase, argue, or hope.
Held safely the whole time
The renter funds the deposit and it's held securely by our payment provider for the entire tenancy. It's never paid to the host at move-in, and the host can't touch it on their own.
Settled fairly at move-out
The host returns it in full, or proposes itemized deductions for real damage, backed by a written breakdown and photo evidence. Nothing vague, nothing hidden.
Returned automatically
If the host goes quiet, the deposit comes back to the renter's card on a clear deadline. No chasing, no letters, no forwarding address required.
A neutral path if you disagree
Disagree with a deduction? Open a dispute right in the app. Both sides submit evidence and a neutral summary helps resolve it, so you're never left to fight alone.
And if you ever disagree, the process is fair and published.
A sealed move-in baseline
Both of you photograph the place at move-in and confirm each other's photos. Once confirmed, the baseline locks (nobody can rewrite it), and every move-out claim is judged against it.
Published deduction standards
What's deductible (real, evidenced damage) and what never is (normal wear and tear) is written down for everyone to read: see the standards. Disputes are decided against those rules, not gut feel.
A written rationale and 48 hours to respond
No silent decisions. Both parties receive the written reasoning behind any dispute outcome and get 48 hours to add new evidence before a single dollar moves. And every payment lives on a printable tenancy statement, so your paper trail is always one tap away.
Hosts: the lock works for you, too.
The money is guaranteed real
No bounced checks, no “I'll pay when I move in,” no fake payment screenshots. A deposit only ever shows as held after the funds have actually landed.
Honest deductions stick
Real damage, documented against the sealed move-in baseline, gets paid, with a process and paper trail that holds up instead of a shouting match or small-claims court.
Renters commit faster
People hand over a deposit sooner when they know it can't be stolen. Every vacant day costs you rent, and trust is what fills the place.
Protection other sites tell you to handle yourself.
Sharelet just does it, automatically. Deposits are funded through secure checkout, held by our payment provider, and only ever move with a clear, recorded reason.
Why this works differently in some states
Security-deposit law is written state by state, and about half of them say exactly where the money has to sit — a separate trust account, sometimes at a bank inside that state, sometimes earning interest for the tenant. Our payment provider holds funds; it is not a bank in Massachusetts. So in those states we don't run the deposit, because doing it anyway would quietly put your host in breach of a statute they probably haven't read.
What never changes is the part that stops scams. Everywhere, in every state, your first month is frozen the moment you pay it and only reaches the host once you've confirmed you're in and the place matches its listing. A fake landlord cannot collect. That is the protection that matters on the day you move, and it has no exceptions.
Where the deposit isn't available, your host arranges it directly with you under their state's rules, and we tell them what those rules are. Every listing says which protections it carries before you send a penny.
Sharelet provides deposit-protection facilitation through its payment provider and is not a bank, escrow agent, or guarantor. A non-refundable protection fee applies. Hosts remain responsible for applicable security-deposit law. This page is general information, not legal advice.