How to Return a Security Deposit to a New Owner/an Owner Who Is Not in Your Rentvine Account

This article will walk you through the process of returning a security deposit to an owner who is not in your Rentvine account.

Sometimes you will run into the scenario where an owner sells a property, and you have to return the security deposit on that property's lease to the new owner. Often times, that owner will not be in your Rentvine account as an owner contact or a portfolio. If that is the case, please follow the steps below to send the security deposit to the new owner.

1. Go into the specific lease that you would like to refund the security deposit
   1. Click on Leases on the left side of the screen
   2. In the search field, type the tenant(s) name or the address for the lease
   3. When you have located the lease, click on it
2. While in the lease, add any charges to the lease that you need to first (ex. tenant damages)
   1. To add charges, click on the green Actions button, and then click on Add Charge
   2. Fill out the necessary fields to create the charge
   3. Click Save, or Save and Add Another
      
3. After adding charges, go back into the lease
4. Click on the green Actions button, and click on Release Deposit
5. Enter in the full Amount of the deposit at the top, and then fill in a Description
6. In the Deposit Balances section, enter in the full amount of the deposit again in the Security Deposit field in the middle under Release Amount
   
   
   
   
7. If you created charges, you should see them under the Pay Charges section. Fill in the amount of money you would like to apply to those charges in the Amount to Pay field if you want to pay those charges using part of the security deposit.
   
   
   
   
8. You should now see the Total Open Credit amount at the bottom has changed. This will be the total security deposit less any charges that you are paying from this security deposit
9. Click on the green Post button at the bottom right
10. Go back into the lease
11. Click on the green Actions button, and click on Refund
12. Fill out the information on the top section
    1. The Bank Account will pre-fill to the Lease Refund account on that portfolio's posting setting, but this can be changed if needed
    2. Enter in a Memo for the check if you would like
    3. For the Name on Check, overwrite the tenant's name and fill in the name of the new owner
    4. Date Posted will default to today, but you can adjust this if necessary
    5. The Check Number will default to the next check number in order of your Rentvine account, but you can override this by entering a different check number
    6. For Payment Address, click on Custom Address to the right and fill in the address of the new owner
    7. Enter in the amount you would like to refund in the Amount to Refund field (this will default to the total open credit)
    8. Click the green Refund button at the bottom
       
13. On the next screen, click the green Actions button
14. Select Print Checks, and mail the check to the new owner
15. The final step is recording a bank transfer within Rentvine. The final step will only apply to you if you return security deposit money from a bank account that is separate from the bank account that you hold that money for the duration of the lease (i.e. you hold security deposits in a separate escrow security deposit bank account, but you refund the money to the tenant from your operating trust rental account). If this step does apply to you, then you will want to transfer the money at your bank, and you will also want to record a new bank transfer in Rentvine as well to account for the transfer at your bank.