Commonly in the form of actual money and equivalent to one or two months rent, a security deposit is a sum, that the tenant agrees to provide to the landlord as a way to secure the tenant’s performance of their obligations under the lease. Retail lease legislation requires the landlord to lodge any security deposit with the Director-General of the Department of State and Regional Development.
Commercial leases do not require the landlord to deal with security deposits in the same way as retail leases. Commercial landlords may deal with the security deposit as they see fit provided it is paid in part or in full if required under the lease.