Thats ok. But there are bad apples everywhere. This seems like Russian roulette - gambling your early life financial stability in that your landlord is a usual

Thats ok. But there are bad apples everywhere. This seems like Russian roulette - gambling your early life financial stability in that your landlord is a usual straoght arrow so you can pay nominally lower rent. Even a 5% counterparty risk in return for marginally lower rent seems like a bad deal considering the amount at risk is life changing. The deposit is not held in escrow. A loss of a non collaterized 300k loan in early marriage couples could be devastating.