What are potential downsides of asking back half of my rental deposit from the landlord?

Question

I rented an apartment about 2.5 years ago. During this time, I was still a student and the landlord considered my income situation to not be entirely stable, so he asked me for twice the original deposit. This deposit is typically equal to one month's worth of rent, so I paid two months' rent in this situation. I am thinking about asking back half of this deposit, now that I have hopefully proven after all this time that I have no problem paying the rent with my current income situation. However, I am not sure if there are any downsides to making this request with the landlord. I'm inexperienced when it comes to renting, so I'm not sure if he might take this as an indication that I am getting ready to move out, or that I damaged the property and want to get my deposit back in a sneaky way before I move out eventually. I'm obviously due to get this entire deposit back when I eventually move out, but I want to prevent any sketchy situation where the landlord will try to fake damages or pull any other tricks on me, while he has this huge deposit in his possession. Moreover, having this extra money back in my possession during these times of lockdown and having to stay at home, would be very useful. I'm currently based in the Netherlands.

Any advice is appreciated!

Answer 1

Don't; it's only one month of rent

If I was the landlord, given such a request, I would immediately assume the tenant would suspect the income situation won't be stable in the near future. Thus, given such a request, the condition for holding to the deposit would suddenly become true.

It's a catch-22. If you don't ask, you most likely won't get the extra month of deposit back. If you ask, the landlord will assume you need the money, and thus, your income situation won't be stable in the near future, and thus, won't give it to you.

Not only that, but in the place I'm currently living in, I paid two months of deposit. That was not due to my income situation, it's standard practice here.