Is a Holding Deposit of 1 month’s rent normal? Am I getting scammed? (From the POV of an international student)

The agent shouldn't be doing this mate, they know better than to take a full months rent as a holding fee. So we can therefore assume this cowboy don't care much about rules!

All reputable agents know the law (they are assumed to know it) in fact as part of their license they must sit an exam confirming that they understanding the law

Which says:-

A person must not require or recieve from a tenant a holding fee unless

a. A tenants application for trenancy of the residential premises has been approvied by the landlord, and

b. the fee does not exceed 1 weeks rent of the residential premised (based on the rent under the proposed residential tenancy agreement

You can have a read here https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2010-042 Just search "holding fee" and read the section on it.

I'd be inclined to walk away, however, I understand you're stressed so perhaps I can suggest booking a Meriton serviced apartment for a couple of weeks when you arrive and using that time to carefully inspect some properties around the city. There are plenty around an area called Wollstonecroft and you can easily rent a car/catch the train to go to inspections.

/r/sydney Thread