South African property company allows you to pay rental deposits in crypto

You can now pay your rental deposit at Quorum Holdings in cryptocurrency, as it becomes the first South African property company to accept crypto and potentially benefit from an increase in value.

Quorum Holdings owns and manages a broad range of commercial and residential properties and develops properties in urban nodes.

Rental deposits are standard practice in South Africa, but tenants do not usually benefit from the deposit held by their landlords which, depending on the lease, can happen for several years.

Saul Mayers, head of group legal at Quorum Holdings, says this innovative option for rental deposits represents a use case for crypto and a new way of doing business. “We are excited to try rental deposits in crypto for our latest development in Johannesburg, Forest Views. Depending on how well it works, we will expand the option to other properties in Johannesburg and Cape Town.”

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These rentals are aimed at young professionals who are familiar with crypto and may want to use theirs as a deposit, instead of the standard deposit practice, Mayers says. The crypto rental deposit will be held on South Africa’s largest crypto currency exchange, Luno.

Tenants will simply transfer the agreed deposit to Quorum Holdings’ Luno business account. Tenants can use Bitcoin or Ethereum to secure their leases and rest assured that their crypto is held on a safe and trusted platform.

“The risks associated with the price volatility of crypto are still there, but all gains belong to the tenant when they leave while the landlord is prepared to absorb any possible losses,” Mayers says.

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According to Marius Reitz, general manager of Luno for Africa, Bitcoin was developed as a medium of exchange.

“As crypto currencies become more main stream, we expect to see increased adoption. Quorum Holdings offering tenants the option to pay their rental deposits in crypto will benefit the tenants.”

Brad Bentz, financial director at Quorum Holdings, says the company prides itself on its ability to be flexible, innovative and create ‘new normals’. “This not only allows us to improve existing assets, but also develop high yielding assets in niche market areas.”