Rhino — Local services in New York

Rhino advertises their Security Deposit policy as Insurance, yet this “insurance” does not provide the defining compensation to the policy holder, who is the one paying the premium. This insurance is for the landlord, who is automatically reimbursed for claims they file, and Rhino then turns to the policyholder and demands payment in full. If landlords are the ones benefitting from the insurance, THEY should be the ones paying the premiums.

Rhino is intentionally misleading consumers with its advertising, in a way that is deceptive, unethical, and to my understanding, prohibited by the Federal Trade Commission.

It gets even more underhanded. When a claim comes through, you are unable to read through your policy and verify your liability, because Rhino disables access to policy documents when claiming a payment is due. This conduct is again unethical, and I don’t understand how it is legal.

The email I received from Rhino on April 4, 2022 which prompted me to sign up for a policy stated that: “As long as there’s no excessive damage or unpaid rent at the end of your lease, you’ll pay no additional costs,” but they will qualify any claim made by a property owner as “excessive damage”. They are currently demanding that I pay for $900 of paint touch ups, despite faded paint being normal wear and tear. Property owners are allowed to claim immense damages, and Rhino’s “dispute” process is a joke.

This program is a scam that should genuinely be illegal because of the intentionally deceptive and misleading advertising. I will never be using Rhino again, and will be telling everyone I know about this experience so that they can avoid Rhino’s disgusting manipulation.

If you HAVE to utilize one of their policies because your landlord requires it, save the documents outside of the website, and take extensive photographs of the property before you move out and any claims may be filed...

This has been about two years in the making, trying to get Rhino to stop charging me $88 per month, for an apartment I’ve been moved out of!!! I’ve written reviews before and they’ve come back with “we don’t have you on record as a customer…” so we’ll see how this one goes. I used this service when I moved into an apartment complex in 2022, who offered this as a security deposit option. The complex stopped working with Rhino shortly thereafter, so when I moved out of the apartment, I requested the rhino policy be cancelled. Rhino got back to me and informed me that the complex needs to reach out and let them know I moved, but the complex leasing staff told me that they cannot do that since they don’t use Rhino anymore. I kept trying but no one was helping me & Rhino kept charging me $88 each month for about a year and a half!!! I was finally able to work with Chase bank to get the charges blocked but now Rhino is saying I owe them the past due balances that they were unable to charge. Well, after filing claim after claim, I finally got someone from the old leasing office to email Rhino and let them know that I moved and to refund whatever is owed to me, and effectively cancel my policy. Rhino emailed me THE NEXT DAY, still saying I owe a balance and I need to bring my policy up to date!!! There IS a phone number for them but it’s a recording of a person saying that they cannot take calls and they refer you to the (unhelpful) website to email them the issue. So I feel like I’m having to do this all over again so that they don’t take me to collections! If this last attempt at getting this TRASH company to cancel my policy doesn’t work, I’m taking it to the better business bureau cause this has been insane!!! Don’t use them if you can help it, cause you may have to pay them for the rest...

I am not exaggerating when I say that Rhino has been the BEST thing to happen for me since I moved to Augusta.

When I moved from Atlanta, I had no idea how I was going to pay a hefty deposit as well as gain my footing and get situated financially within the first few months. Taking into account all of the unforeseen expenses that pop up out of the blue when moving, I lost plenty of sleep wondering how I would be able to pay the deposit AND the first few month's rent.

My apartment leasing agent told me about Rhino and suggested that I contact them. I will admit that I was skeptical because it sounded too good to be true. The process was very simple and straightforward and I had no problem getting approved.

I simply filled out the application and instead of paying a security deposit in the equivalent of one and a half months rent, I was able to move in with no deposit at all. The great thing about Rhino is that the documents are very easy to comprehend and don't involve a bunch of legal jargon.

Moving is already stressful enough, so removing the deposit obstacle helped me start out on my feet instead of struggling for months playing catch up. The money I would have used for the deposit, I was able to pay for gas, toiletries, groceries, and other miscellaneous items. It felt great being in my new apartment with a few extra dollars to treat myself to some move-in celebration take-out food.

Rhino is a win-win for everyone involved because it greatly reduces the stress of moving, and it helps the apartment complex expedite the leasing process. There is no way I could have moved without it. Had I known about Rhino earlier, it would have saved me months of pre-move worrying.

As for my new apartment...I LOVE...