New York-based specialty insurance provider Assurent has acquired SureDeposit, a provider of alternatives to resident security deposits. The two companies say the merger will give residents more streamlined options to both the move-in and risk protection processes. Assurent says that the SureDeposit customer, a resident who want to avoid steep security deposits through the use of surety bonds, is ripe for liability protection in the form of personal and property insurance. “We’ll be able to simplify things by offering a deposit alternative and renters coverage through one provider,” said Kathy McDonald, president of Assurent’s Property Solutions group.

SureDeposit is an alternative risk management tool that vastly improves upon traditional security deposits by replacing them with a financial guarantee surety bond. The first of its kind, SureDeposit is the market leader in the emerging industry of security deposit alternatives, with more than 1,500,000 apartment units under agreement in nearly 4,500 communities nationwide