Legal analysis: if you pay a deposit when renting a house, you can ask for a refund on the grounds that you can't reach an agreement on the rental contract. However, the deposit is not absolutely irretrievable. It is possible to get it back in the following three situations: 1. The person who pays the deposit is a person with no or limited capacity for civil conduct, that is, a person under the age of 18 (a person who is over the age of 16 but under the age of 18 but whose main source of livelihood is his own labor is regarded as a person with full capacity for civil conduct). 2, rental housing belongs to the construction project planning permit has not been obtained or does not meet the requirements of the construction project planning permit. 3, rental housing belongs to the approved or not in accordance with the approved content of the construction of temporary buildings. In the latter two cases, even if the lease contract is signed, the contract is invalid, and the lessor will eventually return the deposit, so in all three cases, you can ask for the return of the deposit.

Legal basis: Article 586 of the Civil Code of People's Republic of China (PRC), the parties may agree that one party shall pay a deposit to the other party as a guarantee for the creditor's rights. The deposit contract is established when the deposit is actually paid. The amount of the deposit shall be agreed by the parties; However, it shall not exceed 20% of the subject matter of the main contract, and the excess shall not have the effect of deposit. If the actual amount of deposit paid is more than or less than the agreed amount, it shall be deemed as a change of the agreed amount of deposit.