Does a landlord actually own the furnishings situation when a placement agency picks the tenant

The meetup answer was correct in one way: the agency agreement really does determine almost everything here. But you can be more specific about what to look for in it.

A placement agency is typically acting as a referral source, not a property manager. That distinction matters because a property manager (a licensed professional you hire to run the unit) has defined legal duties and usually carries errors-and-omissions insurance. A placement agency that sources a tenant and steps back has neither of those things by default. Unless your agreement with the agency says otherwise, the liability for damaged furnishings lands on you as the owner.

The language people have gotten into these agreements falls into a few categories. First, a damage responsibility clause that specifies whether the agency, the tenant, or the agency's corporate client (the hospital or staffing firm) is responsible for physical damage beyond normal wear and tear. Second, a security deposit or damage deposit structure, since some travel-nurse companies pay a corporate rate and the agency collects a deposit on their behalf. Third, an indemnification clause, which means one party agrees to cover the other's losses if something goes wrong. You want to know who indemnifies whom before anything breaks.

What you did not ask, and it changes the numbers on a 900-square-foot unit: furnishings for mid-term rentals are a real line item, typically $8,000 to $15,000 for a one-bedroom depending on what you buy, and if the agreement is silent on damage and a tenant destroys a couch, you are absorbing that cost out of cash flow. The strategy guide section on operational constraints covers this.

A contracts attorney should review any agency agreement before you sign. That is a one-sentence job for a professional, not a forum.

What does the agreement you have been looking at actually say about who holds the deposit?

The agency agreement is the entire ballgame here, and the two structures that actually exist are indemnification language and security deposit passthrough, and they perform very differently when a lamp goes missing.

Indemnification language in the agency agreement means the agency promises to cover damage caused by their placed tenant, which sounds protective until you read the carve-outs, because most agency paper carves out normal wear, acts outside the tenant's "professional use" of the unit, and anything not reported within 24 to 48 hours of checkout. What survives that gauntlet is narrow. The stronger version is a security deposit passthrough where the agency collects a deposit from the tenant and holds it in trust, and your agreement specifies that you receive an itemized disbursement from that deposit before the agency releases the remainder to the tenant. That structure keeps you in the chain of custody on damage claims rather than asking the agency to make you whole after the fact.

The thing most owner agreements I have seen are silent on is the inventory checklist protocol, meaning who conducts the move-in and move-out inspection, who signs it, and whether the agency attestation is sufficient to support a damage claim or whether you need a third-party walkthrough. Without that language, you are relying on the agency's own documentation to hold the agency accountable, which is a structural conflict worth naming before you buy a single piece of furniture.

What does the agency you are talking to use as its standard form, and have you had a chance to mark it up yet?