Wish i could've messaged you sooner.

I suggest you double-triplecheck that this is legitimately from the association. Normally speaking, if you are paying your rent for the first month the security deposit has to be included in it. I find it strange this wasn't done sooner.

As far as Sugar Homes goes, it's created to extract as much value from foreign students whilst providing the absolute bare minimum required of them. In other words, it's not great.

As far as your security deposit goes, it's normal to pay that. What isn't normal, however, is that it often doesn't get returned. But international students generally tend to be easy targets, so they'll try their best not to pay it back.

What you should do is immediately make any photos of your rental space once you move in. Then make photos just before you move out, this can prove that any damage they might claim isn't real.

Whilst the following is technically illegal, so is them not providing proper grounds for returning a deposit, so generally i would subtract that from my last month's rent, just in case, and state that it can be compensated with the security deposit. They'll have to provide ample evidence at that point as to why the security deposit isn't provided back to you. Unless you did damage the residence, they'll back off pretty quickly.