Security Deposit Rules
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what California law says, what's specific to Los Angeles - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Deposits in Los Angeles are capped at one month's rent, furnished or unfurnished, since AB 12 took effect July 1, 2024.
- Your landlord owes the balance plus an itemized statement within 21 calendar days of you vacating.
- A narrow exception lets some very small landlords charge two months - never to a service member.
- Rent-stabilized LA units earn annual interest on deposits held a year or more, 3.03% for 2026.
- Georgia allows two months and Texas has no cap at all, so California sits at the strict end.
Understanding the Security Deposit Rules
The security deposit clause sets two things: how much your landlord can hold, and how fast they have to give it back. In California both numbers come from statute, so your lease cannot quietly rewrite them.
That matters more in Los Angeles than almost anywhere, because a month's rent here is counted in thousands. Knowing the cap and the clock is the difference between waiting and chasing.
What renters assume
That a huge deposit is just the cost of renting in LA, and a landlord can ask for two or three months if the market lets them.
What is actually true
The ceiling is one month's rent for nearly every Los Angeles landlord, furnished or empty, since July 1, 2024.
Read the cap and the clock together. California pairs a one-month ceiling with a 21-day refund, and only New York moves faster at 14 days.
Plain English Version
Think of the deposit as a one-month bond, not a savings account your landlord gets to sit on. You hand over a month's rent, and within three weeks of moving out you get back everything they cannot justify keeping in writing.
Security Deposit Forfeiture Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Los Angeles, CA
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
If Tenant vacates prior to the Expiration Date (as extended, if applicable), the security deposit shall be forfeited and Tenant shall be obligated for rent payments for the remainder of the term, or until the Property has been re-rented whichever is less.
Quoted from the published opinion in Cromar v. TAG Realty, LLC, No. 87780-1-I (Wash. Ct. App. Div. I, 2026). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
“prior to the Expiration Date (as extended, if applicable)”
Before arguing about forfeiture, check the size of the deposit itself. The one-month cap has a narrow exception - a natural person, or an LLC whose members are all natural persons, owning no more than two properties - and that exception never applies to a service member, who keeps the one-month limit regardless.
“the security deposit shall be forfeited and Tenant shall be obligated”
California treats the deposit as yours until the landlord justifies keeping it, item by item. A blanket forfeiture asks you to agree in advance to skip that justification - and a Washington court reading identical wording in 2026 held it could not override the statute.
“for rent payments for the remainder of the term”
Two claims for one loss. If the deposit is gone and the balance of the term is owed, the landlord is collecting the same money twice over - and California landlords must mitigate, so unpaid future rent is not simply a running total.
“the Property has been re-rented”
The one limit in the sentence, and it does real work. Rent stops when the place is re-let - so the date it was re-let is a fact worth asking for. A landlord who will not say when a new tenant moved in is withholding the number that ends their own claim.
Held unlawful, and the tenants were awarded double damages. They broke the lease early to buy a home. The landlord issued a move-out statement headed “EARLY TERMINATION SECURITY DEPOSIT FORFEIT” and told them no refund was due. The court held the forfeiture clause could not override the statute governing what a landlord may actually keep.
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
California Law on Security Deposit Rules
- Since AB 12 took effect July 1, 2024, the cap is one month's rent whether the unit is furnished or unfurnished.
- A narrow exception lets a natural person, or an LLC whose members are all natural persons, owning no more than two properties totaling four units, charge two months.
- That two-month exception never applies to a service member, who keeps the one-month limit.
- The deposit and an itemized statement are due back no later than 21 calendar days after the tenant vacates.
Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
California caps your deposit at one month's rent and gives the landlord 21 calendar days after you vacate to send the balance back with an itemized statement. Since AB 12 took effect July 1, 2024, that cap applies whether the unit comes furnished or empty. Texas and Florida, by contrast, set no cap at all - the lease decides.
One narrow exception survives. A landlord who is a natural person, or an LLC whose members are all natural people, owning no more than two properties totaling four units, can ask for two months. Even then a service member keeps the one-month limit, and no large property manager qualifies.
California Tenant Protections
The deposit is capped at one month's rent for nearly every Los Angeles landlord, furnished or unfurnished. A service member always keeps that one-month limit, even where the small-landlord exception would otherwise apply. And you are owed the balance plus an itemized statement within 21 calendar days of moving out.
What's Specific to Los Angeles
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Los Angeles adds one real requirement on top of state law, and it reaches only rent-stabilized units. Under LAMC § 151.06.02, a landlord holding your deposit for at least a year owes you annual interest on it - 3.03% for 2026.
Much of LA's older apartment stock falls under the RSO, so check your unit's status before you write that interest off. Everything else here is straight state law: one month up front, 21 calendar days to refund, and an itemized statement covering anything kept.
That is the legal ceiling for nearly every LA landlord. Anything above it needs a very specific explanation.
California gives your landlord 21 calendar days. A lease that stays silent still owes you that deadline.
AB 12 ended the furnished premium on July 1, 2024. Furnished or empty, the cap is one month.
Only a natural-person landlord with at most two properties and four units can charge that. Ask who owns the building.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5 on leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, California's own publication of its statutes.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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Two months from a corporate landlord
The two-month exception reaches only a natural person, or an LLC of natural people, owning at most two properties totaling four units. A management company never qualifies.
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Furnished-unit deposit surcharge
Since July 1, 2024 furnished and unfurnished carry the same one-month cap. An extra furnished premium is a leftover from the old rules.
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Lease promising a 30-day refund
Your money and the itemized statement are due in 21 calendar days. A lease term cannot stretch a deadline the state has set.
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No mention of itemized deductions
If the clause says nothing about how deductions get explained, get it in writing. You are owed an itemized statement with whatever comes back.
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RSO unit, no interest terms
Rent-stabilized Los Angeles units owe you annual interest on deposits held a year or more - 3.03% for 2026. Silence is not a waiver.
Your Rights as a Los Angeles Tenant
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One month is the ceiling
Nearly every Los Angeles landlord is capped at one month's rent, furnished or unfurnished.
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Twenty-one days, not thirty
You get the balance and an itemized statement within 21 calendar days of vacating the unit.
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Service members keep the cap
The two-month small-landlord exception never applies to a service member.
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Interest on rent-stabilized deposits
In an RSO unit, a deposit held at least a year earns annual interest - 3.03% for 2026.
What To Do - Step by Step
Photograph the place at move-in
Time-stamped photos of every wall, floor, and appliance. This is the evidence that settles deductions a year later.
Check who owns the building
Two months is only lawful for a natural-person landlord with at most two properties and four units.
Give written notice and an address
The 21-day clock runs from when you vacate, but they still need somewhere to mail the check.
Document the unit on move-out day
Photos and video the moment you hand over keys, matched shot for shot against your move-in set.
Demand the itemized statement
If day 21 passes with nothing, email a dated written demand and keep the timestamp.
File in small claims
Los Angeles County small claims hears deposit disputes and no lawyer is required.