Security Deposit Return Deadline Calculator

It depends on the state, and on what starts the clock. Of the 50 states and DC, 48 set a number of days, from 14 to 60: 30 days is the most common (21 states), 14 days applies in Alaska, Hawaii, Nebraska, New York and Vermont, and 60 days in Alabama, Arkansas and West Virginia. Arizona counts 14 business days, and Michigan's 30 days do not say calendar or business. Louisiana gives one month after the lease ends, and in Kentucky and Tennessee we found no refund deadline at all. The table above lists every state, and the calculator works out your exact date.

The landlord can lose the right to keep any of it, and can owe more on top. In Iowa, Maine, New York and Vermont, missing the deadline forfeits the right to keep any part of the deposit; in Florida, missing the 30-day claim notice does the same. On top of that, 35 of the 50 states and DC set a multiple: three times in Colorado, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Dakota, South Carolina and Texas; one and a half times in Kansas and West Virginia; and twice in 24 more. Some apply only on a condition such as bad faith, a willful failure or a written forwarding address, and some multiply the whole deposit while others multiply only the amount wrongfully withheld. Pick your state above and enter your deposit to see the most yours allows.

Yes, if the landlord keeps any part of it. In every one of the 50 states and DC the law we read calls for a written list or statement of what was kept and why. In 40 the list is due on the same deadline as the refund. A few set a separate date: Illinois gives 30 days for the itemized statement (the full deposit is due at 45 days if none is sent), Florida 30 days for a written notice of any claim (15 days to return the deposit when there is no claim), and South Dakota 45 days for an itemized accounting, but only if you ask for it. In DC, an owner who sends notice of intent to withhold within the 45 days has 30 more days for the itemized statement.

On the date your state's law names, which is not always move-out day. Eight states count from move-out, twelve from the end of the lease or tenancy, and thirteen from whichever of those two comes later; Montana and Pennsylvania count from whichever comes first. In Connecticut, Iowa, Minnesota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming the deadline also depends on when you gave, or the landlord received, your forwarding or mailing address, and in Arizona, Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma and South Carolina on your demand for the deposit. Wisconsin depends on when and how you left. The calculator asks for exactly the dates your state counts from.

Only a few of the deadline rules on this page speak to cleaning. Rhode Island allows deductions for reasonable cleaning, reasonable trash disposal, unpaid rent and damage beyond ordinary wear and tear (R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-18-19(b)). Mississippi limits claims to unpaid rent, damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, cleaning at the end of the tenancy and other reasonable and necessary expenses. Montana bars a cleaning charge until the landlord gives written notice and you have 24 hours to do the cleaning yourself (§ 70-25-201(3)). New Mexico bars keeping any deposit for normal wear and tear, but says uncleanliness is not normal wear and tear (§ 47-8-3), and Massachusetts bars deducting reasonable wear and tear. Wherever a landlord keeps money for cleaning, it has to appear on the written list of deductions.