Can you claim?
Does this apply where you are?
US: State landlord-tenant statutes (no federal deposit-return deadline); small claims court is the standard enforcement route in every state for amounts within that state's small-claims limit.
UK: Tenancy Deposit Protection (Housing Act 2004 Part 6 Chapter 4, as amended) — England and Wales assured shorthold tenancies starting after 6 April 2007
Your rights
State landlord-tenant statutes (no federal deposit-return deadline); small claims court is the standard enforcement route in every state for amounts within that state's small-claims limit.
| State | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Deadline: 60 days after termination Penalty: A landlord who fails to mail a timely refund/accounting must pay the tenant double the amount of the original deposit. | Source → |
| Alaska | Deadline: 30 days after termination when deductions are claimed. Penalty: No penalty specified by statute. | Source → |
| Arizona | Deadline: 14 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays) after termination, delivery of possession, and tenant demand. Penalty: Tenant may recover the deposit due plus damages equal to twice the amount wrongfully withheld. | Source → |
| Arkansas | Deadline: 60 days after tenant moves out (statute applies only to landlords with 6+ units or who employ a property manager). Penalty: Landlord may forfeit the right to withhold any portion; tenant may be entitled to twice the deposit plus costs/attorney's fees. | Source → |
| California | Deadline: 21 calendar days after tenant vacates. Penalty: Landlord who fails to provide the itemized statement may lose the right to claim deductions; bad-faith retention entitles the tenant to up to twice the wrongfully withheld amount. | Source → |
| Colorado | Deadline: 30 days after lease termination or surrender of premises, whichever is later, unless the lease specifies longer (max 60 days). Penalty: No penalty specified beyond the requirement to provide an itemized statement. | Source → |
| Connecticut | Deadline: 21 days after tenancy ends, or 15 days after landlord receives tenant's forwarding address, whichever is later. Penalty: Tenant may recover twice the wrongfully withheld amount as damages. | Source → |
| Delaware | Deadline: 20 days after termination/expiration of the rental agreement. Penalty: Tenant can seek a full refund plus double that amount as damages. | Source → |
| Florida | Deadline: 15 days to return in full if no claim is made; 30 days to send notice of claim by certified mail or email. Penalty: Landlord who misses the 30-day notice deadline forfeits the right to impose a claim on the deposit. | Source → |
| Georgia | Not yet verified | |
| Hawaii | Deadline: 14 days after termination of the rental agreement. Penalty: Landlord who misses the deadline forfeits the right to retain any part of the deposit and must return it in full. | Source → |
| Idaho | Deadline: 21 days by default, 30 days maximum, after surrender of premises. Penalty: No penalty specified by statute. | Source → |
| Illinois | Deadline: 30 days to furnish an itemized statement; 45 days to return the deposit in full if no itemized statement is given. Penalty: A landlord found to have acted in bad faith is liable for twice the deposit plus court costs and attorney's fees. | Source → |
| Indiana | Deadline: 45 days after termination of occupancy. Penalty: No penalty specified by statute. | Source → |
| Iowa | Deadline: 30 days from termination and receipt of the tenant's mailing address. Penalty: Bad-faith retention subjects the landlord to punitive damages up to twice the monthly rent, plus actual damages. | Source → |
| Kansas | Deadline: 14 days after the amount of deductions is determined, but never more than 30 days after termination/possession/tenant demand. Penalty: Tenant may recover the amount due plus damages equal to 1.5 times the amount wrongfully withheld. | Source → |
| Kentucky | Deadline: No single fixed number of days found; the statute describes a 30-day minimum hold and a 60-day tenant response window after the landlord sends notice of a refund due. Penalty: No penalty specified by statute. | Source → |
| Louisiana | Deadline: One month after lease termination (an itemized statement may extend this a further 15 days under a 2026 amendment). Penalty: No penalty specified by statute. | Source → |
| Maine | Deadline: 21 days for a tenancy-at-will; 30 days for a written rental agreement. Penalty: Landlord who misses the deadline forfeits the right to withhold any portion of the deposit. | Source → |
| Maryland | Deadline: 45 days after the end of tenancy. Penalty: Tenant may recover up to 3 times the wrongfully withheld amount plus reasonable attorney's fees. | Source → |
| Massachusetts | Deadline: 30 days after termination of occupancy. Penalty: A landlord who fails to comply and is taken to court must pay triple damages, interest, costs and attorney's fees. | Source → |
| Michigan | Deadline: 30 days after termination of occupancy to mail an itemized notice of damages. Penalty: No penalty specified by statute; the tenant must respond within 7 days of the itemized notice or forfeit the claimed amount. | Source → |
| Minnesota | Deadline: 21 days (3 weeks) after termination of tenancy. Penalty: Landlord who fails to provide the written statement is liable for the withheld portion plus interest as a penalty, in addition to the amount wrongfully withheld. | Source → |
| Mississippi | Not yet verified | |
| Missouri | Deadline: 30 days after termination of tenancy. Penalty: Tenant may recover twice the amount wrongfully withheld. | Source → |
| Montana | Deadline: 10 days after termination if no deductions are claimed; 30 days if deductions are claimed (written itemized list required). Penalty: Landlord liable for up to twice the deposit for noncompliance. | Source → |
| Nebraska | Deadline: 14 days after termination of tenancy. Penalty: If willful and not in good faith, the tenant may recover one month's rent or twice the deposit, whichever is less, plus court costs and attorney fees. | Source → |
| Nevada | Deadline: 30 days after termination of tenancy. Penalty: Landlord liable for the entire deposit amount, plus a court-set sum up to the deposit amount, plus costs/fees. | Source → |
| New Hampshire | Deadline: 30 days from termination of tenancy. Penalty: Landlord liable for double the amount wrongfully withheld. | Source → |
| New Jersey | Deadline: 30 days after tenancy ends (5 days if the tenant was displaced by fire, flood, condemnation or evacuation). Penalty: A court may award double the amount wrongfully withheld, plus full costs and, at the court's discretion, attorney's fees; the landlord forfeits the right to deduct if no itemized statement is sent within 30 days. | Source → |
| New Mexico | Deadline: 30 days after termination of the rental agreement or departure, whichever is later. Penalty: Landlord who misses the deadline forfeits the right to withhold any portion and loses the right to counterclaim, and is liable for the tenant's court costs/attorney fees; bad-faith retention carries a separate $250 statutory civil penalty (NMSA 47-8-18). | Source → |
| New York | Deadline: 14 days after the tenant vacates. Penalty: Landlord forfeits any right to retain any portion of the deposit if the 14-day deadline is missed. | Source → |
| North Carolina | Deadline: 30 days after termination/delivery of possession for an interim accounting; final accounting within 60 days if the amount can't be determined by day 30. Penalty: No separate penalty specified; the statute instead requires the interim and final accounting deadlines described above. | Source → |
| North Dakota | Deadline: 30 days after termination of lease and delivery of possession. Penalty: A landlord who withholds without justification is liable for triple the amount withheld. | Source → |
| Ohio | Deadline: 30 days after termination of the rental agreement and delivery of possession. Penalty: Tenant may recover the deposit plus damages equal to the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney's fees. | Source → |
| Oklahoma | Deadline: 45 days after termination, delivery of possession, and written tenant demand (30 days for undamaged furnished-rental deposits). Penalty: No penalty figure specified; the deposit reverts to the landlord if the tenant doesn't demand it within 6 months. | Source → |
| Oregon | Deadline: 31 days after the tenancy terminates and the tenant delivers possession. Penalty: Tenant may recover twice the amount withheld without a required written accounting, or withheld in bad faith (ORS 90.300). | Source → |
| Pennsylvania | Deadline: 30 days after the tenant moves out. Penalty: Landlord liable for double the amount by which the deposit exceeds actual damages, if the 30-day deadline is missed (68 P.S. Section 250.512). | Source → |
| Rhode Island | Deadline: 20 days after the later of termination, delivery of possession, or the tenant providing a forwarding address. Penalty: Tenant may recover the amount due plus damages equal to twice the amount wrongfully withheld, plus attorney fees. | Source → |
| South Carolina | Deadline: 30 days after termination, delivery of possession, and tenant demand, whichever is later. Penalty: Tenant may recover the property/money plus damages equal to three times the amount wrongfully withheld, plus attorney's fees. | Source → |
| South Dakota | Deadline: 21 days after termination of tenancy and receipt of the tenant's mailing address (itemized accounting within 45 days on request). Penalty: Landlord forfeits all rights to withhold any portion; bad-faith retention subjects the landlord to punitive damages up to $200. | Source → |
| Tennessee | Deadline: No single fixed statutory deadline found; the law requires inspection within 3 working days of move-out and a damage listing, with a 60-day window for the tenant to respond to a refund notice before the landlord may retain unclaimed funds. Penalty: Landlord forfeits the right to retain any portion if the deposit wasn't held in a separate account and a damage listing wasn't provided as required. | Source → |
| Texas | Deadline: 30 days after the tenant surrenders the premises. Penalty: No penalty figure quoted; Property Code Chapter 92 Subchapter C provides a bad-faith-retention penalty provision. | Source → |
| Utah | Deadline: 30 days after the renter vacates and returns possession. Penalty: No penalty specified by statute. | Source → |
| Vermont | Deadline: 14 days from when the landlord discovers/learns the tenant vacated (60 days for seasonal rentals). Penalty: Landlord forfeits the right to withhold any portion if missed; if willful, liable for double the amount wrongfully withheld plus attorney's fees/costs. | Source → |
| Virginia | Deadline: 45 days after termination/the tenant vacates, whichever is later. Penalty: If willful noncompliance is found, a court orders return of the deposit plus actual damages and reasonable attorney fees. | Source → |
| Washington | Deadline: 30 days after termination and vacation of the premises (the deadline has changed over time — was 14 days, then 21 days, now 30 days under current RCW 59.18.280). Penalty: Landlord liable to the tenant for the full amount of the deposit if the deadline/statement requirement is missed. | Source → |
| West Virginia | Deadline: Statute references delivery "within the applicable notice period" (not a single flat number), with a further 15-day extension for itemizing damage requiring a third-party contractor. Penalty: If willful/bad faith, the tenant is entitled to judgment for the unreturned deposit plus damages equal to 1.5 times the amount wrongfully withheld. | Source → |
| Wisconsin | Deadline: 21 days after the tenant moves out (or from the last day of the lease/new tenant move-in, whichever is first, for early move-outs). Penalty: Tenant may recover twice the amount of actual pecuniary loss, plus court costs and, if awarded, attorney fees. | Source → |
| Wyoming | Deadline: 30 days after termination of the rental agreement, or 15 days after receipt of the renter's new address, whichever is later (extended to 60 days total if there's damage). Penalty: No penalty specified by statute. | Source → |
| District of Columbia | Deadline: 45 days to return the deposit with interest or notify of withholding; a further 30 days to provide an itemized statement if withholding. Penalty: No penalty figure specified by statute. | Source → |
If a landlord doesn't return the deposit or an itemized deduction statement within the state deadline, tenants in every state can sue in their local small claims court; limits and procedures vary by state.
Tenancy Deposit Protection (Housing Act 2004 Part 6 Chapter 4, as amended) — England and Wales assured shorthold tenancies starting after 6 April 2007
- Protection deadline
- The landlord (or letting agent) must put the deposit in a government-backed tenancy deposit protection (TDP) scheme within 30 days of receiving it.
- Return deadline
- The deposit must be returned to the tenant within 10 days of landlord and tenant agreeing how much they'll get back.
- Penalty for not protecting
- Under Housing Act 2004 s.214 (as amended), if the landlord failed to protect the deposit or give the required prescribed information, a court must order the landlord to pay the tenant a sum "not less than the amount of the deposit and not more than three times the amount of the deposit", within 14 days of the court order.
- Dispute route
- If the deposit is protected in an 'insured' scheme and there's a dispute, the landlord/agent must give the deposit to the TDP scheme, which holds it until the dispute is settled via the scheme's free alternative dispute resolution service.
Evidence to gather
- Tenancy agreement
- Proof of deposit payment and protection certificate
- Move-in and move-out condition photos
- Inventory report
- Messages with landlord
Steps
- Gather your evidence (see the list above).
- Send a written complaint to the business or provider, citing the rule for your region from "Your rights" above.
- If unresolved by their deadline, escalate using the route named in "Your rights" for your region.
- If still unresolved, consider your region's ombudsman, regulator, or small claims court — see "Your rights" for the specific option.
Your tools
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Information, not legal advice. Figures verified against the official sources linked above.