Your Security Deposit Rights in California

California limits most security deposits to one month's rent, collected on top of the first month's rent, though a small landlord (an individual, or a limited liability company owned only by individuals, with no more than two rental properties and four units) may charge two months. No part of the deposit can be nonrefundable. Within 21 days after you move out, Civil Code section 1950.5 requires the landlord to refund the deposit or send an itemized statement of deductions with the balance, including receipts and photos when cleaning and repair charges total more than $125 and you have not waived them. A court can order a landlord who keeps a deposit in bad faith to pay up to twice the deposit on top of the money it wrongly kept.

How much can a California landlord charge?

For a deposit collected on or after July 1, 2024, the limit is one month's rent, whether or not the unit is furnished. Nearly every upfront payment counts toward that limit, whatever the landlord calls it, including a pet deposit, key fee, cleaning fee, move-in fee, or prepaid last month's rent. The first month's rent and the application screening fee, which covers checking your credit and references, do not count.

For the small-landlord exception, rentals held in a family trust count as owned by an individual, and the four-unit limit covers both properties together. At $2,800 a month in rent:

If you are a service member, a small landlord can charge you no more than one month's rent and cannot refuse to rent to you because of that limit.

A deposit collected or demanded before July 1, 2024 is not subject to the limit. If you paid more than the limit after that date, ask the landlord in writing to refund the excess. How much a landlord can charge for a deposit compares California's limit with the caps in other states.

Can any part of the deposit be nonrefundable?

No. A California lease cannot call any part of a security deposit nonrefundable, and because upfront cleaning and move-in fees count as deposit, they are refundable on the same terms as the rest. Under Civil Code section 1953, a lease clause in which you give up or limit your rights under the deposit law is void, so signing one does not take those rights away. California lease disclosure requirements lists what else a landlord must tell you before you sign.

Paying "last month's rent" at move-in does not mean you can skip your final rent payment. The California Department of Real Estate's tenant guide (California Tenants, 2026 edition) says a landlord can almost always insist on rent for the last month, so get any other arrangement in writing before you rely on it.

What can a landlord deduct?

The landlord can keep only the amount reasonably needed for four purposes:

• Rent you owe.
• Cleaning, but only enough to return the unit to the level of cleanliness it had when you moved in.
• Repairing damage beyond ordinary wear and tear caused by you or your guests.
• Restoring or replacing furniture, keys, or other property the landlord supplied, if your lease allows the deposit to be used for that.

Three limits apply to these charges:

• No wear and tear. The landlord cannot charge for ordinary wear and tear, for damage that was there before you moved in, or for wear that built up over several tenancies. The state guide treats carpet and drapes worn by normal use or age, including moderate dirt or spotting, as wear and tear.
• Reasonable cost. Charges for labor and materials, including the landlord's own work, are limited to a reasonable amount to restore the unit to its move-in condition.
• Professional cleaning only when needed. Since January 1, 2025, a landlord cannot charge you for professional carpet cleaning or other professional cleaning unless it is reasonably needed to bring the unit back to its move-in condition.

For items that wear out over time, the state guide suggests charging only for the life the item had left. Example: you damage a carpet beyond repair 6 years into its expected 10-year life, and a comparable carpet costs $2,000. Four of its 10 years remained, so the suggested charge is 4/10 x $2,000 = $800. The same guide assumes interior paint lasts about two years, so under its approach a tenant who stayed two years or more owes nothing for repainting. These are the guide's suggestions, not rules in the statute. To contest a cleaning charge, see what cleaning a landlord can deduct.

How does the pre-move-out inspection work?

You can ask for an initial inspection before you move out, so you can fix problems yourself instead of paying for them. Once you or the landlord gives notice ending the tenancy, or before a fixed-term lease ends, the landlord must tell you in writing that you can request one and be there for it. The right does not apply if the tenancy ends after a three-day notice for unpaid rent, a lease violation, serious damage, a nuisance, or illegal use.

1. Request it in writing. The inspection can happen no earlier than two weeks before the tenancy ends. Choose a date when most of your belongings are out and you still have time to make fixes; the state guide advises against your last day.
2. Watch for 48 hours' written notice. The landlord must confirm the date and time in writing at least 48 hours ahead unless you both sign a waiver. It can go ahead without you unless you withdraw the request.
3. Get the itemized list. The landlord must hand you a list of the repairs and cleaning it plans to deduct for, or leave it in the unit if you are not there.
4. Fix the listed items before you leave, in a way your lease allows, and keep receipts and dated photos of the results.

When your belongings do not block the landlord's view during the inspection, the landlord cannot later deduct for repairs or cleaning missing from its list. It can still charge for listed items you did not fix, damage that happens after the inspection, and problems your belongings covered up. Move-out inspections explains how to prepare for it.

What must the landlord send within 21 days?

The deadline is 21 calendar days after you vacate. By then the landlord must refund the full deposit, or send an itemized statement giving the amount and reason for each deduction together with the remaining balance.

When deductions for cleaning and repairs total more than $125, the statement must come with proof of their cost:

If the landlord's own staff cannot reasonably finish a repair within 21 days, or an outside company's bill has not arrived by then, the landlord may deduct a good-faith estimate. Within 14 days after the work is done or the bill arrives, it must send a corrected statement, the receipts, and any refund owed if the actual cost came in lower.

The landlord can skip the receipts and photos if those deductions total $125 or less, or if you signed a waiver at or after a notice ending the tenancy (or in the last 60 days of a fixed-term lease). You can still request them within 14 days of getting the statement, and the landlord then has 14 days to send them.

• Where it goes. The statement and refund go to the address you give the landlord, or to your old unit if you give none; email is allowed only if you agreed to it.
• How you are paid. Since January 1, 2026, if you paid the deposit or any rent electronically (by bank transfer, Zelle, or an online portal, for example), the landlord must refund electronically to an account you name in writing, unless you agree in writing to another method. Otherwise, it pays by check through first-class mail or in person.
• Roommates. Unless every adult tenant signed an agreement with the landlord on how to divide the refund, it comes as one check made out to all the adult tenants on the lease.

What can you do if your landlord keeps too much?

1. Check the statement. Note the date it arrived, then compare each deduction with the four allowed uses, the required proof, and your own move-in record; documenting your apartment's condition explains what that record should include.
2. Send a written demand. Cite Civil Code section 1950.5, list each charge you dispute and why, give the amount you want back, and set a deadline, such as 14 days. Mention the bad-faith penalty; the state guide notes that this can make a landlord more willing to settle. Send the letter by certified mail with a return receipt, and keep a copy.
3. File in small claims court. As an individual, you can sue for up to $12,500, counting the deposit and any bad-faith damages, and you can give up any amount above that to stay in small claims. The filing fee is $30 for claims of $1,500 or less, $50 up to $5,000, and $75 above that, if you have filed 12 or fewer small claims in California in the past 12 months. File in the county where the rental is or where you signed the lease.

At the hearing, the landlord has to prove that its deductions were reasonable, and it can file its own claim against you for unpaid rent or damage. Without a receipt, you can prove what you paid with a canceled check, the lease, or your own statement under penalty of perjury. If you lose the claim you filed, you cannot appeal it. The state guide says you have up to 4 years to sue under a written lease and 2 years under an oral one.

A landlord who in bad faith ignores the statement and proof rules loses the right to keep any of the deposit. The state guide, citing a 1995 California Supreme Court decision, says a landlord who misses the 21-day deadline also loses that right and must return the whole deposit, though it can still raise unpaid rent or damage costs against you in court.

Example: your deposit was $2,000, and the landlord kept all of it without sending a statement. You can claim the $2,000, plus up to $4,000 more (2 x $2,000) if the judge finds bad faith, for up to $6,000 in all, within the $12,500 limit. The judge decides whether the landlord acted in bad faith and can award those damages even if you did not ask for them.

For deadlines and penalties in other states, see the overview of state security deposit laws.