Security Deposit Receipts: What Your Landlord Must Provide

Depending on your state, your landlord may owe you three documents when you pay a security deposit: a signed receipt, a written notice of the bank holding the deposit, and a written record of the unit's condition at move-in. Massachusetts requires all three. Maryland, New Hampshire, Washington, and suburban Cook County, Illinois, set rules for the receipt, and Connecticut, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania require a written notice of where the deposit is held. When a document is missing, remedies include $25 in Maryland and the immediate return of your deposit in Massachusetts and Cook County.

What the deposit receipt must show

In other states, build the record yourself. Pay by check or electronic transfer, and send an email the same day confirming the amount, the date, and that the payment is a refundable security deposit, not a fee. For monthly rent payments, see your right to rent receipts.

The notice of where your deposit is held

These states require a written notice of where your deposit is held:

In states that require interest, this notice is how you check that interest is building. Our guide to security deposit interest requirements lists the rates and payment dates.

The move-in condition record

A written record of the unit's condition at move-in is the third document. These states require one or give you a right to ask for it:

• Massachusetts: a signed statement of condition within 10 days after the tenancy starts or when you pay, whichever is later. You have 15 days to sign it or return it with your own list of damage.
• Washington: a landlord may not collect any deposit without a written checklist signed and dated by both of you (RCW 59.18.260).
• Michigan (MCL 554.608): two blank inventory checklists at move-in; you note the condition and return one within 7 days.
• Arizona (A.R.S. 33-1321): a move-in form for listing existing damage, plus written notice that you may attend the move-out inspection.
• Hawaii (HRS 521-42): a written inventory before you move in, signed by both of you. Without one, the condition is presumed to be the same as when you moved in unless the landlord proves otherwise.
• Montana (MCA 70-25-206) and North Dakota (Cent. Code 47-16-07.2): a written statement of condition when the lease starts. A Montana landlord that skips it cannot charge for damage or cleaning unless it proves, by clear and convincing evidence (a higher bar than usual), that you caused it, and North Dakota's signed statement is evidence of the starting condition.
• Maryland and Minnesota (Stat. 504B.182): a move-in inspection if you ask. Maryland requires your request by certified mail within 15 days of moving in, and a Minnesota landlord must tell you about the option within 14 days.

Documenting your apartment's condition explains how to build your own record with dated photos, which matters most where no statement is required.

What to do when a document is missing

Start by asking in writing. Name the document and the law, give a date to respond, such as 10 days out, and keep a copy. If the landlord still does not comply, these are the remedies the laws give:

• Massachusetts: no bank receipt within 30 days entitles you to your deposit back immediately. A landlord that did not put the deposit in a separate account loses the right to keep any of it and owes three times the deposit, plus 5% interest and attorney fees.
• Cook County: a missing receipt also entitles you to your deposit back right away. For a missing bank disclosure, send written notice giving the landlord 2 business days to fix it; after that, it owes twice the deposit plus attorney fees.
• Maryland: a landlord that gives no written receipt owes you $25.
• New Jersey: if you never got the required notice, you can tell the landlord in writing to apply your deposit plus 7% annual interest toward rent. A missed yearly notice gives the landlord 30 days to fix the problem before you can do this.
• Delaware: a landlord that does not disclose the account within 20 days of your written request forfeits the deposit to you, and owes double if it does not return it within 20 more days.
• North Carolina (G.S. 42-55): willful failure to follow the deposit, bond, or notice rules ends the landlord's right to keep any part of the deposit.
• Washington: a landlord that collected a deposit without the move-in checklist owes you the amount of the deposit.
• Michigan: a landlord cannot require a deposit without the 14-day notice, and a missing notice releases you from the 4-day forwarding-address duty.

Two limits apply. In Florida, a missing notice is not a defense to paying rent. And a missing receipt does not cancel your deposit: a canceled check, bank record, or the lease's deposit clause can prove what you paid.

At move-out: the itemized statement

The last document is the itemized list of anything the landlord keeps, due with the refund within your state's deadline. Compare each charge with your move-in record. Understanding security deposit deductions explains how to check each line, and the overview of state security deposit laws covers deadlines, caps, and holding rules.