State Security Deposit Laws: An Overview for Tenants

Your security deposit is governed by your state's landlord-tenant law, which sets five rules: the most a landlord can collect, how the money is held and whether it earns interest, what can be deducted, how fast the rest must come back, and what the landlord owes for breaking those rules. Among the 10 states below, caps run from one to two months' rent, and Florida, Illinois, Texas, and Washington set no statewide cap. Refund deadlines run from 14 to 45 days after you move out or the tenancy ends, except that Florida's two-step notice process can take up to 60 days, and a landlord that keeps money improperly can owe two or three times the amount.

Deposit rules in 10 states

Each state links to our page for that state. Cite the law shown in a demand letter.

New Jersey's law does not cover an owner-occupied two- or three-family home unless the tenant asks in writing for it to apply, and it then applies 30 days later.

How much can a landlord charge?

A cap is a multiple of one month's rent, and in several states it covers everything you pay as security, whatever the lease calls it:

• Upfront fees: California counts any payment collected at the start of a tenancy except the first month's rent and an application screening fee. A pet deposit, cleaning fee, or move-in fee there falls under the same one-month limit.
• Prepaid rent: Maryland and New Jersey treat last month's rent paid in advance as part of the deposit, and New York's one-month limit includes any advance rent. Massachusetts works differently: a landlord may collect first and last month's rent on top of a deposit of up to one month's rent.
• Changes over time: Pennsylvania's cap drops from two months to one in a lease's second year, and New Jersey limits yearly deposit increases to 10% of the current deposit.

Exceptions have conditions. Maryland's utility-assistance allowance requires all three of these: you qualify for state utility assistance, your lease has you pay utilities to the landlord, and you agree to the amount in writing. A lease clause cannot raise a cap in Pennsylvania, whose deposit law makes any waiver void. How much a landlord can charge lists the limit in every state.

How is your deposit held, and does it earn interest?

Several states require the landlord to keep the deposit separate, tell you where it is, and in some cases pay interest:

• Massachusetts: a separate, interest-bearing account in a Massachusetts bank, and a receipt within 30 days naming the bank, the account number, and the amount. If the landlord skips this, you are entitled to the deposit back immediately. If the landlord holds the deposit a year or more, you earn interest from the first day at 5% or the bank's actual rate, whichever is lower, paid at the end of each year of the tenancy.
• Maryland: an interest-bearing account used only for deposits, at a Maryland branch of a federally insured institution, within 30 days. At move-out you are owed simple interest at 1.5% or the 1-year U.S. Treasury rate, whichever is greater, on deposits of $50 or more held at least 6 months.
• New Jersey: an interest-bearing account at a New Jersey bank or savings association, written notice of the bank, amount, and rate within 30 days, and the interest paid to you each year in cash or as a rent credit.
• New York: the deposit is a trust fund that cannot be mixed with the landlord's money. In buildings with six or more apartments, it must be kept in an interest-bearing New York bank account; the landlord may keep 1% a year for expenses, and the rest of the interest is yours.
• Pennsylvania: deposits over $100 go into an escrow account, an account that holds the money for you, at a regulated bank, and the landlord must tell you the bank and amount in writing. From the deposit's second anniversary, you receive the interest each year, minus a 1% fee.
• Florida: a separate account in a Florida bank, with or without interest, or a surety bond, a guarantee from a licensed surety company that the landlord will follow the deposit law. With an interest-bearing account you get at least 75% of the account's interest or 5% simple interest, at the landlord's choice; with a bond, 5%. Interest is paid at least once a year.
• Washington: a trust account at a Washington bank or licensed escrow agent, with a written receipt and the depository's name and address. The landlord keeps the interest unless you agree otherwise in writing.

For interest rules in other states, see our guide to security deposit interest.

What can a landlord deduct?

The deposit laws of California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and Washington expressly bar charges for normal wear and tear, meaning the deterioration that comes from ordinary use. They allow deductions for unpaid rent and for damage beyond normal wear and tear caused by you, your household, or your guests. California also allows cleaning, but only back to the level of cleanliness the unit had when you moved in. New York adds unpaid utility charges owed directly to the landlord and the cost of moving and storing belongings you leave behind, and Massachusetts adds unpaid water charges.

States also set the proof a landlord needs:

• California: receipts or a written explanation of costs, plus photos, when repair and cleaning deductions total more than $125, and you can demand that documentation for smaller amounts within 14 days of getting the statement. The photos are taken after you move out and again after the work, and at move-in for tenancies that began on or after July 1, 2025.
• Illinois: paid receipts, or copies, attached to the itemized statement. If the statement gives estimates instead, the paid receipts must follow within 30 days.
• Massachusetts: a damage list sworn under penalty of perjury, with estimates, bills, invoices, or receipts, plus a written statement of the unit's condition given to you within 10 days after the tenancy begins.
• Washington: estimates or invoices for damage charges. A landlord may not collect a deposit at all without giving you a signed checklist of the unit's condition at move-in, and one that does owes you the amount of the deposit.

Understanding security deposit deductions explains how to check each line of the statement.

When must the deposit come back?

The deadlines in the table run from the end of the tenancy or the day you move out. Florida adds steps on both sides. A landlord that wants to keep anything must send a notice of claim within 30 days by certified mail, or by email if you signed a lease addendum agreeing to email notices. You then have 15 days to object in writing, or the landlord may deduct its claim, and it must send the rest within 30 days of the notice. Unless your written lease says otherwise, if you leave before the lease ends or rent month to month, give at least 7 days' written notice by certified mail or hand delivery, with an address where you can be reached; without it, the landlord does not have to send the notice of claim.

Three things you do can change the outcome:

1. Give a written forwarding address. In Texas, the landlord does not have to refund or itemize until you do. In Pennsylvania, not giving a new address in writing when you leave releases the landlord from liability under the return law. In Illinois, a landlord is not liable for damages or penalties that result from your not giving a mailing or email address.
2. Pay your last month's rent. A Texas tenant who withholds it on the theory that the deposit covers it is presumed to act in bad faith and can owe three times that rent plus the landlord's attorney's fees.
3. End the lease properly. If you break a New Jersey lease without legal cause, the 30 days do not start until the unit is re-rented or the lease term ends, whichever comes first.

For deadlines in other states, see security deposit return timelines by state. Getting your security deposit back covers the move-out steps in order.

What happens when a landlord breaks the rules?

The table shows each state's penalty, and they come in two forms. The first is forfeiture: a landlord that misses the deadline or skips the required list loses the right to keep some or all of the deposit. A Maryland landlord that forfeits can still apply the deposit to unpaid rent, and a Florida landlord can still sue you separately for damage after returning the deposit.

The second is a multiple of the money involved. Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania apply it to the violation itself. Six states require a court finding about the landlord's conduct: bad faith in California and Texas, refusing to give the statement or giving it in bad faith in Illinois, withholding without a reasonable basis in Maryland, a deliberate violation in New York, and an intentional refusal in Washington. Florida has no multiple, but the winner of a deposit case recovers court costs and attorney's fees.

In California, Pennsylvania, and Texas, the landlord must prove in court that its deductions were reasonable, and a Texas landlord that misses the 30-day deadline is presumed to have acted in bad faith.

What to do if your landlord breaks the rules

1. Send a written demand once your state's deadline passes. Name the statute, the amount you are owed, the penalty it allows, and a date to pay, such as 10 days out, and keep your lease, receipts, photos, and proof of your forwarding address.
2. Sue if the landlord does not pay. You can file in small claims court without a lawyer and include the penalty, up to the court's limit. In New Jersey, for example, the $5,000 small claims limit for deposit cases includes the penalty. What to do when your landlord won't return your deposit covers the demand letter and your court options.